War's Last Dance - Libroj.org

Lingvo: English

Eldonita je 18-a de decembro 2019 de Independently Published.

ISBN:: 978-1-7941-7052-0

(1 recenzo)

Berlin, 1946. The war is over.

But there are still battles to be won before the players can pack up and go home. After five years apart Bill and Isabel are re-united in a devastated Berlin. Struggling to find a place for herself in the war-torn city, Isabel doesn't find it easy to fall back into a family routine with Bill. As they struggle to rediscover their love for each other they encounter unexpected dangers.

Their four-year old daughter is mysteriously abducted, disappearing without a trace. No one knows where she has gone. Or why she has disappeared. Isabel must drawn on hidden strengths and loyalties as she throws herself into a desperate search for her daughter.

Will she manage to bring her family back together before it is too late? Or will Isabel have to build a new life for herself - rising like a phoenix out of the …

Berlin, 1946. The war is over.

But there are still battles to be won before the players can pack up and go home. After five years apart Bill and Isabel are re-united in a devastated Berlin. Struggling to find a place for herself in the war-torn city, Isabel doesn't find it easy to fall back into a family routine with Bill. As they struggle to rediscover their love for each other they encounter unexpected dangers.

Their four-year old daughter is mysteriously abducted, disappearing without a trace. No one knows where she has gone. Or why she has disappeared. Isabel must drawn on hidden strengths and loyalties as she throws herself into a desperate search for her daughter.

Will she manage to bring her family back together before it is too late? Or will Isabel have to build a new life for herself - rising like a phoenix out of the ashes of war?

War's Last Dance is a compelling drama of marriage, family and war. It is perfect for fans of Sebastian Faulks and William Boyd.

2 eldonoj

Stephanie Jane recenzis War's Last Dance de Julia Underwood

Good start, but ...

3 steloj

I received a copy of War's Last Dance by Julia Underwood from its publishers, Endeavour Press, to read for their virtual Historical Fiction Festival which takes place later this month.

Set at the end of the Second World War, Underwood's novel takes us into the heart of destroyed Berlin when a young English woman, Isabel, journeys to Germany to join her husband, Bill, who has been posted there to help oversee rebuilding efforts. Isabel and Bill married during the War after a brief engagement, but have hardly seen each other for years and he is a stranger to their four year old daughter, Penny. I enjoyed the first half of War's Last Dance. We see London in wartime - the camaraderie and deprivation, rationing and vegetables grown in every back garden. Isabel is portrayed as a strong woman and devoted mother, getting by as best she can with the help …

I received a copy of War's Last Dance by Julia Underwood from its publishers, Endeavour Press, to read for their virtual Historical Fiction Festival which takes place later this month.

Set at the end of the Second World War, Underwood's novel takes us into the heart of destroyed Berlin when a young English woman, Isabel, journeys to Germany to join her husband, Bill, who has been posted there to help oversee rebuilding efforts. Isabel and Bill married during the War after a brief engagement, but have hardly seen each other for years and he is a stranger to their four year old daughter, Penny. I enjoyed the first half of War's Last Dance. We see London in wartime - the camaraderie and deprivation, rationing and vegetables grown in every back garden. Isabel is portrayed as a strong woman and devoted mother, getting by as best she can with the help of her family. Her decision, once it is safe to do so, to follow Bill to Berlin and finally be together as a family is completely understandable and the lengthy train journey across Europe is well described.

Berlin is a shocking place. The destruction is far worse than London and we see people not only barely surviving in impossible circumstances, but hundreds more - refugees and displaced persons - swelling their numbers every day. Underwood describes this hell with sensitivity and I thought such a setting would be central to her story. However instead we take a weird turn into not-quite-thriller and not-quite-romance. Isabel becomes incapable of doing anything without leaning on a man and frequently abandons her daughter to maid Irma in order to gad about with new friend Zelda and potential romance John. It's no wonder that overworked and stressed out Bill is so easily exasperated with her! The Penny is abducted in an flat unconvincing storyline that pivots on a miraculous teapot discovery and Isabel's unpracticed ability to accurately fire a gun. Turning the page reveals a six year gap and sudden swerve into Happily Ever After. WTF!

I was disappointed by the way War's Last Dance turned out. It starts pretty well, light but interesting, but if I had known where the tale would lead, I would probably have run at about the same time as the dog did.