Helpful Score: 5
Sheers is an award-winning poet and this is his first novel. He takes the premise of 'what if' England had lost the war and been taken over by Germany - a very fascinating premise! The writing is superb. The ending is ambiguous. I like my endings to make everything clear and tie up all loose ends. This book does not do that. But it was still very worthwhile reading. I would like to read it again and pull out many passages to keep in my journal. His descriptions are masterful. The book takes place in a totally secluded valley in Wales, where the wives have awakened to find that all their husbands have disappeared, and the running of their farms is left to them.
Helpful Score: 2
I love historical fictions and that it what drew me to this book. As a "hometown boy" Owen Sheers portrays a secluded, difficult to travel to valley that is rarely visited by anyone who does not have a purpose for going there. Faced with a "what if this really happened?" Owen Sheers develops both his characters, the landscape, the animals, the history, the secret, and the situation of an occupied village. His imagery moves the reader into the book, but often bogs the reader down. The ending is left up to the reader to decide which way the main charcter will go. Much is left for the reader to draw their own conclusion. It is not your typical WWII novel!
Owen Sheers depicts the resilency of women when faced with diversity. It's a great first time novel!
Owen Sheers depicts the resilency of women when faced with diversity. It's a great first time novel!
Helpful Score: 1
Imagine a WWII scenario where the invasion of Normandy failed. Where the German army survives the Russian winter. Where England is invaded and conquered by the Nazis. Owen Sheers novel, Resistance, begins with these historical revisionings.
Set in an isolated valley in England, Sheers explores the dynamics between a German patrol and a collection of English women suddenly left alone to manage their farms. With the husbands suddenly, silently, and collectively abandoning their wives to join the Resistance, the women are left to face a vicious winter. When the German patrol chooses to winter in the valley rather than return to the front, the dynamics for interesting and unpredictable consequences are thus in play.
The books prose is lyrical. The story unfolds slowly. Suffice it to say this book is not a page turner. Yet the character dynamics are engaging and interesting. However, for those who like all the loose ends tied up, the end of the book will be a disappointment. Dont say you werent forewarned and enjoy.
Set in an isolated valley in England, Sheers explores the dynamics between a German patrol and a collection of English women suddenly left alone to manage their farms. With the husbands suddenly, silently, and collectively abandoning their wives to join the Resistance, the women are left to face a vicious winter. When the German patrol chooses to winter in the valley rather than return to the front, the dynamics for interesting and unpredictable consequences are thus in play.
The books prose is lyrical. The story unfolds slowly. Suffice it to say this book is not a page turner. Yet the character dynamics are engaging and interesting. However, for those who like all the loose ends tied up, the end of the book will be a disappointment. Dont say you werent forewarned and enjoy.
