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Mar 19, 2009

zz-neena rated it:

FOREWORDS

Post-WWI, shell shocked gentleman, working class music-hall dancer/singer.

Love the period. I had thought all the P. Gregorys were Tudor-era.

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IN MEDIAS RES

The more of this I read, the more I like it!

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AFTERWORDS

This book reminds me of the sort I used to read on the subway headed downtown for work many years ago: thi More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 15, 2009

Alistair rated it:

i did enjoy this . it is rather the equivalent of a sunday evening BBC costume drama in being well written , having a firm story line , clearly defined characters and being a bit of a page turner into the bargain . it is reassuringly safe and engrossing
set after WW1 it is a family drama involving a bullying ,cold , rich solicitor dehumanised by the war and his inferiority complex as the not so good son , his failed marriage to a younger , poorer and in his snobbish eyes not quite the More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 06, 2009

Diane rated it:

So far my least favorite of this author. I have read most of her others, that take place during the time ,of King Henry VIII, a period I love.
This book takes place after WWI, and although I wanted to find out how it ended, I did not enjoy is as much as The Boleyn Inheritance, The Other Boleyn Girl (which far surpasses the movie), and The Queens Fool. I have read a total of nine of her books so far. And on my to read list is her latest The Other Queen.

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Apr 13, 2009

Donna rated it:

didn't finish, depressing, and I didn't care

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Apr 15, 2011

Thea rated it:

Very dragging in parts, and with some quite abrupt changes in POV that jar the flow of the narrative. Prose is bland, bordering on insipid. Gregory suffers from lack of adherence to the golden rule, "show, don't tell", and I'm sorry but I've read quite a lot of her books and the woman cannot write a positive strong female character to save her life. Lily, like all of Gregory's protagonists that I've encountered, is whiny, hysterical, helpless and impossible to sympathize with. Everyone More...

0 comments like

Aug 23, 2010

Betsy rated it:

Philippa Gregory doesn't write novels, she writes sagas. She writes deliciously delightful dramatic works that would never fit in a movie timespan or even a mini-series on cable. She writes without reserve. She writes without concern of foraging into realms too shocking. Her works remind me of good dramatic plays. Hedda Gabler perhaps. Reading her writing is what I imagine to be something like an ocean crossing. You're guaranteed intermittent times of smooth and very rough water, and you More...

0 comments like

Aug 22, 2010

Laura rated it:

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1 comment like

Mar 29, 2010

Naomi rated it:

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0 comments like

Feb 09, 2010

Elizabeth rated it:

This was definitely not a story that I expected. If you expect to come away with sunshines and rainbows, this book is not for you. It is an excellent story that examines the affect of war on soldiers as well as the people left behind and is set a few years after the end of WWI. The story centers around a young woman who refuses to let the war interfere with or touch her life and how she is drawn into the world of two people who have been significantly touched by the war andthe story revolves aro More...

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Jun 20, 2009

Dana rated it:

I hadn't expected to enjoy Fallen Skies as much as I did. I still maintain that "The Other Boleyn Girl" is her best book, but this is way up there near the top of my list.

The vivid descriptions of the vaudeville theater, and the delicious glimpses of 1920s Portsmouth and Southampton, were so much fun. My heart thudded and ached in syncopation with Lily's. I was most definitely drawn into this book from the first few pages, and sad when it ended because I wanted there to be More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 21, 2009

Carol rated it:

The author is well-known for her historical novels about royal personages, but this book, first published in 1993 and re-issued in 2008, is among her best and is timely in this era of war. It is set in the immediate aftermath of World War I in England. A former officer from an upper-class family is haunted by dreams of the war. He falls in love with a pretty, very young music-hall performer, seeing in her naivete the pre-war innocence he misses. The impoverished girl reluctantly marries her rich More...

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Feb 17, 2009

Robin-Taine rated it:

This was not an easy book to read! The subject matter (post WWI England) was dark, the characters were not particulary likeable, and the first half of the book was pretty slow. I almost put it down. But, I began to realize that Ms. Gregory had captured something realistic in the telling of this story. The prejudices of the characters were probably all too real in this time period (and possibly still exist in some quarters today). The post-traumatic stress of Stephan Winters and his friend C More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 30, 2010

Brittany rated it:

How I Came To Read This Book: My friend Tegan randomly bestowed books on each of us one day, and I ended up with this one.

The Plot: It's 1920 and Lily Valance is a burgeoning starlet who just wants everyone to forget about the war and have a good time. Her joie de vivre catches the attention of a WW1 hero and wealthy lawyer named Stephen Winters, who aggressively pursues Lily to become his wife. As Lily is drawn into Stephen's world she realizes how strongly silence can mask pain and More...

