"L" and I liked this one, though the opening sentences of the the first chapter don't reach out and grab the reader. Set in January 1917, the first sentence is: "A young woman stood under a street lamp." -- Not exactly on par with "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." But hey, the Ephron sisters are known for screenwriting, so one takes that into account...keep reading. The first short paragraph ends with: "It was dusk. A light rain was falling." -- Again, this is not flowery writing. We're given "the scene."
This book is small, literally, as in, it measures 5" x 7" -- not the normal 6x9 size to which we're accustomed. And at this small size, with a total of 200 pages, and lots of white space, this was a quick read, which was nice.
The setting is during World War 1, which is interesting,. My grandfather/"L's" father served in WW1. Not enough of us read about that war, or at least I don't. We've read (and continue to read) tons about World War 2. And yet, it was during WW1 when the influenza pandemic gripped the world. A pandemic that seems largely forgotten - or at least not discussed - in America. My grandfather came down with the influenza while at a military camp stateside. And yet I hadn't heard this fact until I was in my 50s (yes, I'm still in my 50s now, so it wasn't too long ago).
If you're looking for a book with some romance, with some quandaries about "duty" to family and country, as well as some scene-setting that's smack in the middle of WW1, you'd like this book.
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