Short book...beautiful writing, touching story.

A quick read. Humphreys has a light touch with words--the text flows quickly and you easily get a feel for the characters and the setting. I like that the book's scope spanned both a single night and seven decades. Whereas with some writers this becomes so much a stretch that the plot is confusing, Humphreys manages it. 1917 and 1962 are merely bookends that bolster the main story. Well done.

Short, and I suppose well-written, but I didn't much like it. Too emotionally manipulative.

Set during the night of the destruction by bombing of Coventry Cathedral in WWII

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I started reading it knowing nothing of the history of Coventry, and felt pulled along by the story line. I loved the little trip back in time that it took near the beginning of the story, where you start to see things coming around in a circle, but it doesn't until nearly the very end.

It was interesting reading about the war from a country outside of Germany, being bombed BY the Germans (all the books I've read about WWII are about the concentration camps or life in Germany at the time) - and this really brings it home how many innocent lives are ended and how many people are hurt (physically or emotionally) by war.

This book all takes place within a few hours, with a few flashbacks, and is thoroughly enjoyable. I will be looking at more from this author, for sure.

3 1/2⭐️s
I was bothered by the present tense at first, but it eventually drew me in, and created a sense of urgency and honesty to the horrific events of the bombing of Coventry. A good, short read, not the most effective story telling, but still compelling. It also didn't hurt that I've visited the ruins of the cathedral twice.

This really short novel paints a vivid picture of what Coventry was like during the war. Unfortunately, it was just a little to far fetched and predictable.

Helen Humphreys is a gifted author who was able to convey in this short tale the massive destruction of war to man and world. My mom lived through this experience in Britain and I felt a real tenderness for her throughout my reading.

This wasn't too bad. I deducted one star because it's written in the present tense. This is history! Past tense, please.
It was interesting and saddening to learn about the bombing destruction of Coventry, but I thought Humphreys cheapened it a little by throwing in some tawdriness that could easily have been left out. Also, I felt there wasn't enough depth for such a heavy story.

Couple of good quotes:

"When a building is lost, everything that happened within its walls is lost as well."

"It was as though love and sex was a room she had once entered, and now she had simply left that room, turned off the lights, and gently closed the door. It didn't feel as though she had given up anything. It had given her up."