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This book deserves its acclaim. I unexpectedly adored it - "unexpectedly" because I have never been able to connect deeply with a war novel, and I am generally not big on books with romantic themes. The author (Alice Winn) creates dialogue, relationships, and intimate scenes which are splendidly realistic, yet simultaneously moving. It is expertly constructed and doesn't follow the trajectory you might expect.
You quickly become attached to the characters and find yourself searching for their names amongst the list of the dead in the newspaper in the exact same way people must have searched for their friends' names in the newspaper at the time of WW1, which I'm sure is exactly what Winn was going for. I am impressed by, and grateful for, the research Winn undertook before and during the construction of this novel, because it resulted in such vivid characters and realistic portrayals of events - many of the novel's letters and newspaper pieces drew from real WW1 letters and publications, and even the smallest events described in the book were often inspired by real-life events.
I recommend to anyone who enjoys a realistic romance novel, and I would suggest trying this book out even if you don't generally gravitate towards war novels.
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Absolutely fantastic! "Hullo Elly. How've you been..?"
One of the best books I have read in a few years. It felt epic in scope going from teen boyhood to shattered returning veterans, but each section, corresponding both to a life stage and a key narrative element was really compact. It moved from school, to the WWI front, to POW prison, to escape, back to England and then to Brazil very swiftly but as a reader I still felt immersed in each phase as each was described with superb detail and convincingly evoked with a depth of feeling and atmosphere. That it feels epic while spanning just a few years reflects the intensity and pace of the story.
The narrative was swift and fast flowing - a real page turner, the story gripping and while dealing with buge, historic events....felt quite intimate as it was always centred on the characters interactions, so the scale was very human, very personal throughout even set aainst historic/ dramatic events - that was a key part of the author's skill; keeping the reader focussed on and experiencing the narrative through the prism of the characters relationships, emotions, feelings.
If I had to describe by reference to other books/ films - it has a whiff, as it progresses, of Brideshead Revisited, Dead Poets Society, 1917 and Colditz, a tiny smattering of Great Escape and City of Thieves, and all throughout a great love story - or more so a story of a great love dissonant with the times and discordant, due to difficult self acceptance of the lovers. The fact that it could have all those elements looks silly at first glance, or that it would be a mish-mash, but it does have an element/ feel of each and does so convincingly, and it all fits together and fits/ serves the narrative perfectly. When I read the historic note I saw the author had taken distinct inspirations for many characters and story arcs from a variety of sources - poems, other novels, so the patina made sense.
A first class read! Thanks for the reccomendation, much appreciated.
(I was curious and had to look up Adam Bede and Thucydides.)