22 Britannia Road

Sep 23, 2011 Teresa Lukey rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, kept-me-wondering, made-me-cry, wow, 4-stars, wwii

22 Britannia Road was most definitely a pleasant surprise for me. There are so many books out there relating to WWII and sometimes I think there can possibly be anymore to contemplate regarding WWII, but, again, this book has proven me wrong. The scope of people affected by WWII is hard to grasp, but definitely a reality.

In this story, a newlywed couple and there infant son are separated when Poland is invaded by German forces and must go to war to keep their country. Janusz, the father, is requ...more

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Dec 16, 2011 Jeanette rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: all-fiction, europe-and-british-isles, domestic-and-relationship-fiction, world-war-two-fiction

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 rated it 4 of 5 stars

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...more

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Jun 22, 2011 Kjersti rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads, given-free-to-review, 2011-books-read

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 for free thro...more

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May 12, 2013 Leon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson is a heartbreaking and powerful novel about wartime secrets and the difficulties of adjusting to postwar life

It is 1946 and Silvana and eight-year-old Aurek board a ship that will take them from Poland to England. Silvana has not seen her husband Janusz in six years, but, they are assured, he has made them a home in Ipswich.

However, after living wild in the forests for years, carrying a terrible secret, all Silvana knows is that she and Aurek are survi

...more

22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson is a heartbreaking and powerful novel about wartime secrets and the difficulties of adjusting to postwar life

It is 1946 and Silvana and eight-year-old Aurek board a ship that will take them from Poland to England. Silvana has not seen her husband Janusz in six years, but, they are assured, he has made them a home in Ipswich.

However, after living wild in the forests for years, carrying a terrible secret, all Silvana knows is that she and Aurek are survivors. Everything else is lost. While Janusz, a Polish soldier who has criss-crossed Europe during the war, hopes his family will help put his own dark past behind him.

But the war and the years apart will always haunt each of them unless they together confront what they were compelled to do to survive.

'The characters are so convincing and the writing's so unshowily accomplished that it soon becomes something gripping. An admirable debut' Daily Mail

'A most accomplished first novel. Powerful story-telling and entirely convincing in its evocation of post-war England. Very good' Penelope Lively

'Keep your Kleenex handy reading 22 Britannia Road' Grazia

'An affecting story, extremely well told' The Times

Amanda Hodgkinson was born in Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset and grew up in Essex and Suffolk.

She currently lives in south-west France with her husband and two daughters. 22 Britannia Road is her first novel.

Amazon.com Review

Amazon Best Books of the Month, April 2011: By the end of World War II, Silvana is a ghost of the wife Janusz once had. She and their 7-year-old son Aurek travel from Poland to England to reunite their family--a family that has been separated for 6 years. That's where 22 Britannia Road, Amanda Hodgkinson's stunning debut novel, begins. As the past unfolds from multiple points of view, it becomes clear that despite their determination to make a fresh start, the hidden secrets of the past threaten to destroy Silvana and Janusz's dreams of becoming a family once again. The irreversible events that passed during their years of separation still linger, including the horrors of war, Janusz's betrayal by a love affair with another woman, and the devastating secret that Silvana will do anything to conceal. Hodgkinson's poetic voice is impossible to forget, and the shocking and hopeful ending of her remarkable historical novel will leave readers reeling--and satisfied. --Miriam Landis

Author Q&A with Amanda Hodgkinson

Q: What drew you to this particular story of Polish World War II survivors living in England?

A: As a child, I was always fascinated when the adults around me talked about World War II. These were older family members who had lived through it and I would try to stay quiet so I could listen without being discovered. Their voices changed to lower registers, there were weighted silences in the conversations, sad looks, secretive whispering and then somebody would notice me and send me out to play, their voice swinging up a register to convey a gaiety they probably didn’t feel. I would go to bed at night, sick at heart thinking about these stories, and wonder how the world ever managed to get back to the normal after that war.

