Going Back [Paperback]

Penelope Lively (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1994

World War II turns the privileged lives of Jane and Edward upside down. Left in the care of servants, they suddenly experience a whole new world - land-girls and concientious objectors. But their enchanted life is shattered when Edward is sent away to school.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Mammoth (November 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0749717831
• ISBN-13: 978-0749717834
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,858,992 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recalling a Wartime Childhood, May 25, 2006

By 

Renee Thorpe (Karangasem, Bali) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Going Back (Paperback)

Lively is fascinated with memory and remembering, and this short novel is a successful demonstration of both.

A woman goes back to her rural childhood home, where tender and poignant memories seem to materialize. But it is as if the reader sees more than she, and therein lies the subtle power of Lively's book.

Part antiwar tale, part indictment of the British stiff upper lip, and part illustration of WWII era England, it is a beautiful illustration of children's perceptions and lives. Reader follows along as protagonist suffers a combination of the ability to see underlying truths and the curse of being powerless to do anything about them.

Full of good humor but equally tragic, with plenty of compelling details and delights.

Originally conceived as a children's tale, Lively developed it into a novel for adults. But I imagine that many adolescent readers would find it equally engaging.