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A review by girlwithherheadinabook
The Heroes' Welcome by Louisa Young
2.0
Recently, I pulled My Dear I Wanted To Tell You from the To Be Read pile, not least because the wonderful people of Goodreads were sending me a copy of the sequel. The sequel arrived, I read it. Here we are. Louisa Young appears to be following in the footsteps of Elizabeth Jane Howard in chronicling a family moving through the twentieth century and there is a definite suggestion of more to come. I have mentioned feeling slightly underwhelmed by the first in the series; it dealt with the topic of facial disfigurements and the pioneering work in plastic surgery which took place as a result of the First World War but somehow lacked emotional resonance. It invited comparisons to Atonement in its subject matter but rather failed to live up to them. Nevertheless, Louisa Young's personal passion for the period came across vividly and I approached The Heroes' Welcome with interest.
The title obviously comes from David Lloyd George's speech telling the nation to make Britain a country 'fit for heroes to live'. Cue twenty years of economic instability and another world war. In focussing on the aftermath for the survivors rather than the tragic lost generation, Louisa Young takes an innovative approach. Still, as I began the novel, it was with a sense of irritation that the apparent positive conclusion to My Dear I Wanted To Tell You was an apparent false hope. Riley and Nadine tramp off on their honeymoon feeling too awkward to touch each other let alone consummate, Peter returns to drinking and Julia goes back to fussing around trying to make Peter love her and being hopeless with her child. Rose sits in the background and looks underused.
For my full review:
http://girlwithherheadinabook.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/review-heroes-welcome-louisa-young.html
The title obviously comes from David Lloyd George's speech telling the nation to make Britain a country 'fit for heroes to live'. Cue twenty years of economic instability and another world war. In focussing on the aftermath for the survivors rather than the tragic lost generation, Louisa Young takes an innovative approach. Still, as I began the novel, it was with a sense of irritation that the apparent positive conclusion to My Dear I Wanted To Tell You was an apparent false hope. Riley and Nadine tramp off on their honeymoon feeling too awkward to touch each other let alone consummate, Peter returns to drinking and Julia goes back to fussing around trying to make Peter love her and being hopeless with her child. Rose sits in the background and looks underused.
For my full review:
http://girlwithherheadinabook.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/review-heroes-welcome-louisa-young.html