A well-researched, honest, and grim portrayal of the effects of the Great War.
Tweeddale’s historical novel follows the real-life Drewe and Lutyens families of England from the famed Castle Drogo’s commission to the throes of World War I.
In the fall of 1910, renowned architect Edwin Lutyens receives a letter from Sir Julius Drewe commissioning him to design a castle for him on Dartmoor. Between his vocational travels to India, Lutyens works with his daughter Celia and apprentice engineer Peter Hall to design a castle that blends classical and modern styles. As the castle plans commence, however, both families are politically, emotionally, and financially embroiled in the movements of the time, with members offering myriad opinions, religious views, and political perspectives about the war and enlistment. The families work together through Castle Drogo’s stone-laying ceremony; before long, however, circumstances lead to Christian “Kit” Drewe, one of Julius’ three sons, moving to Vienna and becoming estranged from his father. Meanwhile, the Lutyens family becomes divided as the matriarch, Emily Lutyens, becomes devoted to Jiddu Krishnamurti and the theosophy movement, aiming to persuade her daughter Celia of theosophy’s merits, and eventually, the hawkish Order of the White Feather. Sir Julius gets involved with a scheme to transport war goods with his ships in the hope of continued wealth. Kit returns to England and faces pressure to enlist, while the eldest son, Adrian Drewe, balances his own desires with his father’s demands. Divided into 10 parts, attorney Tweeddale’s well-researched debut novel expertly balances complex personal and political dynamics before and during the Great War. The author effectively integrates artistry, ancient stories, legends, war journals, and letters that add historical accuracy and emotional honesty to the work. The setting descriptions mirror both the characters’ emotional states and the darkness of the times, which give the novel a sense of dimension. However, the abrupt ending feels anticlimactic and unsatisfying—even if it does emphasize the horrors of World War I—and that such devastation has the potential to repeat itself.
A well-researched, honest, and grim portrayal of the effects of the Great War.Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2022
ISBN: 9781739612207
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A captivating allegory about evil, lies, and forgiveness.
Truth and deception clash in this tale of the Holocaust.
Udo Graf is proud that the Wolf has assigned him the task of expelling all 50,000 Jews from Salonika, Greece. In that city, Nico Krispis is an 11-year-old Jewish boy whose blue eyes and blond hair deceive, but whose words do not. Those who know him know he has never told a lie in his life—“Never be the one to tell lies, Nico,” his grandfather teaches him. “God is always watching.” Udo and Nico meet, and Udo decides to exploit the child’s innocence. At the train station where Jews are being jammed into cattle cars bound for Auschwitz, Udo gives Nico a yellow star to wear and persuades him to whisper among the crowd, “I heard it from a German officer. They are sending us to Poland. We will have new homes. And jobs.” The lad doesn’t know any better, so he helps persuade reluctant Jews to board the train to hell. “You were a good little liar,” Udo later tells Nico, and delights in the prospect of breaking the boy’s spirit, which is more fun and a greater challenge than killing him outright. When Nico realizes the horrific nature of what he's done, his truth-telling days are over. He becomes an inveterate liar about everything. Narrating the story is the Angel of Truth, whom according to a parable God had cast out of heaven and onto earth, where Truth shattered into billions of pieces, each to lodge in a human heart. (Obviously, many hearts have been missed.) Truth skillfully weaves together the characters, including Nico; his brother, Sebastian; Sebastian’s wife, Fannie; and the “heartless deceiver” Udo. Events extend for decades beyond World War II, until everyone’s lives finally collide in dramatic fashion. As Truth readily acknowledges, his account is loaded with twists and turns, some fortuitous and others not. Will Nico Krispis ever seek redemption? And will he find it? Author Albom’s passion shows through on every page in this well-crafted novel.
A captivating allegory about evil, lies, and forgiveness.Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2023
ISBN: 9780062406651
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of...
Hoover’s (November 9, 2015, etc.) latest tackles the difficult subject of domestic violence with romantic tenderness and emotional heft.
At first glance, the couple is edgy but cute: Lily Bloom runs a flower shop for people who hate flowers; Ryle Kincaid is a surgeon who says he never wants to get married or have kids. They meet on a rooftop in Boston on the night Ryle loses a patient and Lily attends her abusive father’s funeral. The provocative opening takes a dark turn when Lily receives a warning about Ryle’s intentions from his sister, who becomes Lily’s employee and close friend. Lily swears she’ll never end up in another abusive home, but when Ryle starts to show all the same warning signs that her mother ignored, Lily learns just how hard it is to say goodbye. When Ryle is not in the throes of a jealous rage, his redeeming qualities return, and Lily can justify his behavior: “I think we needed what happened on the stairwell to happen so that I would know his past and we’d be able to work on it together,” she tells herself. Lily marries Ryle hoping the good will outweigh the bad, and the mother-daughter dynamics evolve beautifully as Lily reflects on her childhood with fresh eyes. Diary entries fancifully addressed to TV host Ellen DeGeneres serve as flashbacks to Lily’s teenage years, when she met her first love, Atlas Corrigan, a homeless boy she found squatting in a neighbor’s house. When Atlas turns up in Boston, now a successful chef, he begs Lily to leave Ryle. Despite the better option right in front of her, an unexpected complication forces Lily to cut ties with Atlas, confront Ryle, and try to end the cycle of abuse before it’s too late. The relationships are portrayed with compassion and honesty, and the author’s note at the end that explains Hoover’s personal connection to the subject matter is a must-read.
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of the survivors.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5011-1036-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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