THE SILENT HOURS by CESCA MAJOR.
An epic, sweeping tale set in wartime France, The Silent Hours follows three people whose lives are bound together, before war tears them apart ...
- Back Cover Blurb (This synopsis contains spoilers, please click on the book title if you wish to continue reading about The Silent Hours. TT)
They are talking in hushed voices through the grille in the door.
- First Sentence, Part One: Adeline
Every girl I've ever known seems to move through this life with a chaperone in tow - a glimpse or smile scolded instantly by a disapproving look from the person trailing her.
- Memorable Moment, Page 80
SOURCE ... Unknown.
READ FOR ... Not applicable.
MY THOUGHTS ... Told through the voices of several different characters, all in the first part narrative. A risky concept to my mind as all too often the plot becomes muddled, the threads of the story, the clarity as to just how (or indeed even if) the characters are connected lost. However here it worked well in that you felt privy to every thought, the connections becoming clearer as the story progressed. No mean feat given this is the author's first novel. BUT ...
Put in mind of several books of this genre, there was nothing too fresh in the telling of this story of war time atrocity. And whilst its true that I did make an emotional connection it was perhaps more because I knew the story was based on actual events than because of anything conveyed by the author.
Put in mind of several books of this genre, there was nothing too fresh in the telling of this story of war time atrocity. And whilst its true that I did make an emotional connection it was perhaps more because I knew the story was based on actual events than because of anything conveyed by the author.
Then there was the fact that partly written in letter format (never a favourite of mine), the italics made the reading of these potions of the book hard going.
Never the less, an enjoyable enough read, Cesca Major is definitely a name I'll keep in mind.
7 comments:
I love the letter format so I confess that it would be easier for me. I'm curious
I find that having different narrators often keeps a book flowing, making me want to keep going.... so I think this sounds good. I'll have to check out the synopsis more closely to see which events it's based upon.
Greetings. My favourite topic in school was World War Two, so this book would be appealing to me. Blessings to you and thanks for the review.
Thank you. Love love, Andrew. Bye.
World War II and France never seem to stop fascinating. I know that you are not partial to the still, but I tend to like novels that include a lot of letters as part of the story. The lack of originality that you mention might be my biggest problem.
Thank you for your honest review. I'm glad you enjoyed this, overall.
Tracy,
Though I am keeping in mind what you
said about this book's lack of originality,
it still does appeal to me and I will add
it to my list.
Raven
This sounds like something I would really enjoy reading. War time and partly written in letter format . . . I will definitely have to give this one a try. Thanks for bringing it to my attention, Tracy.
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