In her powerful debut, Hodgkinson takes on the tale of a family desperately trying to put itself back together after WWII. Silvana and Janusz have ...
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Dec 16, 2011
Jeanette
rated it: 
Ex-AS-perating! Could have been so much more.
The writing was actually decent enough that I could have given it three stars, but by the time I got to the end I was tearing my hair out in frustration at what she chose to include and what she chose to leave out of the story. I was left with a feeling of pointlessness. 2.5 stars
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Sep 02, 2011
Billpilgrim
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This is the story of a Polish family that gets separated at the beginning of World War II, when the husband joins the Polish army just before the Nazi invasion. He ends up escaping, first to France for a short time, then to England where he joins the British armed services. His wife unsuccessfully tries to travel to his parents' home, and ends up living in the forest with her very young son until the end of the war. Then, when he tries to find her, she is located in a refugee camp and they are r
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Jun 22, 2011
Kjersti
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Overall I really enjoyed this book, although the character development was not that great. I liked the historical aspects about the couple's experience apart during World War II with Silvanna in Poland and mostly living in the forest and Janusz sort of fleeing/sort of joining the war effort. I like how they both really seem human and not some romanticized ideal with it not always being exactly a happy ending even though they do reunite after the war.
Disclaimer: I received this book f More...
Disclaimer: I received this book f More...
Nov 17, 2011
Sandy
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War changes you and whether that is for the better or not, you deal with it. This book took a different approach to war and had the reader dealing with the rekindling of a relationship that WW II tore apart. This marriage was strong before the war and after the war the relationship had secrets that neither party was ready to let go nor ready to put on the table and discuss. Silvana lived in a hostile environment with a small child without her husband for 6 years and finally was reunited with h
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Oct 17, 2011
Kat
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3 and a half stars really. I found the beginning of this book slightly annoying, mainly because, even though it was meticulously researched regarding pre-war Poland and all of the Polish phrases and expressions were accurately spelled and appropriately used, the main character's name was Silvana. This really grated on me, as this is not a Polish name. All other Polish names (Janusz, Aurek, Hanka, Marysia, Ela, Antek, etc.) were authentic and I don't understand this slip up with the heroine's nam
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Sep 13, 2011
Susan
rated it: 
War destroys lives. People make choices that don't always make sense. And most of us would do whatever they could to survive.
When Poland is invaded Janusz leaves to join the Army and makes absolutely no preparations for his wife and newborn. He does not get them to his parents. He just leaves. Silvana seems to go into some type of protective shell and does nothing. It reminded me of when I was diagnosed with cancer. Somehow your mind shuts down and you hear people but they sound so far off More...
When Poland is invaded Janusz leaves to join the Army and makes absolutely no preparations for his wife and newborn. He does not get them to his parents. He just leaves. Silvana seems to go into some type of protective shell and does nothing. It reminded me of when I was diagnosed with cancer. Somehow your mind shuts down and you hear people but they sound so far off More...
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Aug 13, 2011
Johanna
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This author will be running a writers workshop I'm attending in October and I was very eager to read her debut novel. The verdict? Well, it was good. But not great. I enjoyed it, but I wasn't engrossed by it. There were no images that will forever stick with me, which was a little annoying considering the multitude of opportunities her plot gave her for strong imagery. She seems to write 'faster' than I do, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but some incredibly intense moments lost a lot of th
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Jul 29, 2011
Katrina
rated it:
When Janusz Nowak boards the train to help Poland’s cause in the Second World War, he leaves behind his young wife, Silvana, and their infant son, Aurek. Soon after, the Germans invade Warsaw and Silvana is forced to flee with her child and find refuge in the woods.
Skip ahead a few years and the war is over, but its scars remain. Janusz has relocated to England with every intention of becoming a proper Englishman. Word of his wife’s and son’s survival compels him to send for them in t More...
Skip ahead a few years and the war is over, but its scars remain. Janusz has relocated to England with every intention of becoming a proper Englishman. Word of his wife’s and son’s survival compels him to send for them in t More...
Jun 05, 2011
Amy
rated it:
I won this book as a First Reads book from Goodreads.
This book is about a young Polish couple who fall in love right before WWII begins. They get married and Silvana becomes pregnant and gives birth to a boy named Aurek. Janusz is her husband and soon after his son is born, he leaves to join up with the army. On his way to his post, the train he is riding on comes under fire from the Germans. The Germans open fire on the to-be soldiers that are taking a break outside the train. J More...
This book is about a young Polish couple who fall in love right before WWII begins. They get married and Silvana becomes pregnant and gives birth to a boy named Aurek. Janusz is her husband and soon after his son is born, he leaves to join up with the army. On his way to his post, the train he is riding on comes under fire from the Germans. The Germans open fire on the to-be soldiers that are taking a break outside the train. J More...
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May 31, 2011
Cheryl
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Amanda Hodgkinson has written a first novel of survival, redemption and love set in Poland, France and ultimately England in WWII. As the novel opens, Silvana and her young son, Aurek, are on the boat to England after a six years separation from her husband, Janusz, who has located them in a Missing Persons Camp. They are refugees from Warsaw, Janusz a soldier separated from his unit, and Silvana and Aurek survivors living in the forests outside the city for the duration of the War.
