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1.62k reviews by:
misajane79
book club selection
Tomorrow night, we'll be discussing this book as part of the museum's book club and I think it will be a great discussion. Years ago, we read one of Windle's other novels, Hill Country, but these two books are so different. In a way, Will's War is much tighter and has a kind of force to it that her other novels don't.
Like her other novels, she dives into family history to tell the sory of her grandfather, accused of treason during WWI. But is that accusation really just because of his involvement with unions, and more importantly, his German heritage? This book explores all kinds of issues of class and cultural identity--set in towns I'm familiar with. The trial scenes are riveting, and she does seamless job of exploring the family's backstory as well. Highly recommended.
Tomorrow night, we'll be discussing this book as part of the museum's book club and I think it will be a great discussion. Years ago, we read one of Windle's other novels, Hill Country, but these two books are so different. In a way, Will's War is much tighter and has a kind of force to it that her other novels don't.
Like her other novels, she dives into family history to tell the sory of her grandfather, accused of treason during WWI. But is that accusation really just because of his involvement with unions, and more importantly, his German heritage? This book explores all kinds of issues of class and cultural identity--set in towns I'm familiar with. The trial scenes are riveting, and she does seamless job of exploring the family's backstory as well. Highly recommended.
Got off to a great start and then kinda evaporated. Lots of foreshadowing that there is danger all around, but the heroine doesn't realize it might involve her until the last possible moment. There were certain plot twists that were never properly explained (or I was too sleepy when I was finishing it). Parts of it just didn't ring true. I kept expecting more, and it never quite delivered.
Full of gossip, scandal, sex and royalty, I had really high hopes for this book. And though it was a good book, it wasn't a great book. It was just missing something.
It's the story of Alice Keppel, "official" mistress to King Edward and her daughter, who had quite the passionate love affair with Vita Sackville-West, among others.
With the scandal and the passionate love letters and the sham marriages, you would think this would be quite the page turner. It sorta was. I think what was missing for me was more on the flexible sexual conventions of the day. Oscar Wilde and his trial is mentioned, but only briefly. I wanted to know more about a society that knew exactly what was going on, officially didn't approve, but still accepted these women--and enjoyed their company. The whole book lacked context--and when understanding the attitudes towards homosexuality in the early part of last century, that's something you really need.
It's the story of Alice Keppel, "official" mistress to King Edward and her daughter, who had quite the passionate love affair with Vita Sackville-West, among others.
With the scandal and the passionate love letters and the sham marriages, you would think this would be quite the page turner. It sorta was. I think what was missing for me was more on the flexible sexual conventions of the day. Oscar Wilde and his trial is mentioned, but only briefly. I wanted to know more about a society that knew exactly what was going on, officially didn't approve, but still accepted these women--and enjoyed their company. The whole book lacked context--and when understanding the attitudes towards homosexuality in the early part of last century, that's something you really need.