Looking back, I think I never stopped wondering. Years later, I was standing in my kitchen and heard a Russian woman on the radio, describing her experiences of being a child during the war. “We were so hungry,” she said, “we ate the bark of the silver birch trees.” An image came to me, so clear and strong, it was more like a memory than an act of my imagination. I wrote down what I saw; a young woman in a silver birch forest. I had begun to write my novel.

Q: From Silvana’s exile in the forest to the petrol rations in post-war Ipswich, you paint a vivid picture of the novel’s historical settings and events. What sort of research did you do to get the details right?

A: I balanced my own imaginative input with research. I read social history books on the war and the postwar period, including a lot of oral histories on Polish immigrant experiences. I also read wonderful Polish poets like Zbigniew Herbert and Tadeusz Rózewicz, among others. I studied Polish fairytales and classic Polish literature from the nineteenth and early twentieth century. I discovered tango music had been very popular in Poland during the thirties, so I listened to some fabulous clips on YouTube and imagined myself there, in the 1930s, dancing at a club in Warsaw, just like Hanka, one of the characters in the book tells Silvana about. I immersed myself in books, music and literature and then I put aside all research and let my imagination go to work. Whenever I was unsure about a scene, I turned to my own thoughts and feelings, relying on my ability to imagine a moment and on my empathy for the characters, rather than history books, and I think this approach helped me really understand my characters and the time.

Q: What does the title, the address of the home Janusz chooses for his reunited family, represent to you symbolically? Why that particular address?

A: I wanted a very ordinary address. A typical English home. You can find a Britannia Road in most English towns and there is no mistaking the pronounced sense of place in this address. Janusz wants what the address offers. A new life and a new country. Ironically, this address, with its connotations of national identity and pride, also serves to highlight the sense of displacement Janusz, Silvana and Aurek, as an immigrant family, must have felt in a small town in Britain. Another reason I used an address was to show how important home was to the characters. For me, the novel is about finding a home, physically, psychologically and metaphorically. Home is a small word that holds within itself complex meanings. Change one letter and you have the word hope. And Janusz, Silvana and Aurek hope to make a home together.

Q: A powerful theme in this book is the pain of survival—even Janusz, who had a relatively easy escape from Poland, suffers from having outlived Hélène and other loved ones. What personal discoveries did you make about this theme while writing the book?

A: Writing the book and researching it made me very aware of how people are still suffering under wars. The mass movement of displaced people around the world continues and the number of children who are orphaned and families disrupted and broken by war does not diminish.

Q: You do an exceptional job capturing the psyche of young Aurek, who has clearly been traumatized by his experiences. Did you draw from case studies of children with similar experiences, or did you find your way to this character instinctually?

A: I wrote Aurek very instinctively. I felt I knew the boy from the moment I first wrote a small, tentative description of him, crouching in the back garden at 22 Britannia Road. I read Through The Eyes of the Innocents: Children Witness World War II by Emmy E Werner, which conveys the heartbreaking experiences of children, and that fed my own understanding of what Aurek might have been through but really, when I was writing Aurek, I found I could connect with him best on an emotional level. So I wrote what he felt. I tried to go beyond language with him and bring out his primitive sense of survival, his desire to feel loved and his need to love others.

From Publishers Weekly

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 only been married a few months when the war forces them apart. Silvana and their infant son, Aurek, leave Poland and disappear into the forests of Eastern Europe, where they bear witness to German atrocities. Meanwhile Janusz, the sole survivor of his slaughtered military unit, flees to France. There, he takes up with a local girl and, though he loves her, awaits the war's end so that he can go in search of his wife and son. He eventually finds them in a refugee camp and they travel to England together, where they attempt to put the past behind them. But the secrets they carry pull at the threads of their fragile peace. Hodgkinson alternates viewpoints to relay the story of three desperate characters, skillfully toggling between the war and its aftermath with wonderfully descriptive prose that pulls the reader into a sweeping tale of survival and redemption. (May)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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Mar 26, 2013 Gloria Liposchak rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the story of a Polish couple, Silvana and Janusz and their son Aurek. They met and married in 1937. As both the Russians and the Germans invaded Poland in 1940 the couple is separated. He joins the military and after a long journey, typical of Poles who chose to fight on after the defeat of their country, ends up in the RAF in England. She initially raped by a German soldier, flees with their son to a live in the forests of Poland. The story opens in 1946 as the couple is reunited after...more

