An inside look at the bombing of Coventry told by two women who had met one other fateful day in WWI. This was a short novel and simply told, which doesn’t hurt the story at all.

As the cover blurb says, a small gem of a novel. Such beautiful writing.

This is a beautiful book limited by a time span of one night, the night Coventry was bombed in WWII. It is gorgeously written (as are all of Humphrey's books), and just might bring you to tears. Excellent.

A graceful and poetic novel, capturing one memorable night in the lives of three characters. My rating would have been higher if the novel were a little more substantial and not written in the present tense, which I find a tiresome writerly mannerism and rather unnecessary.

This book captivated me during the first few pages; the writing is beautiful and it drew me right in. Unfortunately the book started to lag during the middle part and I found myself missing the beginning of the book.

"Coventry" by Helen Humphreys occurs during the bombing of Coventry on November 14, 1940. Harriet watches the bombers arrive to destroy the city while standing on the roof or the Coventry Cathedral. Jeremy a young fire-watcher watches the destruction unfold while standing beside her. Jeremy's mother is in a cellar wondering about her son. These are the three main characters of the book and the events of this night direct the rest of their lives.

The story is short and the description of the terrors of the bombing raids is vivid and breathtaking. The story is about lost love, remembrance, family, friends and I would say lust or desperation.

This is a wonderful book. Extremely well written. A vivid account of a horrible day and how lives can intertwine in so many ways. I found it to be a very moving account of to what degree the World Wars had an impact on the civilians of the generation. I would definitely recommend this book. It is not what I would call light but it was a wonderfully flowing easy to get into book.

Another book about WW2! But very different from Nella Last. This is a novella really, 170 pages of rather large print, mostly recounting the traumatic events of a single night in Coventry. In that sense, comparisons with [b:On Chesil Beach|815309|On Chesil Beach|Ian McEwan|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1178649691s/815309.jpg|1698999] are inevitable. In some ways, I like it better. Helen Humphreys is a poet, and turns some beautiful phrases; her prose is limpid and beautiful. The story is a little bit predictable in places, but the characters are sensitively drawn, and feel real. Easily read in a (long) evening.

Yet another stone in my giant pyramid of WWII historical fictions. This one is, surprisingly, a women's story and a romance, yet it isn't sappy or cloying. I didn't reach much of the blurb - which is my policy, to stop reading when my interest is piqued.

I find jacket blurbs sometimes spoil the story. In this case, I might've been turned off by the words "breaktaking beauty". To me, that says that the author's trying too hard. "Achingly lyrical" is another one that bugs me.

Anyway - yes, I really liked it. The bombing of Coventry is a subject I knew slightly before reading this book. This book won't fill in a ton of details for you, so if you are interested in the facts, this is not the book for you. It is a well-written character story set on the backdrop of the bombing.

A beautifully written story about two women in Coventry the night it was bombed during WWII who have a connection going back to WWI. The detail is extraordinary, and really brings to life how horrible life was in England during the air raids in that war. It really puts things into perspective, especially with everyone saying how awful 2016 has been. Compared to 1943, it's pretty much a walk in the park. What a gorgeous book.