Wake by Anna Hope - Review

I absolutely loved this book and rushed through it, reading it all in one weekend. It was a quiet weekend - I sat outside on our grass on Saturday morning while my partner painted the fence, basking in the sunshine while reading a hundred pages of this book. But I still read it fast because it was such a compelling story and I really wanted to know what happened.

I read The Ballroom by Anna Hope a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. Maybe it was before I reviewed all my books on this blog, though. That book is set in 1911 and I felt the threat of World War One all through it and wondered what would happen to each character when it happened. I kept meaning to look for Anna's other books and when I remembered this time, I also remembered to check on my library catalogue. I've been trying to use the library more, and reserving books to come

to one of my local libraries is perfect for me as I go there every week for my craft club anyway. I reserved this book and another one and picked them up just three days later - can't complain!

This book is set in 1920, two years after the end of World War One. It follows three points of view, all women. I do think Anna Hope is excellent at writing the intricate lives of women. The book takes place over the five days leading up to the 11th of November 1920, when the body of the Unknown Warrior was buried in Westminster Abbey. We see the body of an unknown soldier dug up from a field in Arras, and throughout the book see it move to London. These parts are always really small, because the main focus of the book is three women, all affected by war and who all come together by the end of the book in ways they can't imagine. The book is told from three points of view.

The first point of view of Evelyn. She works in a war pensions office, dealing with veterans day after day. She's quite a hard woman, for reasons that become clear throughout the book. She works with a man called Robin, but she's sure he won't last long in the pensions office. She is from a posh family but has somewhat broken away from them. The only person she seems to care about is her brother, Ed, who served as an officer in France.

The second point of view is Hattie. She is just nineteen and lost her dad during the war (although not due to it). Her brother, Fred, has come home, but has shellshock, and wakes up screaming at night. Hettie works as a dancer at Hammersmith Palais de Danse, available for hire at sixpence a dance. She wishes she could live in a flat with her friend, the glamorous Di, but her mum insists that she doesn't, and that Hettie pays towards the upkeep of the house. One night, she meets Ed, Evelyn's brother, and becomes a little obsessed with him.

Thirdly, there's Ada. She is forty three and lost her son Michael in the war. She sees him on every street corner, and is driving herself quite mad by not knowing what happened to him. She and her husband Jack barely speak to each other, each dealing with their grief in very different ways. One day she gets a visit from a salesman who is trying to tell her something, but he leaves before he can.

I thought the 1920 setting was really interesting, and in that way the book reminded me of The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters. From a modern perspective, it's all too easy to only look at the years from 1918 to 1939 as interwar years - the League of Nations, the Great Depression, the rise of Hitler, the rise of anti-Semitism, the annexation of Poland and the outbreak of the second war. But if you were alive in 1920, you wouldn't be thinking about what might happen in two decades. You'd be too busy dealing with the aftermath of the first war, especially when so many men didn't return or were left traumatised. So I found it really interesting to look in depth at women's lives at this time.

I'm giving this five out of five, it is really good. Anna Hope is an excellent storyteller.

Transcription by Kate Atkinson - Review

I bought this book last week on a rare trip to Waterstones. I happened to be in Wakefield so I popped in. Their Young Adult section is lovely! It's really well stocked and set out in a really appealing way, and has loads of recommendations from staff. So even though it's not very big it makes the most of its space. I was about to buy the new Robin Stevens book when I remembered I had it on pre-order, just in time! I did end up picking up something else in the YA section, but I might get to it soon so I'll wait.

Anyway, I bought this. It was on one of the tables in the fiction section and I picked it up to read the blurb. I read Behind The Scenes At The Museum in about 2006 or 2007 and I really didn't like it. I couldn't get on with the story or the unreliable narrator. Because of that, I've never picked up another of Atkinson's books, even though several of my friends really rate her as an author. However, I liked the sound of this book so I thought I'd give it a chance. My books were on buy one get one half price so I decided it was worth the risk!

Transcription is about a woman called Juliet Armstrong. At the beginning of the book, in 1981, she is dying. She is thinking about her wartime escapades. The narrative moves to 1950, when Juliet, by then working for the BBC, bumps into Godfrey Toby, a man who she knew through the war. He makes out like he doesn't recognise her, and Juliet is baffled.

The narrative turns to 1940. Juliet is eighteen and has just lost her mother. She gets a job working for MI5, after a baffling interview, and is soon moved to a job doing transcription for a covert operation in Pimlico. Godfrey is posing as a Nazi sympathiser and is spying on a number of sympathisers. Safely hidden in the flat next door, Juliet's job is to transcribe everything that the neighbours say. It's a somewhat dull job - these aren't really active fascists, they're just sympathisers.

However, Juliet is recruited variously by men in positions of power above her. One of them wants her to spy on Godfrey and report back on what he's doing. Then she's asked by another to pose as a woman called Iris and get close to the wife of one of Mosley's supporters. She does so.

Back in 1950 Juliet becomes convinced she's being followed. She's convinced it's due to Godfrey's reappearance, so she goes to his house in Finchley to see if the neighbours have any idea what happened to him. She speaks to a few people - but are they all just a bit too rehearsed?

Things happened in 1940 which Juliet helped to cover up and which Juliet even perpetrated herself. She's trying to forget her actions - and sometimes, her inactions - but in 1950 the threat of being followed and perhaps exposed is too much.

I wasn't sure where the action was going to go at any point. The book has plenty of twists and turns but none of them are completely out of nowhere. I loved the back and forth between 1940 and 1950. I liked the wartime setting and how life carried on even though the war is raging in the background. I loved Juliet as a character, I thought she was interesting and complex and also very principled. I also thought that most of the spying was, like, accidentally hilarious? Accidentally farcical, they seemed to be terrible spies. I liked that. It seemed really realistic.

I'm giving this five out of five, I thought it was a brilliant book and I will definitely give Atkinson a chance again!

Eleven Eleven by Paul Dowswell - Review

Where did I get it? My local library, it was in the Young Adult section which is immediately on the left as you walk in, which I think is fab because it grabs young people straight away. 

What's it about? It's the 11th of November 1918 and at 5am a bunch of old men have just signed the peace declaration that will end the First World War. They decide to officially end it at 11am, liking the significance of the hour and the day, but that means that troops must keep fighting for the next 6 hours. The book concentrates on three different young men - one German, one English, and one American.

Axel is a brand new German recruit, only sixteen years old, and he's been moving through France with his regiment. He's told to go up a tower to keep watch for enemies on the move. 

Will is eighteen and is serving under his brother, Jim. Their company has heard that there are some Germans in the forest so set off to look for them. 

Eddie is American, and a little older than the others, and he's a fighter pilot. He's killed three of the enemy, but he'd like one more to go home with, so even though all planes are grounded he sets off anyway determined to make one last kill. 

The book ticks by the hours left of the war in a really clever and suspenseful way, leaving the reader to question who will live and who will die by 11am. 

What age range is it for? 14+

Are any main characters LGBTQ+? No

Are any main characters non-white? No

Are any main characters disabled either mentally or physically? Not really, I mean it's about war so obviously there's bloodshed.  

Is there any sex stuff? No

Are drugs mentioned or used? No

Is there any talk of death? Yes, and it's a little bit graphic although not too much at all. 

Are there swear words? Only a few

Would I recommend the book? Kind of, if this is your kind of thing then it's a decent book. I felt though that it dragged quite a bit and took a while to get going. It took me a while to read because I kept putting it down 

How many stars? Six out of ten   

Where is the book going now? Back to the library!