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May 23, 2011
Chandler
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Currently I search for books about World War II and impact of it on what Tom Brokaw dubbed, “The Greatest Generation”. In my quest, I search for books that look at different aspects, countries and ethnic groups impacted by this war.
“22 Britannia Road” by Amanda Hodgkinson has a similar tone to another book I recently enjoyed, “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet”. Since my weakness is history, I am joyful when I learn something new about history that escaped my limited education.
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“22 Britannia Road” by Amanda Hodgkinson has a similar tone to another book I recently enjoyed, “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet”. Since my weakness is history, I am joyful when I learn something new about history that escaped my limited education.
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May 13, 2011
Susan
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"She is made of the thinnest eggshell, her toughness a veneer. . ." That is the way Janusz describes his wife Silvana as he embraces her; the scene is about two-thirds through the book and seems to be the first insightful thing he thinks about her. I chose this book from the Amazon Vine program because it sounded like a wonderful, moving premise for a novel, but I was disappointed. I expected it to be sad, but I also expected to feel for and empathize with characters who have been thro
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(4 people liked it)
May 19, 2011
Laurie
rated it:
I loved this book! Heartwrenching with a good ending. I give this one 5 stars.
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May 06, 2011
Lisa
rated it:
This book is just out and as it is a WWII era story I had to read it. It was a good story but didn't grab at me enough to give it a four. I would give it more like a 3.5. It is another sad story about war and how it can so destroy people, both physically and emotionally.
This book centers around two Polish survivors of the German invasion of Poland. Living in Warsaw and happily married with a baby boy named Aurek, Silvana and Janusz seem to be on their way to a promising life. U More...
This book centers around two Polish survivors of the German invasion of Poland. Living in Warsaw and happily married with a baby boy named Aurek, Silvana and Janusz seem to be on their way to a promising life. U More...
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May 01, 2011
Felice
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The 22 Britannia Road of the title is the destination for a young family destroyed by WWII. Silvana and Janusz Nowak and their 8 year old son Aurek are Polish refugees. When the novel begins it's 1946 and they are all about to start a new, picket fence life in England. They have been separated since 1939 when Janusz left his wife and son to fight for Poland against the Germans. Each of these spouses then spent the next seven years struggling with the choices that would keep them alive. Once the
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Feb 03, 2011
Jd
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22 Britannia Road begins at the end of the Second World War. Silvana and her son, Aurek, make the journey from a broken Poland, where they have been hiding in the forest since Warsaw fell, to England. Both have seen too much war – more, perhaps, than any soldier.
In Ipswich, England, Silvana’s husband Janusz awaits their arrival. He hasn’t seen his wife or son in six years after fleeing Poland and becoming a deserter. He prepares for their arrival by securing employment, finding a house, an More...
In Ipswich, England, Silvana’s husband Janusz awaits their arrival. He hasn’t seen his wife or son in six years after fleeing Poland and becoming a deserter. He prepares for their arrival by securing employment, finding a house, an More...
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Dec 19, 2011
Agatha
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I think, with this book, it depends upon your expectations. I went in with rather low ones but then was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't complete fluff. The substance that was there kept me going, b/c otherwise I usually toss historical fiction books that end up being too fluffy; they just frustrate me that much.
Polish refugees Jan, Silvana, and son Aurek reunite in England after WWII; husband Jan has been roaming around France and then England, wife Silvana and son Aurek have be More...
Polish refugees Jan, Silvana, and son Aurek reunite in England after WWII; husband Jan has been roaming around France and then England, wife Silvana and son Aurek have be More...
Apr 07, 2011
Paul
rated it:
Just prior to World War II, in Warsaw, Poland, Janusz and Silvana get married and have a son. When war breaks out Janusz joins the military to fight for Poland. Silvana becomes a fugitive when the Germans invade Poland.
Janusz seems to have the best of it as he travels across Europe and finally settles in England after the war.
Silvana, with her young son, find themselves homeless and scratch out a meager existence as they move throughout the country.
Janusz, t More...
Janusz seems to have the best of it as he travels across Europe and finally settles in England after the war.
Silvana, with her young son, find themselves homeless and scratch out a meager existence as they move throughout the country.
Janusz, t More...
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Feb 21, 2011
Leah
rated it:
I've only given 22 Britannia Road three stars here because it was sometimes just so painful and miserable to make my way through the characters' memories. It's very well written, but at times very bleak, marked by agony and desolation.
The Nowaks are a family reunited after seven years of being separated by war. Janusz leaves his wife and infant son in Warsaw when he goes off to fight and is reunited with his wife and a seven-year-old boy in England. Silvana and Aurek spent years sur More...
The Nowaks are a family reunited after seven years of being separated by war. Janusz leaves his wife and infant son in Warsaw when he goes off to fight and is reunited with his wife and a seven-year-old boy in England. Silvana and Aurek spent years sur More...
