Superb!

The Summer Before the War: A Novel by Helen Simonson

Beatrice Nash makes her way into a small community at Rye in Sussex as the Latin teacher at the local school.

It's 1914 in Edwardian England. In these times, just prior to World War I, women have their place and teaching Latin s not one of them.

Her father had been a respected able Latin scholar. Beatrice had accompanied him and run the household. With his death, Beatrice, at the mercy of relations is cast adrift as it were by an autocratic aunt. Now all is bemusement and she enters a strange new world. What a wonderful microcosm of British society this book describes, as England is at the dawn of a new age that quickly turn into a fearful world.

An amazing story, with strength, compassion and fascination on every page.

In many ways I feel that what we have is a collection of vignettes on Edwardian life artfully woven into a complex, intimate and compelling story. The issues that raise their head are often understated but no less very present, from the dependence of women, gossip and village politics; a time when war was a great adventure before the reality set in.

A NetGalley ARC

*****