To save you some time I’ll tell you, right up front, I really enjoyed this book.
Why?
In order to answer that you need to know a couple of things about me.
I’m a writer and I am DEEPLY interested in the period before, during and immediately after the First World War. I lost two great uncles in that conflict.
I chose this book to review because it concerns a soldier [British] who served in WW1 and is trying to fit back into his previous life in a small coastal town.
Despite being a writer, or because of it, I’m difficult to please when it comes to novels. If the story and the author’s style does not grab me by the end of the first chapter ——- I’m gone. Life’s too short to waste on average literature.
With ‘The Lie’ I was hooked from the first paragraph.
The author shows great respect for her audience and expects you to keep up as the book alternates been the now [back in England] and the then [in the trenches].
Without giving too much away [because I want you to enjoy this book] the story revolves around three adult characters who grew up together.
To be honest, I’m amazed that a female could write in the first person and understand things that I thought only males could understand; especially about war.
At no time does the author attempt to ‘dazzle’ her audience. The prose is honest and accessible and the emotions are real.
I chose the book because of it’s subject and I had never heard of Ms Dunmore but I will be seeking out more of her excellent work. Fortunately for me, she has written several other books.
In case you were wondering; I received no payment for this opinion [expect for the advance copy of the book].
In a couple of days my country [Australia] will remember [celebrate seems the wrong word somehow] the official end of the First World War [I find it interesting that we number our World Wars]. It isn’t a holiday, and it is not the only ‘Remembrance Day’ that we observe, we have a holiday for Anzac Day, which is out official day of honouring our soldiers in all wars [and for a young country we have a LOT of them].
We seem to be tied to the First World war as it seems that we ‘became a country’ because of it [our soldiers were involved in the Boer war at the turn of the century. This was the first conflict that saw Australian soldiers in Australian uniforms]
My ancestors served with distinction in both World Wars [my grandfather’s two brothers both died in WW1], but despite my pride in them I cannot help but feel that my country is all too ready to fight in ‘other people’s wars’.
The photograph above shows a familiar sight during WW2. Soldiers heading off to battle with loved ones saying goodbye. I wonder how many of the people in this photo survived that conflict, and I wonder how many of the ‘loved ones’ saw their men come home.
On Friday [the day after our 41st wedding anniversary] at the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, we will stop and briefly remember those who fought for us, so long ago.
The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month seems almost romantic, doesn’t it? I would have liked to have been in that room when they made that decision. A lot of soldiers died between the making of that decision and the time that it arrived. The US command in particular, who had traveled so far for such a short engagement were determined to make the most of their participation [these are not my words but theirs]. They sacrificed tens of thousands of their own troops in a desperate attempt to kill as many of the enemy as possible before the ‘deadline’. [what an appropriate word]
I narrowly missed being drafted into the Vietnam War, and I wonder what my story would have been if I had been forced to face the things that my ancestors faced.
spidersweb 