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Interesting. Unique. Holds it's own in such a full library of World War II historical fiction. It really is different from a lot of other WWII stories out there, which I really appreciated and kept me reading. It was also his writing that kept me truly engaged. I can't even put my finger on it, but something sucked me into this book and kept me there until suddenly I turned the last page, looked up and wondered where the time had gone.

A couple of times I think Davies lost control of his novel. A few too many story lines that didn't really add to the big picture, that of Esther and Karsten's relationship, or even they're seperate stories. Take out the extra characters that apparently had backgrounds we needed to address, Davies could have focused on Esther and Karsten more and given their individual and combined tales richer layers that the reader could further fall into.

I did enjoy the few running themes that occured. That of Esther, Karsten and Rotherham all being of single-parent households and being bilingual. Both of which caused them to struggle with their identities and places in the world.

The main thing that I just keep thinking about with the book is Davies's writing. It's descriptive enough to allow you to picture everything the way you want to picture it and set you in the story, but not overly so that you're continuously taken out of the story itself. It's a delicate balance not a lot of authors can pull off, but Davies's does it superbly.

In the end, if you love WWII historical fiction, this is definitely a new one to add to your library. It'll give you a breath of fresh, Welsh air. And I promise you, with the way Davies writes you will smell that air, and feel the cool crispness fill your lungs.