Poignant and telling of times past and present.
597128
This tale of adventure and woe speaks to the heart and psyche. How are we controlled by society, peers, maniacs and our own fears? It's hard to admit how barbaric the civilization we support, but food for thought.
1777648
Well written and relevant to both the past and the future. Those who don't know their history are doomed to repeat it.
1779922
There is certain fascination of reading about certain
 characters in such depth.  Cora and her life's path, the people she encounters, and the longing for love and friendship all illustrate the effect of Victorian England on her soul.  At the same time there is a timelessness in her well told story which rings of the contemporary.  Well worth reading.  Bravo!

H
1118605
A touching novel that takes you back in history but moves you in the present. Given what is now happening in the U.S., this story of two brothers who are refugees fleeing Communist Hungary is a timely reminder. Almost all refugees are families struggling just like our own for a normal life, for respect and for dignity. A necessary, indeed, required read for our times.
2494746
This is a beautifully written book that paints a picture of not just one family but and entire time.  We are all connected to our place in history.  This story captures the sites, sounds and colors of the post Depression era into the 1950's through the life and struggles of one very real family.  This gentle, loving remembrance has helped me reconnect with my own history.
3273727
Very well written and has an emotional immediacy of evoking events that happened 30 years as if they just took place.
3509743
A beautifully written story of a time that was not beautiful.  As I read it, I was so often reminded of prejudices that still exist to this day.  While it is a novel, the story is steeped in significant truths and such a good reminder that unless we are vigilant, history can repeat itself in ways we do not want to see.
239103
Poignant analysis of current times using 20th century history as a solid reference.  One hopes we resist and buttress democratic institutions earlier rather than later.
2633084
Beautifully written. Evokes times and traditions long gone with penetrating insights into the four main characters.
1274246
This short book captivates with pivotal stories of our past.

Most of us have grown up knowing the terms Eastern Standard time or Pacific Standard time, but it was not all that long ago each locality measured time by the sunrise and sunset.  Only until the railroads needed a standard to measure by did the world create standard time. Similarly at one time, who controlled the water had the power. Many mills relied on waterflow to power their machines and whoever was upstream literally had the upper hand. Now we think of property rights as the rights over bodies of water. However some of these bodies of water were manufactured and the rights over the water itself can be owned by someone else.

These are two of the stories in this book that deals with years past. Similarly the life and death of a family story tell the story of progress, or is it?  Then there the play that shows  the bucolic simple life that beckons in a play, that many fondly imagine as the past, but few including the actor that created it, had.

This is an interesting book that wanders over time, from it's passage in daily logs and how we measure it, to what we remember as the past and also what we would like to forget.
799700
Told in multiple narratives of a family, this story shifts through time. Each family member has their own distinctive voice and problems. It takes a hard look at the inner life of the Greenwood family, and the man who remembers it all, even when all he has left are his memories of what once was.
Details abound, tugging and pulling you into the stories at hand, and make you feel as though you are right there with the family members. Characters change like the fluidity of water, full of emotion and strife.
This is a well written book, and carefully thought out.
1194825
I particularly enjoyed this book, I think because of the interesting contrast between the present and the past.  The author skillfully switches between the two stories, and she is adept at conveying both a sense of time and place.  I've already finished Death Takes Passage, another one containing lots of interesting historical information, and I'm looking forward to more by Sue Henry.  Thanks for taking me away!
436475
Enjoyed this book.  Excellent story telling of a simpler time and place.
82856
Spanning several years that were, in retrospect, fairly crucial to the changes happening in the world, and more specifically in Ireland, both for women and the country that has struggled with its own identity and rule years.  Mixing the two main characters from disparate situations, we have Rosie, a local child most decidedly not born to the finer things and Victoria, daughter of the Lord of the big house.  Laden with the dynamics of class, power and expectations,  the story is rich with description, setting the scene in ways that readers can instantly connect.  More striking is the ease with which Falvey conveys the history and forces that will ultimately come to blows, pitting countrymen against one another in the series of events most commonly referred to as The Troubles.

From the start, Rosie is the more accessible and empathetic of the two characters: imagine yourself a child with next to nothing, a father and family whos every move depends on the Lord of the Manor, and then being brought into a life of luxury beyond expectations.  Allowed to join in lessons and play time, influencing her new friend to think for herself, even as the world would seek to silence both their voices.  Victoria is a bit harder to suss out, shes been raised to certain expectations, and even the influence of her bold and often brash friend, her only friend in reality, isn't necessarily going to cause her to buck convention.

From the two distinct personalities, we get a sense of their growth and changing alliances, from girls to young women, the two provide a more personal, if not always emotionally available approach to the changes that they experience and see as the world around them pushes and struggles to redefine Ireland, what it means to be Irish, and the questions about home rule.

Wonderful prose features descriptions and political views that bring an understanding of the time, and keeps feeding information in tolerable bits, through the characters understanding and interactions.  While I didn't actually find the romance threads as engaging as the rest of the book, the winner in that contest would have had to have been Victoria and Brandon, bringing the sense of the forbidden in far more palpable ways than did Rosies relationship with her brother, Valentine.  For me, the story is more memorable for delivery of a story that places these disparate elements into the history, allowing an understanding of the various forces and the uneven distribution of power that led so many to speak, and later, act on their frustrations spurred by the unfairness of it all.

I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.
2014768
well written, well rounded characters. I enjoyed the juxtaposition of the past and the present
3440147
A wonderful read from first to last page. And particularly poignant for those of us who lived in or adjacent to the neighborhood shattering events of that time, and remember them as clear as yesterday.  It is a story as relevant today as it was then.  Highly recommended.
1036333
A well developed story that highlights a difficult time in our history, while weaving a tale of love and loss.