readingthethings's review against another edition
5.0
˳✧༚˚ Written by the author of the acclaimed WWI classic [b:Testament of Youth|374388|Testament of Youth|Vera Brittain|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1390091385l/374388._SY75_.jpg|364275]. The Dark Tide was Vera Brittain's first novel and has largely been forgotten. It was panned by Brittain's peers for what was seen as a negative depiction of life at Oxford University.
Too many novels about women feature a romance that leads to a wedding. This novel features the female friendship that follows the wedding and alters the familiar story:
Two women (Virginia & Daphne) become rivals at Oxford University after the First World War. Virginia is bookish & suffering from PTSD because of her recent service as a nurse overseas. Daphne falls in love and marries an emotional abuser.
The focus of the novel is the power behind the two women's rivalry turned friendship. Throughout the novel, the intellectual rivalry between the two women is the clear focus. Even when Daphne marries, the story isn't so much about her husband as it's about the isolation she experiences when she is removed from female influence. Female friendship, as it rarely does in novels published today, far surpasses the story's romantic element.
While it's clear in places the book is a first novel, I DON'T CARE. I absolutely loved it. The plot was great, the characters fully fleshed and interesting, the personality ALIVE. From the ironic opening line to the wonderful moment in the book's final passage, this book blew me away. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a novel about female friendship. ˳✧༚˚
Too many novels about women feature a romance that leads to a wedding. This novel features the female friendship that follows the wedding and alters the familiar story:
Two women (Virginia & Daphne) become rivals at Oxford University after the First World War. Virginia is bookish & suffering from PTSD because of her recent service as a nurse overseas. Daphne falls in love and marries an emotional abuser.
The focus of the novel is the power behind the two women's rivalry turned friendship. Throughout the novel, the intellectual rivalry between the two women is the clear focus. Even when Daphne marries, the story isn't so much about her husband as it's about the isolation she experiences when she is removed from female influence. Female friendship, as it rarely does in novels published today, far surpasses the story's romantic element.
While it's clear in places the book is a first novel, I DON'T CARE. I absolutely loved it. The plot was great, the characters fully fleshed and interesting, the personality ALIVE. From the ironic opening line to the wonderful moment in the book's final passage, this book blew me away. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a novel about female friendship. ˳✧༚˚
avrilhj's review against another edition
4.0
This book is embarrassingly emotional and personal, which is why I read it. As a novel it deserves only three stars, if that, but as an autobiographical study of Vera Brittain it is brilliant, well worth five stars. I'm astounded that a book so revealing and with characters so obviously based on real people was able to be published; the industry was very different a century ago. And I understand why two of Brittain's fellow students ceremoniously burned their copy, and one of Brittain's tutors shook their hands on finding that out. But I'm very glad to have read it. As a description of female student life at Oxford a century ago it is fascinating.
unabridgedchick's review against another edition
3.0
A feminist examination of Oxford life for women after WWI, Brittain's novel is far from flawless but it still packs a punch. Exploring the lives of two graduates, Brittain reveals the nightmare reality for
women who aspired to make the best marriage possible and the heartache that followed women who chose not to. The plot and writing unravels at the end, but overall, a fascinating book.
women who aspired to make the best marriage possible and the heartache that followed women who chose not to. The plot and writing unravels at the end, but overall, a fascinating book.
More...