A seventeen-year-old book blog offering book reviews and news about authors, publishers, bookstores, and libraries.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
The Welsh Girl
Peter Ho Davies’s first novel, The Welsh Girl, offers a look at a rather unique World War II home front, the Welsh countryside. The more nationalistic residents of Wales have resented their English occupiers for generations and the onset of a World War in which they struggled for their very survival was not necessarily going to lessen that resentment even though their young men fought along side English soldiers, sailors and airmen for their common good. When a German POW camp is built in the mountains of northern Wales , something that the locals take as a personal insult, even the pubs take sides, one of them welcoming English soldiers and the other refusing to serve them no matter what.
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Great review Sam! I have this slated to be read in 2008. I am looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteThis one sounds really good. Thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteExcellent review! I've heard good things about this one, but have not been especially drawn to it until now. Love the cover. Thanks, Sam.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the beginning but it didn't hold my interest.
ReplyDeleteAmy, Susan, & Jenclair - I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. I found it's setting to be very interesting and could picture myself there under those circumstances. I thought all of his characters were well developed and that his story, although without any real "action," was intriguing.
ReplyDeleteI pretty much had the opposite reaction, Elizabeth. I thought that it started kind of slowly with the Hess bit and found the rest of the book to be much more interesting.
ReplyDeleteIt was almost as if I were reading two separate books, in fact.
I want to read this one for the setting alone! Sounds interesting, thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you enjoyed it Sam - me too. It was interesting to read your thoughts about Karsten and Esther's mutual shame and how they grow up through the events of the story.
ReplyDeleteThis is my next read! I am very much looking forward to it!
ReplyDeleteThis has been one of my favorite books I've read all year! Glad to hear you liked it, too.
ReplyDeleteThe setting is one of the best things about the book, Gentle Reader, and it's completely believable in the context of the times.
ReplyDeleteIt really is a fine novel, Ted. I was able to completely immerse myself in that world for a few hours and enjoyed every minute of my time there.
ReplyDeleteMarg, you're in for a treat, I think.
ReplyDeleteI love it when a book comes from nowhere and surprises me like this one did, Danielle. That's the kind of thing that keeps me racing to the next book. :-)
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