12-31-2008, 03:05 PM
It's two, two, two reviews in one. Probably more, once I read more of Mr. Goddard's books.
He writes Edwardian suspense melodramas. They are kind of hard to put down once you get into them.
In Pale Battalions
It's the who is my father story. The book opens with a mother and daughter traveling through France to the Somme Battlefield. The daughter has waited all her life to hear the story of her mother. The mother shows the daughter that her grandfather died in the Somme eleven months before her mother was born. How can that be? Is the mother a bastard? Who is the real grandfather. It's the exploration of this theme that drives the narrative through all it's twists and turns. Some of it is first person account. Some is diaries. It's all quite rambling and entertaining. No I did not figure out who the really daddy was until the end.
Past Caring
The Asquith Cabinet, the greatest assemblage of British politicians ever including Loyd George and Winston Churchill. Who knows what dark secrets this cabinet holds.
This story takes place all across the 20th century. We start in the seventies with an out of work history professor going to Madeira to visit friends. He finds a memoir of Edward Stafford written in the years before WWI. It tells of Staffords fall from power. Martin, the proffesor is paid to find out why Stafford fell and who caused it.
It slips to the fifties where Stafford died under mysterious circumstances. We jump to the seventies to learn about Martin's sordid past, too. There are a lot of various plots unfolding as we learn about Stafford's friends and enemies. It's all quite convoluted. I couldn't stop reading. There's even some sex scenes. What more could you want?
He writes Edwardian suspense melodramas. They are kind of hard to put down once you get into them.
In Pale Battalions
It's the who is my father story. The book opens with a mother and daughter traveling through France to the Somme Battlefield. The daughter has waited all her life to hear the story of her mother. The mother shows the daughter that her grandfather died in the Somme eleven months before her mother was born. How can that be? Is the mother a bastard? Who is the real grandfather. It's the exploration of this theme that drives the narrative through all it's twists and turns. Some of it is first person account. Some is diaries. It's all quite rambling and entertaining. No I did not figure out who the really daddy was until the end.
Past Caring
The Asquith Cabinet, the greatest assemblage of British politicians ever including Loyd George and Winston Churchill. Who knows what dark secrets this cabinet holds.
This story takes place all across the 20th century. We start in the seventies with an out of work history professor going to Madeira to visit friends. He finds a memoir of Edward Stafford written in the years before WWI. It tells of Staffords fall from power. Martin, the proffesor is paid to find out why Stafford fell and who caused it.
It slips to the fifties where Stafford died under mysterious circumstances. We jump to the seventies to learn about Martin's sordid past, too. There are a lot of various plots unfolding as we learn about Stafford's friends and enemies. It's all quite convoluted. I couldn't stop reading. There's even some sex scenes. What more could you want?
So much for the flickr badge idea. Dammit