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Roman Clodia's Reviews > Wake
Wake
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"`War wins,' he says. `And it keeps on winning, over and over again.'"
Shrewdly published at the centenary of the outbreak of WW1, this is a beautifully subtle and emotionally restrained novel, but one which conceals an undertow of violence and brutality.
Set in the five days leading up to 11 November 1920 and the ceremony for the burial of the Unnamed Warrior in London, this traces the emotional journeys of three women, all of whom have suffered losses as a result of the war.
Hope manages to convey the anguish of her characters without allowing them to stray into hand-wringing sentimentality. Evelyn's brother connects the three women and his subtly different identities - Ed to Hettie, Edward to his family, Captain Montfort to the men who once served under him - mark the way characters refuse to be easily fixed in this book, and are more complicated than we sometimes find in fiction, especially WW1 fiction.
This isn't a book full of drama, it's much quieter than that, with a kind of sepia-tinted emotional aura about it. Hope is a poised and assured writer, and the title with its resonances of both burial and resurrection give a feel for the delicate texture of this book.
So this is a fine book, and Anna Hope a writer to watch.
(This review is from an ARC courtesy of the publisher)
Shrewdly published at the centenary of the outbreak of WW1, this is a beautifully subtle and emotionally restrained novel, but one which conceals an undertow of violence and brutality.
Set in the five days leading up to 11 November 1920 and the ceremony for the burial of the Unnamed Warrior in London, this traces the emotional journeys of three women, all of whom have suffered losses as a result of the war.
Hope manages to convey the anguish of her characters without allowing them to stray into hand-wringing sentimentality. Evelyn's brother connects the three women and his subtly different identities - Ed to Hettie, Edward to his family, Captain Montfort to the men who once served under him - mark the way characters refuse to be easily fixed in this book, and are more complicated than we sometimes find in fiction, especially WW1 fiction.
This isn't a book full of drama, it's much quieter than that, with a kind of sepia-tinted emotional aura about it. Hope is a poised and assured writer, and the title with its resonances of both burial and resurrection give a feel for the delicate texture of this book.
So this is a fine book, and Anna Hope a writer to watch.
(This review is from an ARC courtesy of the publisher)
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
October 28, 2016
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Barbara
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rated it 5 stars
Aug 29, 2018 02:40PM
I loved this book! I'm usually pretty stingy with 5 star ratings and this book earned one. I thought the way she delved into 3 different meanings of "wake" was superb (as a memorial, as in the nautical sense of what is left behind, and as an awakening).
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I agree, I loved the poetic attention to words, and the emotional subtlety. So much has been written about WW1 in so many different genres that it's hard to say something new or different, but Hope made it feel fresh again in this book.
