On paper (boom boom) this book was right up my street. British soldiers and their families in Germany following the second world war, an angle that I hadn't really read about before appealed to me.
However this book left me cold. I found it very predictable, I didn't like Rachel, I didn't get why Ozi and his crew kept appearing. There were too many characters and issues spread across too few pages preventing anything from fully forming.
There were good parts, I liked reading how the British wives shopped behind blacked out Windows and were allotted an inventory consisting of champagne flutes and butter knives depending on your husband's rank. I also found it interesting to read how the British dealt with the Germans, camps, questionnaires and cleaning processes are things you don't associate with England during the war.
Yet these issues were not given the space they needed to shine. Instead being submerged by German street kids carrying around their dead mothers (what was that all about?!?) Knicker revealing angry teenagers and people's reliance on gin.
I couldn't remember anyone's name when talking about the book at book club which is always a bad sign. Others however really really enjoyed the book, there were certainly lots of talking points and I think if you were to study the book it could perhaps be an interesting one to dissect but it just left me cold and its December I need warmth!
Book averaged a 7. I think my 5 hampered the 9's which were on offer.
Next book is Christmas (One rule of bookclub) book. The Santa Klaus Murder by Mavis Doriel Hay. First impressions very Agatha Christie.
Question of the month. This book was set just after World War 2, what's your favourite war story?
However this book left me cold. I found it very predictable, I didn't like Rachel, I didn't get why Ozi and his crew kept appearing. There were too many characters and issues spread across too few pages preventing anything from fully forming.
There were good parts, I liked reading how the British wives shopped behind blacked out Windows and were allotted an inventory consisting of champagne flutes and butter knives depending on your husband's rank. I also found it interesting to read how the British dealt with the Germans, camps, questionnaires and cleaning processes are things you don't associate with England during the war.
Yet these issues were not given the space they needed to shine. Instead being submerged by German street kids carrying around their dead mothers (what was that all about?!?) Knicker revealing angry teenagers and people's reliance on gin.
I couldn't remember anyone's name when talking about the book at book club which is always a bad sign. Others however really really enjoyed the book, there were certainly lots of talking points and I think if you were to study the book it could perhaps be an interesting one to dissect but it just left me cold and its December I need warmth!
Book averaged a 7. I think my 5 hampered the 9's which were on offer.
Next book is Christmas (One rule of bookclub) book. The Santa Klaus Murder by Mavis Doriel Hay. First impressions very Agatha Christie.
Question of the month. This book was set just after World War 2, what's your favourite war story?
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