A Son of War: A Novel [Paperback]

Melvyn Bragg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 7, 2004

After the Second World War, many found a return to the old life more difficult than they had anticipated. Like Sam Richardson, who was determined to leave Cumbria for the promised land of Australia. Yet now, a few months on, he has settled for a job in a paper factory, and believes he has put his memories of fighting in Burma behind him. His wife, Ellen, begins to know better...

--This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This is the second volume of a trilogy that began with The Soldier's Return, about a family in a little town in Cumbria, in the northwest of England, in the years following WWII; the trilogy has been heralded in Bragg's native Britain as his masterwork. It is certainly, in its first two volumes, a highly impressive achievement, spinning an utterly convincing tale of small lives that embrace large issues of faith, courage, endurance and aspiration. Sam Richardson, a thoughtful working man whose life has been enlarged by his war experience in Burma, continues to find it difficult to settle back into Wigton, and eventually finds independence in taking over an old pub and bringing it back to life. This is hard on his wife, Ellen, whose dream of a more intimate home has to be given up; she has to realize, too, that her half-brother Colin, who suddenly surfaces with news of her cherished but mysterious father but is shifty and evasive, is not the kind of man Sam can tolerate. And young Joe, their son, entering a painful adolescence beset by nameless fears, has to straddle the disparate worlds and demands of his mother and father, trying to be at once tough and tender. Bragg has a remarkable knack for entering into the hearts and minds of his characters, and his understanding of their milieu, still an almost feudal one in many respects even in the mid-20th century, is acute. This is an old-fashioned book in the best sense: sympathetic, leisurely, absorbing and warmly believable.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* In a sequel to his critically acclaimed The Soldier's Return (2002), Bragg continues his tale of soldier Sam Richardson, now coping with civilian life in post-World War II England. The adjustment has been as difficult for Sam's wife, Ellen, and his small son, Joe, as it has been for Sam. Sweeping changes in lifestyle and the social fabric are taking place throughout England, and the Richardsons and their relatives, friends, and neighbors are not immune. Sam's disappointment over having stayed behind when his best mate moved to the "greener pastures" of Australia has left him restless, short tempered, and jealous of the close dependency that developed between Ellen and Joe while Sam was away fighting. Ellen and Joe are intimidated and slightly fearful of the man who left as their husband and father and returned as a stranger. The surprise appearance of Ellen's heretofore-unknown brother makes things even more difficult. But despite the problems, the war-shattered dreams, the grinding poverty, the worries about Joe hooking up with the wrong "gang," the Richardsons survive and thrive, and the story of their efforts makes for a hauntingly evocative slice of postwar life. A compelling, deeply moving, and beautifully written novel. Emily Melton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Arcade Publishing (July 7, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559707208
• ISBN-13: 978-1559707206
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,347,463 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Masterful as ever, July 6, 2003

By 

L. B. Juan (Coos Bay, Oregon USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Son of War (Hardcover)

I'm an avid reader from way back of Melvyn Bragg's fiction, and it has never disappointed. Too little of it, I think, has made it to this country, and sometimes when it has, it's been diluted down for what some seem to assume is the short attention span of U.S. readers. Maybe that assumption is changing? First The Soldier's Return undiluted; now A Son Of War. And this time Bragg has outdone himself. I'm jazzed!

In England, Melvyn Bragg has often been compared to Thomas Hardy, but I defy anyone to find an American writer this side of John Steinbeck or William Inge who can better evoke the understated drama of a small town, whatever the nation. A Son of War is not a piece to be gobbled up at poolside like fast food, but rather to be savored, in a hammock under dappled sunlight or in a sofa by a wood stove. It's an emotional story well told, to be reflected on, and the author's use of the English language is, as always, to be relished.

From where I sit, A Son Of War is Bragg's most intimate and moving work to date. I recommend it to anyone who loves reading. I recommended it to ... anyone!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A stand-alone sequel to The Soldier's Return., August 15, 2004

By 

Mary Whipple (New England) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: A Son of War: A Novel (Paperback)

When Sam Richardson returns home to Wigton, a small village in Cumbria, after World War II, he recognizes his limited future there and the social barriers. Because his wife Ellen and small son Joe have spent their entire lives there, however, he chooses to remain, rather than go to Australia to start a new life, and he must now learn to adapt to peace as effectively as he once adapted to war. Wigton, however, represents "his limitations, his predestined mediocrity, his inevitable failure to be at the full stretch of himself," and he feels stifled.

Small events and everyday life, not dramatic plot lines, become the focus of the novel as Sam works at the local factory, tries to reestablish his relationship with his wife Ellen, and serves as a masculine role model for his son Joe. Sam is an Everyman--a man without an education who is dependent upon "the system" for his family's welfare, a man who must put up with slights and insults by his factory bosses if he wants to keep his job, a man for whom there is little or no opportunity for independent thought and action. Sam's big decision to set up his own business is a decision he makes alone, even though it will require enormous sacrifices by the whole family.

The daily lives of the Richardson family reveal the social, political, and economic issues of rural England from the end of the war through 1954. Dividing the novel into several sections, Bragg conveys the viewpoints of Sam, Ellen, and Joe through plain-spoken dialogues and interior monologues, short sentences, and simple vocabulary. We see Ellen's joy at finally having a house of her own in Greenacres, a public housing development, but also her dislike of the distance from town. We understand Sam's joy at having his business but recognize how hard the entire family works and how little privacy they have. Young Joe, on whom much of the book focuses, suffers almost overwhelming fears, and we empathize with him because there is no one in whom he can confide and still be a "man." Bragg's interest is not in creating an artificially "literary" novel as much as it is in recreating real (ordinary) lives. In this he is completely successful, creating a broad picture of the postwar era through the details of one family's struggle. Mary Whipple

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Sequel, January 23, 2004

By 

Wendy Kaplan (Houston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Son of War (Hardcover)

This deceptively quiet and simple book, a sequel to "The Soldier's Return," is one of the finest novels about postwar England that I have ever read--and I have read many on that subject, almost more than I care to divulge.

"A Son of War" continues the story of the Richardsons, a working-class family in the north of England whose father, Sam, fought in the vicious Burma Campaign and came home scarred and emotionally battered to his young wife and son, Ellen, and Joe. In the last book, we saw Sam slowly and painfully come to terms with the limitations in his life until he could somehow squelch his dreams of finding something better (eg, relocating to Australia, a recurrent dream). The book was basically Sam's story, poignant and memorable.

In this followup, young Joe is the protagonist, as we see his parents' lives--and his own--from his point of view. When the book opens, Sam is still restless, but Ellen is content and happy for the first time when they move into a brand new Council house (tract houses that were offered at very cheap rates to returning servicemen and others). And young Joe begins to bloom.

Unfortunately, this is short-lived. Sam makes a move that profoundly changes the lives of Ellen and Joe, in ways he could never predict. Joe's intensely personal encounters with his inner demons make up the exqusitely poignant story as we follow him from young childhood to his early teens.

I can only hope that Melvyn Bragg plans to continue this brilliant series. The first two books have taken a place in this reviewer's mind as some of the finest contemporary novels written in the last few decades. I hope for more to come.