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Mar 09, 2013 Ricki Treleaven rated it 4 of 5 stars

This week I read 22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson. It is about the horrors of World War II and Hitler's invasion of Poland in particular. The plot includes survival, betrayal, and ultimately, hope.

Janusk Nowak is separated from his wife, Silvana, and their baby son, Aurek, as Hitler invades Poland. He is trying to enlist in the Polish Army to fight the Nazis, but an air strike delays him. When it becomes clear that if Janusz remains in Poland he will be killed, he joins Bruno and Franuk in...more

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Mar 07, 2013 Christine Rebbert rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Making sure I have all my books-read both on this list and in my little handwritten book list, and I see I missed this one here, which I'd read back in January. My husband -- of all people -- recommended this to me; he listened to it as an audio-book, and liked it, even though I would think it really is probably more geared to a female audience. We both enjoy WWII historical fiction.

A married couple in Poland are separated at the outbreak of the War. He is with the military and comes to England...more

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Feb 15, 2013 Duygu rated it 5 of 5 stars

Arkadya Yayınları’ndan çıkmış olan “ Amanda Hodgkınson’un – 22 Britanya Yolu “ adlı kitabını bitirmiş bulunmaktayım .

Öncelikle kitabın çevirisi , son derece sade ve akıcıydı .Kitapta sizi yorabilecek tek unsur;
yazarın anlatım tarzından kaynaklanan , geçmişle –şimdiki zamana gidip gelmesi ve de olayları anlatırken hem kadın karakterin(Silvana ) ağzından hem de erkek karakterin(Janusz)
ağzından olayları anlatmasıdır .

Kitabın konusu ise ; birbiriyle yeni evlenmiş bir çiftin ( Silvana ve Janusz )...more

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Sep 18, 2012 Silke rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historische-fictie, oorlog

I remember the first time I actually saw this book in my local bookstore. It called out to me. Maybe it was the picture on the front page, maybe it was the title. I am not quite sure, because I am not very found of books that are set in the war. I left the book in the bookshop. But every other visit it kept calling to me. So eventually I actually took it home with me and boy am I glad I did! This is one of the best books I read this year.

Sure the book is about the war. But at the same time it i...more

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Sep 09, 2012 Nicole rated it 5 of 5 stars

I have suddenly added many books set during major wars to my TBR pile. I am going to slowly work my way through them but started with this one after Anita's glowing review and Linda's endorsement. It is an early (mid-point?) contender for my Top 10 Books of 2011.

I often read books set during World War II and most of them focus on the years during the war, the unspeakable atrocities that occurred, and how people managed to survive despite the odds stacked against them. This story was told from a...more I have suddenly added many books set during major wars to my TBR pile. I am going to slowly work my way through them but started with this one after Anita's glowing review and Linda's endorsement. It is an early (mid-point?) contender for my Top 10 Books of 2011.

I often read books set during World War II and most of them focus on the years during the war, the unspeakable atrocities that occurred, and how people managed to survive despite the odds stacked against them. This story was told from a different viewpoint: what happened to survivors after the war ended? How did they move on with their lives?

Silvana and Janusz Nowak lived in Warsaw prior to the start of the war. They fell quickly in love, got married, and started a family when their son Aurek was born. Their happiness is cut short though when Poland finds itself in the midst of a territorial struggle and Janusz leaves Silvana and Aurek to join the army and protect their country. Janusz never imagined that it will be the last time he sees them for six years, and Silvana never imagined the lengths she would go to in order to ensure survival for her and her small son.

