kba76's review
4.0
Settling down to read this I was, like quite a lot of readers, irritated by the situation that Vivian was placed in at the start of the novel. She could seem unlikeable, but I felt desperately sorry for this passionate and loving woman and how she was constrained by her time. The interweaving of historical detail was skilful, and I was absorbed by this once it all got going. The relationship between Howard and Vivian, though 'wrong' felt so right. Loved it!
julie7's review
1.0
Found the characters extremely unlikeable, hence could not engage with the story at all.
A little bit lame for my liking.
A little bit lame for my liking.
luby's review
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
_callielimb's review
4.0
What. A. Book. Slow to start but the last two hundred pages are amazing.
Publication date is June 4th 2015. My full review will be up around then.
Publication date is June 4th 2015. My full review will be up around then.
cazzer's review
3.0
Very slow but I did want to know what happened but feel it was about 7 times longer than it needed to be
amyvl93's review
3.0
Adele Parks is a really popular contemporary fiction writer, but I hadn’t ever picked up any of her novels. My Mum lent me If You Go Away, which is Parks’ first foray into historical fiction. It follows two characters; Vivian, a debutante who is forced into a loveless marriage to cover up her ‘indiscretions’ during her season and Howard, a playwright who gains notoriety for refusing to enlist in the First World War for no…real reason. Their paths cross when Vivian finds herself running her husband’s country home, and Howard returns to his home village. This isn’t a novel that does anything particularly new; once Vivian loses her snobbery and gets her hands dirty she discovers new things about herself she’s never known…once Howard views The Front with his own eyes he begins to reconsider his thoughts on the war. However, it’s a fairly light, easy read; and Parks does do a good job at evocative passages about the First World War.
blodeuedd's review
3.0
Vivian is loving the season, she has a great man on the hook, but things change and she marries Aubrey. Who is really dull. But then she was just a pretty face anyway, before her marriage that really was all she was.
Marriage. World War 1, and her being sent to live alone in the country. This is where the book started to remind me of another book *checks old review* Ok not that similar, just the bad marriage, alone and was going on part, and the new guy *ahem*.
Vivian really grows as a person. She learns that there is more than pretty dresses and dances. You have to work hard, war takes a lot, and she forms opinions of her own.
And Aubrey was a bore.
Then there is Howard, he and Vivian has alternate chapters, I did find his chapters boring until they met. He was just boring. He goes to report on the war. He sees that it's hell. He decides not to join, and he is sent to prison to get executed cos that is what they do with cowards. But he was no coward, he just found it stupid that hundreds of thousands are sent to be cannon fodder.
Anyone who reads the blurb gets that they will meet and something will happen.....
It was a good book, sure some Howard chapters were a bit meh, but read them fast and get to the good bits.
Marriage. World War 1, and her being sent to live alone in the country. This is where the book started to remind me of another book *checks old review* Ok not that similar, just the bad marriage, alone and was going on part, and the new guy *ahem*.
Vivian really grows as a person. She learns that there is more than pretty dresses and dances. You have to work hard, war takes a lot, and she forms opinions of her own.
And Aubrey was a bore.
Then there is Howard, he and Vivian has alternate chapters, I did find his chapters boring until they met. He was just boring. He goes to report on the war. He sees that it's hell. He decides not to join, and he is sent to prison to get executed cos that is what they do with cowards. But he was no coward, he just found it stupid that hundreds of thousands are sent to be cannon fodder.
Anyone who reads the blurb gets that they will meet and something will happen.....
It was a good book, sure some Howard chapters were a bit meh, but read them fast and get to the good bits.