Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Layers of Meaning,
By G. Marlow (Arkansas) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Alice in Love and War (Paperback)
I don't very often turn right around and re-read a book as soon as I finish, but I am doing it this time. That's because there is so much in this book I'm not sure I got everything out of it the first time around.
On one level, the story is good historical fiction, putting faces on the events of the English Civil War. I had a passing knowledge of those events from my British Lit classes in college, but I didn't really realize how brutal the war was. Turnbull dramatizes the events through the eyes of a young woman who is following the army, which gives readers a front-row seat to the consequences of the fighting. The story also has a romance that will satisfy. I have to admit that for the first half of the book I felt like I was watching a train wreck about to happen. Reading as an adult, I can look at the situation Alice finds herself in with an understanding of what's coming -- but it's no less heartbreaking. That's what makes the ending feel so good. Finally, I thought the book has good, thought-provoking explorations of the difference between infatuation and love, and of living with the consequences of the choices we make. This is a young adult book, and both of these themes are highly relevant to young women. Yet Turnbull, by putting the messages into the context of Alice's story, avoids being "preachy" and allows readers to draw their own conclusions. I agree with the previous reviewer that some of the themes and events are for more mature young readers, but I would definitely recommend the book to young women who like historical fiction.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful historical novel for teens set during the English Civil War.,
This review is from: Alice in Love and War (Paperback)
Alice Newcombe's father dies when she was eleven, leaving her an orphan. She is sent to live on her aunt and uncle's farm, where she feels unwelcome from the start. Five years pass, until Alice is sixteen in the year 1644. Civil war divides England, but Alice is most worried about fighting off the unwelcome advances of her uncle, and fears what will happen if one day, she cannot fight him off. So when Royalist soldiers come to their village, and Alice falls in love with one young soldier named Robin, she seizes her chance to escape, and leaves with Robin to join the other women on the baggage train following the army.
Life is hard, but Alice becomes friends with many of the women on the baggage train. And she loves Robin, and is sure he loves her too. But when he leaves her alone for the winter, she begins to wonder if he was honest with her, and if he really cares for her as much as she did. What will happen to her if he does not return? Can she make her own way in a country torn apart by a violent war? Alice in Love and War is an excellent historical novel that brings to life the English Civil War, a time period I didn't know much about as an American reader. Alice is a well-developed and likeable character and the book kept me turning the pages eagerly to find out what would happen to her next. There are some mature themes in this book, although not described in graphic detail, so I wouldn't recommend this book for young readers, but it is an excellent book for teens - and adults too - who love historical fiction.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