The story is told alternating between Janusz and Silvana's experiences during the war as they each take their own path, and the story of them being reunited in England after the war to attempt to resume their lives. These two people are virtually strangers again, torn between who they were before the war and who they are now. To add to the tension, their son Aurek is forever changed by the violence he has seen and endured.

Hodgkinson did a wonderful job of developing characters who were flawed and oftentimes made horrible choices, but ultimately I may have made the same choices myself. The inner turmoil that both Janusz and Silvana experience is completely authentic and made me realize that not all reunions after the war were met with heartfelt joy and relief, some were probably met with a healthy dose of dread and apprehension. The writing is beautiful and easily constructed a detailed setting in my mind.

Overall, an excellent fictionalization of WWII from a point of view not often considered. I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for Ms. Hodgkinson's follow-up to this debut.(less)

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Aug 27, 2012 Grace rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-read

I am always struck by the resilience of the human spirit in stories of war. In this story there is also the essence of surviving such horrors humans inflict upon one another. A couple is separated during WWII and reunited 6 years later in England. They have each had very difficult experiences during their time apart and are now trying to create the perfect family. The wife and son lived in a forest and the husband lived in a few countries hiding from the Germans. Both the husband and wife suffer...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Lydia Laceby rated it 2 of 5 stars

Reviewed at Novel Escapes

The portrayal of World War II in 22 Britannia Road doesn't hold back, which I really appreciated, but unfortunately I found it came across as emotionally stilted - which maybe was the point. These were characters hardened by war and had lived through torturous years apart when the war separated the recently married couple. But I still couldn't help wanting more. I wanted to empathize and root for these characters and their relationship, but didn't seem to be able to. Unf...more Reviewed at Novel Escapes

The portrayal of World War II in 22 Britannia Road doesn't hold back, which I really appreciated, but unfortunately I found it came across as emotionally stilted - which maybe was the point. These were characters hardened by war and had lived through torturous years apart when the war separated the recently married couple. But I still couldn't help wanting more. I wanted to empathize and root for these characters and their relationship, but didn't seem to be able to. Unfortunately the idea of this novel was fabulous, but the follow through I ultimately found disappointing.

The one thing this novel opened my eyes too was just how many couples were displaced during and after the war and how easy it was to pick up and find a new life, completely abandoning the old one. I can see the appeal based on circumstance and how difficult it must have been to go back to normalcy after everything had changed and how much each person would have changed. It made me yearn for a more romantic story to come out of this novel, and this one was slow growing and didn’t fulfil what I had anticipated.

I wanted more of a spark to Janusz and Silvana’s relationship from the beginning, which might have made the rest of the novel more believable. A sense of duty brought them back together, but there wasn't anything there to hold onto and I found it difficult to root for their relationship. Janusz had more spark with Helene and their relationship seemed much more believable while Silvana was cold and emotionless most of the time.

None of Silvana's interpersonal relationships carried any depth nor did they seem real to me and I found her character to be contradictory. She’s a survivor and is like a big momma bear with her son, but then she lets Janusz tell her how to get on with things and what to do. I expected she would have stood up for herself a bit more. I do realize the time they were living in, but after her experiences, I thought she would have more spark when the war ended but maybe she was just happy to let someone else lead. The is especially evident where her son is concerned, but she pretty much lets Janusz do whatever he pleased, which surprised me after the lengths she went to keep her son safe.

I really wanted more shown of the boy and his feral ways. How he was suddenly shipped off to school after three months back to 'normal', in a different country, in a different language when he would never have been to school before surprised me. I wanted to see more from his perspective rather than him simply running away from school. I wanted to see his integration, as well as more of Silvana’s and had hoped for more here.

