July 9, 2016

The Summer Before the War

Author: Helen Simonson
Genre: Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio, 2016
Pages: 496 pages, 13 discs
Rating: Highly Recommend

Synopsis: East Sussex, 1914. It is the end of England’s brief Edwardian summer, and everyone agrees that the weather has never been so beautiful. Hugh Grange, down from his medical studies, is visiting his Aunt Agatha, who lives with her husband in the small, idyllic coastal town of Rye. Agatha’s husband works in the Foreign Office, and she is certain he will ensure that the recent saber rattling over the Balkans won’t come to anything. And Agatha has more immediate concerns; she has just risked her carefully built reputation by pushing for the appointment of a woman to replace the Latin master.

When Beatrice Nash arrives with one trunk and several large crates of books, it is clear she is significantly more freethinking—and attractive—than anyone believes a Latin teacher should be. For her part, mourning the death of her beloved father, who has left her penniless, Beatrice simply wants to be left alone to pursue her teaching and writing.

But just as Beatrice comes alive to the beauty of the Sussex landscape and the colorful characters who populate Rye, the perfect summer is about to end. For despite Agatha’s reassurances, the unimaginable is coming. Soon the limits of progress, and the old ways, will be tested as this small Sussex town and its inhabitants go to war.

Review: I had this book out from the library and just didn't get to it, so I checked out the audio version after reading some positive reviews. The narrator was fantastic. I would have enjoyed the hardback version too, I'm sure, but there's something about listening to a British accent when the novel is set in England. 

I just loved everything about this book, the narrator, the plot, the characters. Highly Recommend.

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