Scan barcode
A review by kchessrice
Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd
5.0
The novel starts off in Vienna in 1913. Lysander is an actor taking some time out to seek treatment for a minor psychological disorder from Dr Bensimon when he meets Hettie, also a patient. They embark on a passionate affair but Lysander is forced to leave Austria in a hurry with some help from the British Embassy, who let him know that he owes them a favour... The story resumes in 1914, with Britain on the cusp of war. Soon enough, Lysander finds himself at the frontline in France, however the favour is called in and he is in no position to refuse going undercover in enemy territory to discover the mole in the Ministry of Defence.
I had no idea what to expect from this novel when I picked it up and was really enjoying the scenes in Vienna and Lysander's cunning escape until we cut to 1914 - hmmm, I thought, we're going to get another WW1 battlefields novel... BUT IT WASN'T AT ALL! I really enjoyed the espionage twist on a WW1 novel: don't get me wrong, Birdsong and Regeneration etc are all excellent at describing the psychological horror of war but sometimes you want to discover something new as a reader with a book using WW1 as a backdrop. As a spy, Lysander's talents as an actor were clearly put to good use with his disguises and his intelligence often helped him out of some tight spots!
I have only read Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd previously, and whilst this didn't quite have the same thriller-esque pace, it was still a brilliant story and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The wider cast of characters were all interesting, particularly the female leads in Lysander's life (his mother, Hettie and Blanche) and his Uncle Hamo, who is openly homosexual (albeit perhaps only to his closest friends and family).
I had no idea what to expect from this novel when I picked it up and was really enjoying the scenes in Vienna and Lysander's cunning escape until we cut to 1914 - hmmm, I thought, we're going to get another WW1 battlefields novel... BUT IT WASN'T AT ALL! I really enjoyed the espionage twist on a WW1 novel: don't get me wrong, Birdsong and Regeneration etc are all excellent at describing the psychological horror of war but sometimes you want to discover something new as a reader with a book using WW1 as a backdrop. As a spy, Lysander's talents as an actor were clearly put to good use with his disguises and his intelligence often helped him out of some tight spots!
I have only read Ordinary Thunderstorms by William Boyd previously, and whilst this didn't quite have the same thriller-esque pace, it was still a brilliant story and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The wider cast of characters were all interesting, particularly the female leads in Lysander's life (his mother, Hettie and Blanche) and his Uncle Hamo, who is openly homosexual (albeit perhaps only to his closest friends and family).