There were a few tender scenes that I did appreciate, but they came so late that I couldn’t really grow excited about them. Ultimately this novel fell short for me and I was disappointed that what could have been a fantastic plot was dragged down by wooden, unrelatable characters.(less)

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Jul 13, 2012 Emily Rosenbaum rated it 4 of 5 stars

It’s hard to imagine simply losing your spouse and child, but that’s what happened to Janusz, a Polish soldier in World War II. Now, six years later, he is living in London and has located Silvana and seven-year-old Aurek, who lived out the war in the forests of Poland. That’s the premise for Amanda Hodgkinson’s strong debut novel, 22 Britannia Road.
The confusion of war meant that Janusz was not long with his unit and Silvana couldn’t remain in their apartment. After the war, there must have bee...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Elizabeth rated it 3 of 5 stars

Even when things end, they never really do. As long as there is one person alive who remembers what happened, it will never end. It will go on in their mind, their memories, who they are. It's changed them.
Unlike so many books about the effects of World War II, 22 Brittania Road offers an achingly intimate picture of the true tragedy of the war: the terror that it inflicted on its victims. Amanda Hodgkinson's debut novel quietly but firmly forces us to look at the true consequences of our action...more Even when things end, they never really do. As long as there is one person alive who remembers what happened, it will never end. It will go on in their mind, their memories, who they are. It's changed them.
Unlike so many books about the effects of World War II, 22 Brittania Road offers an achingly intimate picture of the true tragedy of the war: the terror that it inflicted on its victims. Amanda Hodgkinson's debut novel quietly but firmly forces us to look at the true consequences of our actions and the choices that we make every day of our lives.
The novel follows the story of Silvana, Janusz, and Aurek Nowak, a family of Polish-British immigrants who have been separated for six years by the war. Janusz has brought Silvana and their son to Ipswich to live in the eponymous house, trying to make a new life, picking up the pieces where they left off in pre-war Warsaw. However, Silvana is changed after hiding in the forest for six years, and Aurek is a wild child who thinks of his father as "the enemy" who threatens to take away his mother's love.
The book chronicles the deeply personal tale of recovery, pain, and change that follows any significant event, and the reconciliation of a broken family. Aurek slowly and hesitantly comes to trust Janusz as Silvana discovers that he is not the same man who left her with a baby in Warsaw. The entrance of a rival for her affections doesn't help the situation, and she must decide whether the past is worth a miserable present.
Written in incredibly simple but honest language, 22 Brittania Road touches on a subject that many authors fail to address: the question of what now? How do you just pick up the broom again after the windows have been blown in by a bomb? How do you clean out the stove after someone close to you dies? How do you just go on as you did before? The unhappy truth comes out in bits as the book progresses, and we watch Silvana and Janusz change to become people that can be together after so much time and separation.
Each person has their own separate tale of woe, loss, and inner struggle, and none is more pathetic than Tony Benetoni, the father of Aurek's young friend Peter, who lost his wife some years before the novel occurs and cannot help but try to replace her love with everything else. Silvana relates to him, and as the end of the book approaches, the veil is lifted aside, and we see how hard they've both tried to hide their pain and how much pain hiding it has caused.
Ms. Hodgkinson has clearly put a lot of time and love into this book, and it shows in the depth of thought and vivid, piercingly ordinary scenes. However, it is definitely a first novel: the chapters are somewhat muddled, with the storyteller constantly changing without warning. The places are indicated at the head of each section, but the time is not, and with the constant flashbacks to Janusz and Silvana's pasts, we're constantly confused and hunting for a clue as to what year it is. Usually, the titles of Poland, Ipswich, or France give us hints, but it would have been incredibly helpful to indicate the year just under the character's name.
There is also a lot of "She thought... she did... she wanted..." sentences in this book, which is not a grievous error, but is somewhat annoying after a bit.
But on the whole, the book redeems itself with such an understated but painful storyline. The characters are so hurt that you just want to give them a hug by the end to tell them that everything is going to be okay, and that the war is over. Certainly, the war inside each of them is neverending as they struggle to cope with peace.(less)

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Jun 18, 2012 Sally Wessely rated it 3 of 5 stars

I love to read novels set in postwar England. When I read the back cover of this book while I browsed through the books at a discount warehouse store, I could not resist buying it. The book is advertised as the debut work by Amanda Hodgkinson. Reviews compared it to "Sarah's Key" and "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society." I would have to disagree. You may be fans of those books, but I'm not sure you would enjoy this book as much as those.

