One of those all-nighter reads.
One of those gems, heard about it through the Richard and Judy bookclub, something I tried to steer clear of initially! The book deals with a Welsh village "invaded" by English soldiers and then prisoners of war. Themes include trying to keep a national identity and the sense of a village when English culture and the war are coming in by stealth. Confusion about who is the enemy, the English or the Germans. Another theme is about identity, how you see yourself and how others see you. There are 2 storylines going through the book, the first is about a girl living in the village and the second about a Jewish interpreter.

Patriotism and Identity
Be prepared for a slow read and you won't be disappointed. The prose is, at times, quite beautiful and Peter Ho Davies has a style all of his own. Through the novel he questions ideas regarding the way in which we view our loyalties and courage, as well as our identities. It also highlights the fact that war is a very masculine thing, during which the real nature of female nurturing comes to the forefront. The author is sometimes almost poetic when describing unremarkable actions; this is one passage I particularly liked : 'He starts to write. In the swaying candlelight the lines on the paper look like strips of bandages, and he has the strangest impression of his writing hand, unwinding them as it moves across the page, revealing the words beneath.' An unusual description, but so easily imagined. I enjoyed this novel, not just for the thoughts it provoked, but for its beautiful use of the English language (even though it's set in North Wales!).

It is a poor read where facts have gone out of the window.
Having read the critics about this book,I bought it.What a disappointment,it dragged on,it repeated itself over and over again.Now that I have waded through it I am no wiser for what I have read,it said nothing.I am not the only one in the family who is of the same opinion,although we normally read totaly different books we both had a go at this to see if either of us had opposed ideas,we didn't.How it got on to the Richard and Judy list I cannot imagine although I have found previously, books seem to get on to that list without too much merit.I will think twice before I purchase a book recomended by them again.Thinking about it,maybe the auther tried to be too clever bringing into this tale,bits of world war two of which he knew only hearsay but few facts.The entire book was badly written and the story badly planned.Don't waste your time reading this when there are so many really good books available.

Richard and Judy clouded my judgement!
It sounded so good when they discussed it - but actually this novel is confused and confusing, without a central character with whom the reader can empathise.
I was really disappointed and ask myself who chooses these R and J titles?
If you are really interested in the war then you might find it tolerable, but as a rollicking good read - it fails.

Something my mum didn't enjoy...
...but I thought it was quite enjoyable. Nothing earth-shattering but it did keep my interest all the way through.

The Welsh slant to a WWII story was something that I hadn't really considered before but I'm afraid I really didn't see the point of the Hesse storyline, I didn't feel that it added very much to the plot.

I borrowed this book from my Mum who said that she didn't enjoy it at all, but then we do tend to have completely opposing taste in books!

Overall recommendation - good beach / tube read!

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