Customer Reviews

Shoulder the Sky : A Novel

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The second installment in the (what I'm calling the Reavley series) was, for me, both compelling and disappointing. Compelling because, as usual, Ms Perry does a fantastic job of bringing to life the horrors of trench warfare during WWI, and making us feel the pain, sorrows and fears of the men and women who were at the front. However, while these sections of the "Shoulder the Sky" were really absorbing and mesmerizing, the whole mystery-intrigue subplot of discovering the identity of Peacemaker (the man responsible for the murders of the Reavley parents) and exposing his mad megalomaniacal plan to carve up the world between the Germans and the English, really played second fiddle to the horrors of war subplot. And for an avid mystery reader, this can be rather disappointing. I rather enjoyed all the ruminating that Joseph (the military chaplain at the Front) and his friends go into while they are trying to make these brash young war journalists (who all seem to be antiwar and who all seem to have some personal agenda) understand that while one may not want a war, sometimes fighting for an ideal is something that one must do; however, for most readers who are familiar with the works of the authors and poets of the period, much of this is old ground. And truthfully speaking, I had bought the book more for the mystery-intrigue subplot. So from that standpoint, I was a little disappointed. However, "Shoulder the Sky" is a well written book, full of wonderfully sketched and realised characters (getting to know the Reavley siblings more intimately was a real treat), that poignantly deals with the realities and horrors of war. So that even though I was disappointed that the murder-intrigue subplot played second fiddle this time around, I'd still vote "Shoulder the Sky" as a good 4 star read.

After all that Victoriana, Anne Perry has turned to World War I, with mixed results. In Shoulder the Sky, sequel to No Graves as Yet, she devotes several long, confusing initial chapters to how the complicated events of the previous novel generate the goings-on in this one. The main protagonists--the Reavley family-- are engaging but an awful lot of the exposition and meticulously researched description are anti-war propaganda much more than suspense novel. Perry's phonetic rendering of speech patterns when lower-class soldiers and servants speak is distracting to read and does not advance either plot or character. The plot is basically pretty unrealistic, but not much more so than in most mysteries. I'd be happy to see more of the Reavleys, but in language and plotting that is not quite so "over the top."

I could read Perry's descriptions of a English countryside for hundreds of pages, but I can not say the same about the way she goes on about the emotions the characters are experiencing in this book. When Perry did give descriptions of the horrors of the first World War the book picked up very well, and even the side excursion to Gallipoli was done well. The story does get sidetracked from original murder mystery, but not to a point of no return. The ongoing chase of 'The Peacemaker' still entertains, but his machinations do not seem overly inspired in this book. If the third novel goes the same directions, in terms of exploring the emotional side of the characters, vice historical fiction and mystery I will give up on the series. Instead, I will pick up on the new Arturo Perez-Reverte series sooner then I expected.

I became interested in WWI not as a person looking for tragedies (which it most definitely was) but rather in doing geneaology and learning about a great-uncle of mine who served in Europe during that time period. That geneaology also led to my finding out that my great-grandmother who suffered from epilepsy was placed in a 'poorhouse' due to epilepsy, where she died from influenza that struck the world at the end of the war. All this information made my family seem more real to me, and made me want to read more about their lives then, what was good, what was bad.

I've found a few very excellent mystery writers who write within this time frame, such as Charles Todd. I love his books,and though I am not absolutely crazy about Perry's other mysteries, I knew she was a fairly good writer...so I thought I'd give these a try.Other than being overly repititious, Perry did an interesting story here. There are a few subplots going on, involving a family of four adult children who in the midst of living their lives are also trying to find the person who assassinated their parents (in the first book which I have yet to read).

Two of the children are at the front; one as a chaplain who is feeling somewhat useless in the face of so much carnage, and one is a voluntary ambulance driver who seems to have found her calling. A rather objectionable journalist finds his way to their area of the front, and proceeds to antagonize everyone, and it is obvious that he means to blow the lid of this can of worms about how useless this war is and discourage other young men from signing up for the draft and keeping other countries from assisting Germany. What is not known is this man is in cahoots with the man who killed Reavely parents for ulterior reasons of splitting the world up into basically two halves, and greatly curtailing individual freedoms.

This man is killed, and though no one is mourning his loss, the priest finds it necessary for his own peace of mind to determine who killed him and bring that person to some form of justice. In doing so, he ends up hurting himself...which sometimes happens when we do what is right.

Many of the accolades given to Perry on her writing are true. She does do justice to the time period, when so much seemed so bleak, and where it is difficult to find a moral compass when so much is at stake. I enjoyed this and will continue to read them as they come out.