The novel tells the story of a Polish couple who...more I love to read novels set in postwar England. When I read the back cover of this book while I browsed through the books at a discount warehouse store, I could not resist buying it. The book is advertised as the debut work by Amanda Hodgkinson. Reviews compared it to "Sarah's Key" and "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society." I would have to disagree. You may be fans of those books, but I'm not sure you would enjoy this book as much as those.

The novel tells the story of a Polish couple who were separated for many years during World War II. The husband, who settled in England after the war, finally found his Polish wife through the help of a refugee agency once the war had ended. During the years of the war, both had lived lives that defined them in a way that forever changed who they were before the war. She survived by living in the forest in Poland. He survived by spending most of the time hidden on a farm in France. Now they will reconnect and try to begin again at 22 Britannia Road in England.

I won't recount the story. It is there for you to read in this novel if you wish to do so.

I doubt no one can say that one enjoys reading about the horrors of war, but this book was one that held my interest most of the time. I would guess that the secrets that both of the main characters kept from each other are what held my interest. I had to learn the full story, so I kept reading.

I felt some of the story seemed contrived. At times, I even felt I was in a movie that had shown us details about the story and then contradicted those details later in the movie. In other words, I guess the story had some holes in it that detracted from it being a book that would have earned a higher rating from me.

The author does have her strengths. She wrote well about forgiveness, love, and acceptance of the loss of innocence and of dreams for a future of an ideal life and family that were once created in the minds of the main characters before the war. She writes well about survival and the goodness in humanity when there seems to be so much loss and evil in the world.

I recommend reading the book if the reader likes stories of lives that were rebuilt after devastation brought on by war. Other books on the subject are better written and more memorable, but this is a book not to be totally dismissed. (less)

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Jun 11, 2012 Kerry rated it 4 of 5 stars

Add it to my list of WWII books. It wasn't one of the best but I certainly did enjoy it. another listening pleasure in my car. Sometimes hard to follow on CD as it flipped back and forth in time and sometimes only a pause before a character was remembering an event rather than living it in current time. but in general the time travels were preceded by a title giving year and place. This seemed a rather believable story all except for the woman and child surviving alone in the forest in Poland in...more

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Apr 06, 2012 cupcake rated it 4 of 5 stars

Here is a warning: do not read 22 Britannia Road if you want something light and entertaining. Don't read it if you prefer not to think about a book.

Amanda Hodgkinson creates some memorable, if occasionally completely unlikeable, characters in 22 Britannia Road. The book opens with Janusz waiting at Victoria Station for his wife and son, some time after the end of WWII. Both husband and wife have changed deeply since the war, and it has been six years since they've seen each other. During that t...more Here is a warning: do not read 22 Britannia Road if you want something light and entertaining. Don't read it if you prefer not to think about a book.

Amanda Hodgkinson creates some memorable, if occasionally completely unlikeable, characters in 22 Britannia Road. The book opens with Janusz waiting at Victoria Station for his wife and son, some time after the end of WWII. Both husband and wife have changed deeply since the war, and it has been six years since they've seen each other. During that time, Janusz fought against the Germans, briefly lived in France (where he fell in love with someone not his wife), and settled in Ipswich, England, where he readies the home at 22 Britannia Road for his wife and son.

Sylvana and Aurek, the boy, lived in a forrest, hiding and escaping some - but not all - of the war's horrors. Her once gorgeous chestnut hair is now completely grey and has been shaved. Aurek has no social skills and can't tie his shoes. And yet Sylvana and Janusz (whom Aurek calls "The Enemy") are determined to become a family.

It does not go smoothly.

Both Sylvana and Janusz are tortured by their wartime experiences.

