Book info

• Title
• Author Helen Humphreys
• Year
• Genres

Thoughts

I liked the first half of this, whereby a prisoner of war spends his days watching the birdlife just outside the camp rather than dealing with the atrocities of life inside with the Nazis. It was interesting to see the relationship develop between him and the Kommandant.

The book splits up though, swapping narratives to focus on the wife left behind and the sister escaping from London. I thought it was building to something good, but I felt a bit let down by the ending. None of the characters seemed happy, none as though they had gone through a journey towards anything other than absolute misery.

As a way of showing the bleakness and death surrounding war, it worked well, because I was left feeling depressed and bereft. Perhaps that was the aim, in which case it was well done. I would have liked just the tiniest glimpse of sunshine, though.

Rating: Unrated