Karen Sadler

I am not usually an Anne Perry fan, but this series is wonderful, can't put the books down. I have read all three books in the series, starting with Shoulder the Sky. I can't wait for the next one. I am now an Anne Perry fan.

Episode two of the hunt for the bumbling master spy(Peacemaker) is an improvement over the unfortunate initial episode, No Graves as Yet. There are some good scenes: the beaches at Gallipoli, the amusing downfall of Judy's competitor for the General's wheel, the encounter with the German sub, etc.
But we still have the preposterous underlying theme that George V would trade continental Europe for German help in retaking the United States for the British Empire. That task made more difficult as Miss Perry has Mexican armies pouring over the Southwestern border to conquer the U.S. Even Zimmerman didn't expect that much.
Then there is Private Corliss who dominates the opening chapters by suffering a crushed hand, a suspected Self Inflicted Wound(SIW), for which he is court martialed and sentenced to death.
In WWI, the test for an SIW was whether the injury was caused by British ammunition, not the case here. There were 3,894 recorded SIWs in the British Army during the war; the penalty was a prison sentence. No one was subject to the death penalty for an SIW.
We have Chaplain Joseph who spends half the book playing police detective; a general in command of substantial forces at Ypres who spends most of his time with his attractive driver and seems to have no contact with his regimental commanders or the battles; a reporter for a small newspaper chain whose accurate depiction from Gallipoli would cause millions of Britons to abandon the war, even though the millions had already heard the truth from their sons, daughters, and husbands; etc.
On the bright side, there is a new Pitt mystery, Long Spoon Lane, where Miss Perry makes us feel right at home in both the drawing rooms and the slums of Victorian London. IMO her reach toward World War I is a war too far.

Anne Perry's "Shoulder the Sky," is set in 1915, approximately eight months into WWI. This is the second in a five part series which takes place during the war. The first novel, "No Graves As Yet," deals with a conspiracy that would bring dishonor to Great Britain and threaten all of Europe. The details are recorded in a document which, if placed in the wrong hands, would defame England at a time when the continent is one step away from open hostilities. The mystery of who is behind the plot is not solved in the first novel, and plays a large part in this book's storyline. However, it is not necessary to read "No Graves As Yet" to fully enjoy this latest installment, as the author does an excellent job of bringing new readers up to date in the first few chapters.

Eight months into the war, Captain Joseph Reavley, chaplain and former Cambridge professor, is ministering to the wounded and dying in the thick of trench warfare on the Western Front. Eldon Prentice, a war correspondent arrives and begins to ask Reavley's men extremely inappropriate questions. He is an arrogant troublemaker. With his insensitive queries, he quickly earns the animosity of everyone he comes into contact with, including Joseph. When the journalist decides to file a report on soldiers' self-inflicted wounds, the men become bitter and more resentful. Soon after his arrival, Prentice is found dead, murdered. He was drowned, with his head held under the filthy water of the trenches in no-mans' land, an area forbidden to most noncombatants. It soon becomes evident that the murder was committed by one of Joseph's soldiers. The chaplain's conscience demands that he seek the truth of one man's death, amidst the deaths of so many thousands.

Matthew Reavley, Joseph's younger brother, is a member of England's Secret Intelligence Service, (SIS). His primary assignment is to discover the identity of "The Peacemaker," a mysterious figure who represents those who seek to make a treaty between Kaiser Wilhelm II and King George V, which would unite warring Germany and Britain into a common front. England would abandon France and Belgium to the Germans. The Germans and the British would then form an empire to divide the world between them. "Most of Europe would fall to Germany, who would help Britain to keep its present empire and add to it the old colonies, including the entire United States."

The previous summer, before the outbreak of the war, the Reavley siblings lost their parents, John and Alys, in a car crash which was proved to be a "careful and deliberate murder." The day before his death, John Reavley, a former member of Parliament, had phoned Matthew to tell him that he discovered a document that outlined a plan which, if implemented, "would ruin England's honor and change the history of the world" - the Peacemaker's plan. The deadly "accident" occurred, while John was driving from his home in St. Giles, along with his wife Alys, to deliver the papers to his son. The killer, a mere pawn in the game, is dead as is his brother. The instigator of the treasonous plot, however, is alive and hard at work. He believes he can convince the King to sign the treaty to form the "Anglo-German hegemony." "The Peacemaker" has to be someone important enough to have access to both King and Kaiser. And he must be stopped!

Twenty-four year-old Judith Reavley, sister to Joseph and Matthew, is a volunteer driver/translator for the general in command of the Ypres Salient. She is grieving for her parents and decides that volunteering for the war effort will help take her mind off her individual pain. When not acting as General Cullingford's chauffeur, she drives an ambulance.