Alone on his bed at night, he dreams. He enters his parents' home, running up the porch steps. The heavy front door swings open and he calls for his mother but he knows he has arrived too late and everybody has gone. In one of the empty, high-ceilinged rooms is a dark-haired woman in a yellow dress. She stands up, takes off her dress and beckons to him, then maddeningly, quick as a fish in midstream, the dream changes direction and she's gone. He wakes with a start, eyes open, heart thumping. He moves his hand toward the ache in his groin and twists his face into the pillow. This loneliness will kill him, he's sure of it.

Things do not get less lonely for Janusz when his wife and son come to him. If anything, the couple grows more distant as they attempt to overcome their hidden scars. There are sad, shocking revelations. Aurek is a whole other story. The kid has, let's just say, issues. But who can blame him? Who can blame anyone in this book?

22 Britannia Road is moving and heartbreaking. There are no easy answers or easy cures for Sylvana, Janusz and Aurek. Their suffering, we fear, will never end, but Amanda Hodgkinson does give us some relief in the hope that it will.

When you read this, and you should, do not attempt to rush through it. Savor the sadness. You will be thankful that you did.(less)

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Apr 01, 2012 Susan added it

n her powerful debut, Hodgkinson takes on the tale of a family desperately trying to put itself back together after WWII. Silvana and Janusz have only been married a few months when the war forces them apart. Silvana and their infant son, Aurek, leave Poland and disappear into the forests of Eastern Europe, where they bear witness to German atrocities. Meanwhile Janusz, the sole survivor of his slaughtered military unit, flees to France. There, he takes up with a local girl and, though he loves...more

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Mar 04, 2012 Marius rated it 4 of 5 stars

At the beginning of the book, I though this was a clear Freudian Oedipus complex where Aurek, the son, hates his father for leaving him and his mother. However, as I flicked through the pages, I realised that this complex that was lodged into my mind at the beginning was being turned upside down.

It wasn't until (p. 285) the line where Silvana tells the truth about her boy. The boy who she saved from the dangers of war in Poland is not her son but somebody else's child. Her and Janusz's real son...more

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Feb 29, 2012 Terri rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a very good book! In recent years I have read and watched movies about the years immediately following World War II in Britain, a time of food shortages, rationing of household items, rebuilding of bombed-out sites, rebuilding of lives and so forth. I had not spent much time at all thinking about the plight of the civilian refugees in much of Europe, particularly those that had to survive the war hiding out somewhere for years and years and who at the end had lost everything.

This novel...more

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Nov 17, 2011 Sandy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: library

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 her...more

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Oct 17, 2011 Kat rated it 3 of 5 stars

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...more

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Sep 13, 2011 Susan Johnson rated it 5 of 5 stars

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- not...more

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Aug 13, 2011 Johanna rated it 3 of 5 stars

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...more

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Jul 29, 2011 Katrina rated it 4 of 5 stars

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 the hopes t...more

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Jun 05, 2011 Amy Siggelow rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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. Janusz hits his h...more

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May 31, 2011 Cheryl rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, holocaust-wwii

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.

Europe's sec...more

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May 23, 2011 Chandler rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

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.
Janusz Nowak...more 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.
Janusz Nowak and his wife Silvana marry and have a baby they name Aurek. Janusz joins the Polish Army when the threat of Hitler’s invasion is imminent. Silvana is left in Warsaw and experiences part of the German occupation before she escapes to live with Janusz’s parents.
Nothing turns out as planned--Janusz is waylaid on his quest and so are Silvana and their son. Silvana and her Aurek become woodland creatures while Janusz travels undercover trying to find an army to join. Finally he succeeds and ends up in England where he embraces everything English. After the war, Janusz asks the Red Cross to find his wife and son and they do!!
Reunited in England, Silvana, Janusz and Aurek try to rebuild a family, a life and a future. Will their past secrets and sins hinder and destroy this dream? Will past and possibly future romances ruin this family?
While reading this book on the beach, I was seated next to my friend who was reading Tina Fey’s “Bossy Pants.” While my friend was laughing and reading excerpts from the book for me, I was living with Silvana in the Polish forests, skinning and roasting rats and breastfeeding my baby. However I would not have traded reading this book for these laughs.
This is a tender and sweet book with brutal images of a brutal war.
So themes, I love themes:
1. What actually makes what we define as a family?
2. Can people move beyond past loves that are dead?
3. What makes a neighborhood a melting pot?
4. Why do some busy bodies try to ruin other’s lives?
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May 13, 2011 Susan rated it 2 of 5 stars

