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lorees_reading_nook's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Angus MacGrath, captain of a fishing vessel in NS, joins the CEF in 1917, hoping that he will be able to search for his beloved brother in law and friend, Ebbin Hant, who is missing. He hopes that he will be able to use his navigational skills as a cartographer in London but instead is sent to the front. At home, his thirteen year old son Simon Peter struggles to come to terms to life without his father.
TCONML is a character-driven book that explores the theme of war's effects on those who choose to leave and fight and those they leave behind. Duffy's male characters are the strength of this book but her female characters lack depth. They seemed like ephemeral, inconsequential beings, making this one of the weak points of the story. This book didn't immediately reach out and grab me. It took a few chapters for me to immerse myself in it, but I am glad I persevered. The writing is evocative with a quiet calmness that doesn't shy away from the horrors of trench warfare during WW1. We are there in those rat-infested muddy tunnels with the soldiers, inching inexorably towards the battle of Vimy Ridge.
This is not a book of big reveals. The story unravels slowly, and the reader must surmise why some of the characters do what they do. Not all threads are neatly tied up at the end. On the contrary we are left with more questions than answers.
I thought that Angus is well-written. He seemed like a grounded person yet there is a sadness about his demeanour and maybe a few regrets too. I liked reading his arc best and was really invested in his character, which develops throughout the story. Angus and the relationships he builds with the other men at the Front are the highlights of this book.
Simon Peter is also a likable character. He is at that awkward age between boyhood and manhood. He misses his father and is very protective towards his rather absent mother. His character is also well developed.
His mother, Hettie Ellen, however remains an enigma throughout the book. I would have liked more if her back story to be able to empathise with her character better. But the way she was depicted left me rather cold.
Overall Duffy writes beautifully, if at times enigmatically. I could have done with a bit less nautical jargon as it went right over my head, but the scenes at the Front are so well written that I can gloss over this minor complaint.
My rating:3.6
TCONML is a character-driven book that explores the theme of war's effects on those who choose to leave and fight and those they leave behind. Duffy's male characters are the strength of this book but her female characters lack depth. They seemed like ephemeral, inconsequential beings, making this one of the weak points of the story. This book didn't immediately reach out and grab me. It took a few chapters for me to immerse myself in it, but I am glad I persevered. The writing is evocative with a quiet calmness that doesn't shy away from the horrors of trench warfare during WW1. We are there in those rat-infested muddy tunnels with the soldiers, inching inexorably towards the battle of Vimy Ridge.
This is not a book of big reveals. The story unravels slowly, and the reader must surmise why some of the characters do what they do. Not all threads are neatly tied up at the end. On the contrary we are left with more questions than answers.
I thought that Angus is well-written. He seemed like a grounded person yet there is a sadness about his demeanour and maybe a few regrets too. I liked reading his arc best and was really invested in his character, which develops throughout the story. Angus and the relationships he builds with the other men at the Front are the highlights of this book.
Simon Peter is also a likable character. He is at that awkward age between boyhood and manhood. He misses his father and is very protective towards his rather absent mother. His character is also well developed.
His mother, Hettie Ellen, however remains an enigma throughout the book. I would have liked more if her back story to be able to empathise with her character better. But the way she was depicted left me rather cold.
Overall Duffy writes beautifully, if at times enigmatically. I could have done with a bit less nautical jargon as it went right over my head, but the scenes at the Front are so well written that I can gloss over this minor complaint.
My rating:3.6
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and War