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Picture Book (2012)

by Jo Baker(Favorite Author)

3.39 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

184627382X (ISBN13: 9781846273827)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Portobello Books

review 1: 3.5 stars.I'm a fan of multi-generational stories and anything with a "world war" connection usually piques my interest. In this story, four generations of an English family are shaped by experiences with war -- whether first- or secondhand.My issue isn't with the writing, which was quite good, but with the character of Sully. My feeling is that if the first half of the novel had been a novella, maybe, it would have been five stars. Once Sully was no longer in the picture, I felt I had more and more lost the connective thread between the generations. Also, some of the characters were given barely a scene or two, hardly enough to truly know them or to really be interested in their threads.Still, I appreciated the subtle underlying messages of the book and would read more by... more this author.
review 2: I felt like I had already read this story, repeatedly. Can there really be that much more to say about how WWI ruined everyone's life and how quickly WWII came on its heels? None of the characters were fully drawn and nobody in 4 generations was happy for more than a minute. Consequences by Penelope Lively is a much better rendering of the same story. That being said, the author's writing is beautiful, her word choices inspired. Disappointed, but would try something else by Jo Baker. less

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