Customer Reviews: Read 16 more reviews...
 Slow to get going for such a short book but then picked up November 15, 2008
This seemed slow to get going and I wasn't sure about it until just over half way through when Anne explained to Charles what happened to her father. This is a novel about the direct and indirect effects of the First World War on various members of French society as they move with fatalistic resignation towards the Second World War. It is also a love story built upon the successful evocation of an atmosphere of sexual tension with which readers of Birdsong will be familiar. It is not as good as that classic, but worth reading. 4/5 for the last 100 pages.
 Nicely written but plodding first novel August 3, 2008
Those who have read some of Faulks' later novels might be disappointed in this one. There's no question that Faulks is a good writer and the descriptions and phrasing are the same high quality as his later books. The problem for me was the plot - it's a slow moving, rather uninspired story.
Set in France between the wars, it tells of a love affair between a young waitress and a wealthy lawyer. There's not really a lot else in there - the obligatory references to war which you find in all Faulks books - and several potentially interesting plot threads are left unexplored. The ending was weak, with ends left untied and increased the frustration I felt with the book.
This is one of Faulks' first novels and it shows - you can tell that a good writer is lurking behind the plodding story, and it certainly contains hints of the brilliance that comes in later books such as 'Birdsong'. But I wouldn't recommend it particularly, unless you enjoy good writing for the sake of good writing alone. For those readers who look for an interesting plot to hold their attention, I would recommend moving straight on to Faulks' more mature works.
 Average novel set in early 20th century France July 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Another Sebastian Faulks book set in France, focussing on the whims of human interaction in a 9130s small town. Split between the two wars, this book lacks the dramatic backdrop that characterises Birdsong and Charlotte Gray, and seems to meander without purpose. Characters start to develop, but fail to flower into really interesting people. This is a comment on a particular time and place, but fails to satisfy as a novel.
Shaking foundations January 19, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This was the first book I had read by Faulks and I enjoyed it thoroughly. The central storyline of poor servant girl meets rich, older society-man has no novelty of course but I did find myself drawn to the characters and some of the torment of the situation they created for themselves. That said it was difficult to hold on to the presumed innocence of Anne and the naivety of Hartmann. Was this really such an unexpected result to both of them? I was half-waiting throughout the book for the cynical motive of exploitation to be revealed from one side or the other. However, the author does keep the reader from total submission to idealised romanticism by including the knowing looks and restrained putdowns of the supporting cast. To the onlookers at least, the events are all so mundane.
The story is set in France and this allows some enjoyable prose describing the back-drop to the main theme. I particularly appreciated the parallel undermining of the foundations of Hartmann's imposing house by the inept builders at the same time as his marriage was threatened by his affair. His weakness with the builder's matched his weakness with Anne. In the end the episodes created huge cracks and a partial collapse of both his home and his marriage, but both did survive. The story left me wondering whether it was Hartmann or Anne who was more damaged for the future.
Where would we be without rules? February 20, 2007
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
It took me a while to get around to it, but this is the fourth SF novel I've read. In ranking terms, I'd place it behind Birdsong, but slightly in front of On Green Dolphin St, and a street or two ahead of Charlotte Gray.
My only real problem with the book is that I felt I was being asked to both like and sympathise with Anne unreservedly, and I'm far from sure that's warranted. Yes, she'd had more than her fair share of tragedy in her past, and certainly her 'present' life is no picnic, but the reader is not led to believe she has any thought, consideration or remorse for Christine, the wife of her lover, Charles Hartmann. Indeed, another angle on events might reasonably portray a devious and plotting Anne doing everything possible to selfishly wrench her quarry away from his loyal and loving wife; a woman not untouched by recent personal tragedies of her own. That apart, I felt the book 'worked', and cleverly evoked sharp images of small-town France between the wars, without swamping the reader with pages of detail. It's well-written, the characters are interesting, the storyline is engaging and it all makes for a very enjoyable read. Don't expect too much of this simple tale and you won't be disappointed.
So, where would we be without rules? Ask the pub landlord (at the Golden Lion?).
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