"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 through so muc...more "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 through so much. I found I just couldn't care about Janusz and Silvana as a couple - there didn't seem to be a real bond there. When they first meet as teenagers, they are just a couple of horny kids, feeling an instant physical attraction and apparently not much else. Silvana comes from a miserable, dysfunctional peasant family and seems motivated only by the desire to escape; Janusz seems to ask her to marry him out of duty, suggesting perhaps he's gotten her pregnant. Either way, I didn't feel like I knew the characters - what were their likes, dislikes, dreams, motivations, what made them laugh? They seemed very young and unformed, which they were, but the love they shared did not feel strong enough to sustain them through six years of war and deprivation.

And apparently, it's not; Janusz seems quite amenable to camping out wherever he lands and sitting out the war - whether it's the old goose woman's cottage or Helene's parents' farm, he seems quite weak and easily lead and just goes along. Granted, his life has been totally turned upside down, but I don't get the impression he's burning to fight for his country, or to see his wife and child again, or to do much of anything, except have an affair with Helene.

Silvana has a much rougher time (women in war often do), but she seems very shallow and unformed as well, basically a hollow shell doing whatever she's told by Hanka, or Gregor, or Janusz, or Tony, or Doris . . . She and Aurek endure a much harsher deprivation in the forests of Poland, but something about that didn't ring true for me. It went on way too long and became boring, and it seemed uneven - they stay for months with one farmer, then the Germans are coming and they must move on; then they wander a day and Gregor finds them and brings them into his dubious fold; next time they're abandoned they wander for days and days and see no sign of life - but then a farmer finds them near death. A while later, Gregor comes back into the picture and I thought, how come they didn't find Gregor or this farmer while they were wandering lost in apparently the same vicinity? Are these the densest, deepest, most desolate woods ever or the forest from "Midsummer Night's Dream", with characters constantly wandering on and off stage? It just seemed inconsistent. First Silvana is tough and independent, hunting and skinning animals with Gregor, and he tells her she'd be perfect for the Resistance - but when she and Aurek are alone again, they're eating whatever they find but almost starving. She forgot how to trap and hunt? Again, it just seemed inconsistent.

I felt like I never got to know Janusz or Silvana, and I don't think they knew each other. And they were so secretive with each other; granted, if you're guilty of infidelity in wartime, you're not going to rush up to your beloved and spill your guts right away! But I couldn't help thinking real lovers/partners would eventually share and talk about what they'd endured, seen, learned about themselves; not all at once, of course, but in dribs and drabs. Janusz and Silvana live in the same house but seem to rarely speak with or to each other; Silvana's obviously suffering from what we'd call PTSD (not even a recognizable condition back then), but you'd think they'd still slowly share and talk. But no, there seems to be no REAL talking until the last five pages. I frankly didn't care by that point; I felt like the author used the "Big Misunderstanding" device to push the characters and action along - fine for a fluffy romance novel, but really annoying here. It just reinforced for me the feeling that here were two people who didn't have much in common to begin with - I couldn't help feeling sorry for Janusz for missing out on his chance with Helene! If I didn't have to write a review for the Vine program, I doubt if I would've finished the novel - I would've just jumped to the end to see if Janusz and Silvana stayed together!

I'm sure some fans of historical fiction will find this a satisfying story of survival and "primal maternal love" as the back cover says; I just couldn't care much about the characters, so it didn't work for me. (less)

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