What’s your NetGalley ‘effort level’? Until recently I made sure that I reviewed (in a timely manner) at least half of what I requested however that has slipped a little of late. I don’t want the nice people at NetGalley to stop sending things my way so I’m making a two-fold effort – request less and review more. I have five ARCs in the TBR stack and next is Unexploded by Alison Macleod. Thought it would be a good one to share for First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday (as always, with thanks to Bibliophile by the Sea for hosting).
The story is set in 1940. Geoffrey and Evelyn Beaumont and their eight-year-old son, Philip, anxiously await news of the expected enemy landing on the beaches of Brighton. The year brings tension and change. While Geoffrey becomes Superintendent of the enemy alien camp at the far reaches of town, Evelyn struggles to fall in with the war effort and her thoughts become tinged with a mounting, indefinable desperation. Then she meets Otto Gottlieb, a ‘degenerate’ German-Jewish painter and prisoner in her husband’s internment camp. As Europe crumbles, Evelyn’s and Otto’s mutual distrust slowly begins to change into something else, which will shatter the structures on which her life, her family and her community rest.
It begins –
“The talk that May afternoon was of the rockfall at the undercliff. A fisherman’s dory had been buried, along with his dog, and the collapse had taken part of the sea wall with it. The news, though negligible compared with the reports from across the Channel, was repeated and wondered at in town, as if nerves of the population ran like thin fuses through the cliff-line’s strata of chalk and flint.
She stepped from the dim cave of the house-goods shop into a dazzle of sea light, and, turning left rather than right, walked briskly north up Ship Street, away from the prom where onlookers still gathered in hope of seeing another boat safely returned. The music from the empty rides on the Pier receded. She shifted the weight of purchases in her arms. At no point did she turn back to take in the spectacle on the beach, for she didn’t want to see what the man in the shop had described, the ghostly flotilla of little boats, some pocked by gunfire, listing oddly around the old carousel.”
There’s no question that novels about the Second World War are ubiquitous but this one did grab my attention, if only for the cover photograph (sitting on the beach reading doesn’t really go with barbed wire, does it?!). Should I keep reading?
I love the cover on this one and it sounds interesting to me…. I want to read it 🙂
I’ve read a few WWII books of late and have a few in my reading stack but this one does seem to have a point of difference. I think it made the Man Booker longlist as well.
I try to avoid war stories lately, but this one sounds good. I’d keep reading. Thanks so much for joining us this week; I appreciate it.
Sounds good.
That cover certainly grabs your attention… I’d keep reading. Will be curious to hear what you think.
Review WILL come soon – I’m determined to get through these ARCs!
I would keep reading. I enjoy novels set in England during the war, especially since I had family living outside of London during that time and remember stories I’ve been told over the years.
Here’s my Tuesday pick: http://www.bookclublibrarian.com/2013/10/first-chapter-first-paragraph-36.html
I did think the war from the Brighton beach was an interesting setting.
Thanks for stopping by.
Stories from WWII are fascinating to me…I was born during that war. (Makes me ancient, huh?). And I like the images in the opening paragraph…the word pictures.
Here’s MY TUESDAY MEMES POST
Hehe – just like when YA readers talk about ‘retro’ stuff from the 80s… makes me feel VERY old also (I’m Gen X – 1972)
I am not currently requesting books from NetGalley (or Edelweiss) because I need to catch up with my reading and reviews. 🙁
I am drawn to WWII stories and so would definitely continue reading.
It sure sounds good to me!
Here is my post
Thanks for stopping by.
The cover is intriguing. I am in the middle of three books that take place during and just before WWII.
For whatever reason, I tend to read a bunch of similar books in a row. I have just read a few foodie books but think I’m entering a WWII phase!
I agree, the cover is attractive and I do like the opening paragraph. I think you should keep reading. Kelley at the road goes ever ever on
Thanks for visiting.
5 is doing good I have 30, I am trying to make my way through them and read nothing else until I get quite a few more read.
Oh no, five is just the number that are being published within next few months! There’s probably another 25 that have already been published… yes, I’m slack.
Don’t worry that’s the same for me too, I took on too many at once, I have a few that have already been published, that I got before publication, so making those my second priority.
This one caught my attention when I was on a WWII kick. Haven’t read it yet but eager to hear what you think of it!
Stay tuned for a review!
🙂 Will do.