The action alternates between the Ypres Salient in Belgium, England, and Gallipoli. An espionage thriller, murder mystery and historical novel, "Shoulder the Sky" depicts the horrors of trench warfare, with its filth, stench of death and decay, the use of gas as a weapon, and the terrible toll in human life. The intensity of World War I trench warfare meant about 10% of the fighting soldiers were killed. This is compared to 4.5% killed during WWII.

The Prentice murder is ultimately solved, but there is little mystery involved. I was totally absorbed in the building tension surrounding The Peacemaker and international espionage. I did become frustrated when I realized, that this particular plot-line would not be resolved in "Shoulder the Sky." As the tension has been building since the first novel, one can only wonder if Ms. Perry is waiting for book 5 to reach the denouement. However, her writing is good, as always, although there are a few places where the pace slows. If not for these issues, I would have rated the novel 5 Stars. Highly recommended, especially for fans of Anne Perry, and those readers with interest in the history of the Great War.
Jana Perskie

At Some Disputed Barricade: A Novel (World War I)
We Shall Not Sleep: A Novel (World War I)
No Graves As Yet: A Novel (World WarI)
Angels in the Gloom: A Novel (World War I)

In her second book of her World War I series, Shoulder The Sky, Anne Perry delivers another stunning story revolving around the Reavley siblings. The death of a young war correspondent, Eldon Prentice, at first seems to be one of the many casualties of war. Upon closer inspection, Joseph Reavley, a Chaplin working on the front lines in Ypres, suspects Prentice was not a casualty of war, but murdered. Meanwhile Matthew Reavley, a diligent employee of the Secret Intelligence Service, continues to track down the elusive Peacemaker. While the plot line itself is fantastic, it is Perry's ability to paint a vivid picture of life during the war that captivates the reader. Perry is unrelenting in her description of life in the trenches. She has a unique ability to convey the horrors of war, but at the same time express the fierce companionship between the men fighting for what they believe in. Even if the plotline does not interest you, her meticulous research and dramatic presentation of the war effort is well worth the read. I find it hard to believe that after writing so many novels Anne Perry is still able to present us with fresh storylines, incredibly realistic characters and a vivid reconstruction of life during World War I. This is definitely one of Perry's better works.

This quotation that Perry quotes in her book really describes what Ms. Perry is trying to accomplish with this novel. If there is another work out there that better describes the horrors and confusion of war, I haven't seen it. In this book Ms. Perry continues her saga of the Reavely family, and their ongoing search to uncover a traitor that they call "The Peacemaker". All this in the stunning backdrop of the horrible First World War (the War to End All Wars). Ms. Perry's description of battles and the carnage that ensues from them is in itself enough of a reason to read the book. But the way she portrays the simple human dignity and the many acts of kindness that occur in the midst of the cacaphony of the battlefield and the way the soldiers deal with these unspeakable horrors is unmatched. This book is a masterpiece and there is no other word for it. This whole series is shaping up to be something very worthy of note. It is not an easy book to read because the battle scenes are truly terrible, but it is so well-written that it forces the reader to keep turning pages. A truly horrific novel with extraordinary people. Words do fail me.

I cannot say I enjoyed this book, largely because the main character, Joseph Reaveley, seemed to me to be self-absorbed and oddly moralistic in his approach to the horrors of war and the challenge of defending what often seems entirely indefensible. For example, there is the rotten war correspondent who forces (though heaven knows why) a courtmartial of a poor wounded soldier who may or may not have deliberately maimed himself to get out of the trenches and tunnels he was wounded in. It is never quite clear why in the face of no evidence of self-mutilation this fellow is courtmartialed and possibly (we never know) likely to be hung. It is, apparently, because, morality and honor require this??? Then, when this same correspondent turns up dead (with everyone thinking it couldn't have happened to a nicer fellow)- Saint Chaplain Reavely takes it upon himself to find out if he was murdered and if so, by whom. This, in the midst of trench warfare, poison gas - and then the idiocy of Gallipoli - where Joseph appears to confront another war correspondent who thinks the stupidity of that battle should be reported. Oh no, says our Joseph who is horrified that anyone in England should know of this - and tries to stop him - risking his own death (how incredibly brave) as well as that of another poor wounded fellow who, of course, is ready and willing to die, because Joseph knows best. Then, of course, there is Joseph's moral outrage at his sister who is chastely yearning for a General, and his "courageous" decision to ruin his best friend's life because doing so is "the morally defensible and right thing to do" despite the fact that Joe knows what his friend did was necessary to save England from the truth of the horrors of war. Really? This was the most disappointing of this series. Joe's previous moralizing was a bit much - but tolerable. This one was way over the top and thoroughly unbelievable.