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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Soldier As Dorian Gray, December 14, 2009
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This is a riveting achievement -- perhaps the most personal and devastating novels about the effects of war on the human soul that I have ever read.
At the center of this book is Hal Treherne, a major in the British Army, called to duty to the British colony of Cyprus. There, he and his beautiful young wife, Clara, and their two baby daughters, set up life in the midst of escalating skirmishes.
Like the mythical Dorian Gray, Major Treherne initially becomes infatuated...with the glory of war. But his euphoria quickly fades. Early on, he directs a siege, where an ambush group pours petrol down the exit shaft of a cave, followed by grenades, and stands by as men -- either blackened or burned -- come stumbling out. Gradually, this, and other debaunched acts, darken his soul while outwardly, he gives the appearance of being successful and in command.
Even finding comfort with Clara becomes impossible. Sadie Jones writes: "Without looking at her, he took his eye down her horizon...small hill for head, little steep valley into neck, hill off shoulder, deep valley to wait...not a home landscape then, an island." The love and sustenance this couple found in each other disintegrates; although it is not defined, this is a devastating portrait of post traumatic stress disorder.
As Hal and Clara each struggle -- separately and alone -- to remain human in an inhuman world, the atrocities begin to hit home. And Hal is faced with a choice: to make a separate peace or to continue the insanity.
This is an extraordinarily polished book; Sadie Jones knows just when to lead the reader with lush detail and when to step back and let the reader's imagination take over. It evokes books such as Ian McEwan's Atonement,Hemingway's Farewell to Arms, and Kate Grenville's The Lieutenant, but yet carves a niche all its own. I will not soon forget it.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Military family on Cyprus during the insurrection, December 5, 2009
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
Small Wars is built around one of the native insurrections that eventually destroyed the British Empire's colonial system. Dedicated young Major Hal Treherne is posted there to help maintain Cyprus as British territory in opposition to the Cypriots who desire union with Greece. His wife Clara and young children join him there, all of them thinking this would be a pleasant posting and an excellent career move.
Greek Cypriot nationalism is increasing. It is 1956, and a revolution is brewing. Terrorist attacks are getting bolder - and Hal's assignment is to catch and bring in or kill the revolutionaries and their supporters. As the attacks - by both sides - increase, Hal spends more and more time away from his family. The British arrest and interrogate many Greek Cypriots. As Hal participates in the fighting and killing, and becomes aware of the severity of the torture involved with the interrogations, he begins to question the actions of his soldiers and superiors.
Meanwhile, Clara is becoming more and more frightened for herself and her children. The terrorist attacks have reached the British compound, and she is afraid to go out of the house. Hal, her only real emotional support, is seldom home and she feels escalating concern over his safety.
The reader cannot help but become involved with this family and the events that batter them. While the war in Cyprus is considered a small police action by the British authorities, it has a devastating impact on the soldiers' families.
Small Wars is very timely and is well written.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Small Wars, Big Story, November 29, 2009
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Don't let the the cover of this book fool you as it did me. This is no light War Love Story. It is the story of when the British Military were in Cyprus during the 1950's. This is the account of a battalion who got "caught up in the battle to defend the island against Cypriots seeking enosis, union with Greece."
Major Hal Treherne, his wife Clara and their young twin daughters are all in Cyprus together. Families of soldiers are allowed to live with them at this posting. Hal deals all day with some pretty gruesome battles, faced with making decisions that civilians would and should never have to make. He is also in charge of many men under him. In turn he returns home to his family almost daily trying to behave as a "normal" family man. It is not so easy.
There are many things I found hard to read yet it gave me a much better understanding of what really happens in war,what men and women are capable of if put to the test.
It is also a study of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, although it is never mentioned in the book. I found this to be a very good book by this author.
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