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Aug 30, 2011
Angie
rated it:
This is the large print version of this first novel by Hodgkinson, which concerns a Polish family separated by the German invasion and reunited in England, where the father served after leaving the Polish army. The separation has caused a multitude of problems--the spouses don't recognize the person the other has become--a big problem for the husband, whose his wife and son spent most of the occupation hiding in the woods. He left the son when the child was a baby, now he is almost feral. His
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Aug 13, 2011
Mrsgaskell
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This is an excellent first novel set in post-war Britain. Janusz and Silvana Nowak are a young Polish couple with an infant son when Germany invades Poland. He goes off to fight and she ends up living and surviving in the forest with the child Aurek. After the war Janusz is able to locate Silvana and Aurek in a British refugee camp and sends for them. He had joined the British RAF and has been living in England. He finds a home for them and hopes they can put the past behind and build a future
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Jun 30, 2011
Carrie
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Silvana and Janusz were young, happily married, and the parents of an infant son when World War II broke out and Russia and Germany invaded their native Poland. They are separated for six years, and reunite in Britain at the end of the war. Their son, Aurek, is now 7. Silvana and Aurek survived by hiding out mainly in the forests of Poland, and Aurek is almost feral. Janusz and Silvana are both harboring secrets of things that happened to them during the war, and of things they had to do in orde
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Jun 22, 2011
Jane
rated it:
Another glimpse of the horrors of World War Two through the eyes of two Polish kids who end up together in Ipswich, England, close to where I once lived, and as they work out their marriage after six years of separation they remember what they experienced by bits and pieces. The movement back in forth in time is such a common approach these days that I felt myself yearning for a book that starts at the beginning and works forward till the end, but the tension is of course heightened because t
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Aug 13, 2011
Wendy
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This is such a wonderfully written first novel! I just read it a second time (cover to cover), before hosting a dinner with the author and some Bay area booksellers. It's less of a WWII story than a story of what happens after the war. If you enjoy books like: Sarah's Key, Book Thief, and even the new YA novel, Between Shades of Gray, you'll like this one! This one's gaining fans and "buzz" among independent booksellers across the country!
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Feb 04, 2012
Kelly
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War is hell, and no one escapes it unscathed whether it is the soldiers fighting or those left behind. This story certainly shows this. The problem is that the style is too subdued and "proper" for the topic. I wonder if this is because it's postwar England, and the English stiff upper lip tainted what could have been a gripping exploration of postwar psychological effects on a marriage and family. (The cover certainly portrays this.) The book was good, but not great for me. My expecta
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Dec 27, 2011
Meg - A Bookish Affair
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This is a story of a family coming back together after spending many years apart during World War II. During the war, Jan was a part of the Polish regiment of English forces. He spends part of his time in France where he falls in love with Helene, a young French woman. Meanwhile, Jan's wife, Silvana, is trying to escape the converging forces in Poland. She's also hiding a secret of her own. Neither of the main characters actions are really excusable but you can definitely see their methods for d
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Jun 17, 2011
Nancy
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Taking place at the end of WWII. The Nowaks, polish refugees, are reunited after being separated for the seven years of the War. Starting over in Post War England it seems they have fulfilled every peacetime dream. A nice house, an English garden and a good job for Janusz. However it quickly becomes apparent that leaving the past behind to achieve happiness as a family will not be easy. The book toggles between the wartime stories of Janusk and Silvana and the new life they are trying to sta
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Sep 15, 2011
Marcy
rated it:
Before the war, a man and woman fell in love in Poland and had a baby boy they both adored. Then the war came. The father leaves Poland...The mother leaves Poland..
Six years later, two different people, with two different war-time experiences and a son who does not remember his father begin to live together again on 22 Britannia Road, England. The secrets both husband and wife keep from each other, the events that occurred the six years they were apart, causes inner pain and sufferi More...
Six years later, two different people, with two different war-time experiences and a son who does not remember his father begin to live together again on 22 Britannia Road, England. The secrets both husband and wife keep from each other, the events that occurred the six years they were apart, causes inner pain and sufferi More...
Jan 31, 2012
Katie
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Another WWII novel from yet another perspective; this book is in third person mostly from Sylvana, a Polish survivor, but also her husband and her son. She had been living in the woods with her son during the war while her husband had fought with the British. He found them after the war and they reunite in an attempt to have a life as a family. There is a small house that he has prepared for them all. No one wants to talk about the secrets each is harboring from the war, and Aurek isn't sure wha
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Nov 14, 2011
Kristel
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22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson, read by Robin Sachs
22 Britannia Road is a debut novel by Amanda Hodgkinson. It is set in Britain following World War II with flashbacks Janusz and Silvana’s life during the war but the reader is only given bits and pieces of information with each flashback. Janusz leaves his wife and new born son to join in the war. He is separated from his troop and does not rejoin them. He would be considered AWOL. Janusz does not like death and does not like w More...
22 Britannia Road is a debut novel by Amanda Hodgkinson. It is set in Britain following World War II with flashbacks Janusz and Silvana’s life during the war but the reader is only given bits and pieces of information with each flashback. Janusz leaves his wife and new born son to join in the war. He is separated from his troop and does not rejoin them. He would be considered AWOL. Janusz does not like death and does not like w More...