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Oct 08, 2009

Sheri rated it:

I would definitely recommend this book, knowing that some will have a hard time dealing with the lack of likable characters and the dark subject matter. However, I personally feel strongly that these are stories that need to be told and we need to hear, even if it makes us uncomfortable or morose. Gregory does a fantastic job describing the difficulty returning shell-shocked WWI vets had reassimilating into a culture they felt they no longer understood and how for some it became impossible to ev More...

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Aug 09, 2011

Juanita rated it:

When I read the last page my initial reaction was, "WHAT?!" and I was mad, but later I was fine with the ending. I hated Stephen the entire book and found myself saying "run girl!" out loud to Lily, but obviously that is my opinion. This book makes me thankful that I grew up the way I did, with the mother I did, and so on. Written well and I think in a good era (WWI) which I don't know as much about as earlier or later time periods. At first I thought Lily was a bit light and More...

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Oct 04, 2009

Holly rated it:

This is a superb historical novel with tragic themes. Phillipa Gregory demonstrates the she can craft such a great story that takes place in the past century. (This book was initially released in 1993. Due to Gregory's popularity, it has been reissued.)

The story focuses on the dysfunctional marriage of Lily Valance and Captain Stephen Winters. Stephen was traumatized by his service during World War I. He is clearly suffering from PTSD and other issues. Yet he refuses treatment More...

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Jun 10, 2009

Michelle rated it:

Philippa Gregory is a brilliant author who writes historical fiction. I was captivated with her book, The Other Boylen Girl, and am working my way through many of her other books. This book is about post World War I and how challenging it was for soldiers and families in Britain to try to lead a normal life after so much tragedy. Now that I have completed the book, all I can really say is "Wow." The novel became more and more difficult to read as the content became much more diffi More...

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Feb 13, 2009

Kristin rated it:

This was my first experience reading a Gregory novel. I have heard such amazing things about her writing, so I decided to read this book. Perhaps I should have started with the Tudor series. Overall, I was impressed with her knowledge of the time period and its customs. She is a great writer.

This novel deals with the characters coping with the aftermath of WWI. It deals especially with the horrible mental effects war can have on a solider. This was not an uplifting novel by any mean More...

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Oct 26, 2009

Katie rated it:

Can't wait to read this one. My first love is reading and writing. My second is military history. This book is based in the 1920's just after WWI and deals with the guilt a young wealthy soldier has over surviving Flanders battlefields.

So far so good! I think I like Phillipa Gregory more when she's not bound by the confines of history. This book is not like her books that are based on real people, it's complete fiction. So far it's really good.

OK I take back everyth More...

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Mar 26, 2009

Lorraine rated it:

This was a different book for Philippa Gregory. Its about England just after WWI-and a different take on that time period. English writers tend to romanticize the time between the World Wars but this book takes a much harder look at the time. One of the main characters is an attorney who is dealing with lots of clients trying to get divorces-couples who married in a hurry before the war and then regretted it afterward, couples who are trying to deal with the husband's shell-shock, as PTSD was kn More...

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Jun 27, 2011

Christina rated it:

I started this book several years ago, couldn't get into it and stopped. This time around, however, I found myself completely captivated by this book. There are very few times where I encounter characters that I hate so much I physically want to reach into the pages and bash their heads against a wall, but that is how I felt about Stephen and his mother, Muriel. I found them to be cold and heartless, but I feel like that was the point. On the other end of the spectrum, I found some of the ot More...

0 comments like

Dec 25, 2010

Amanda rated it:

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Nov 29, 2009

Laura rated it:

I was really enjoying this one, despite the somewhat unlikely situations (Charlie lost both testicles and half of his penis, but he was otherwise able to romp around in the ocean?) and characters that were a little wooden. Anyway, I was plugging along, finding the book to be enjoyable, even if it wasn't that well-written, until I got to the part where Stephen stabs a baby in the stomach. Totally unnecessary, and it ruined the entire book for me. My son is a baby boy with blue eyes, too, who k More...

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Jul 29, 2010

Amy rated it:

You really have to force yourself to get through the first few chapters of this book. It is a very subtle read with very few climaxes until the ending. It is basically about a young girl under her mothers care and guidance who at first is a strong influence to the main character but trails away near the end. It almost as if when she ends, the driver of her husband picks up as her role model. The ending was very surprising with a lot of fanatic and surprising emotions coming from the character, y More...

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Jan 24, 2009

Soraiku rated it:

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Feb 21, 2011

Future rated it:

I know that a lot of people said that this book is not one of Gregory's best works, but I think if Gregory had not written it, people would like it more.

It is a departure from the world of kings and queens, but it definitely sucks you into the Post WW1 world that she created.

I felt that this book was full of twists and turns and it always kept me guessing and the times that I predicted what was going to happen it was akin to screaming at the TV "No! Don't!"

More...

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Aug 09, 2010

Briawna rated it:

This book was a little sexual for me but it was definitely a page-turner. It makes me grateful that I don't have a husband in the military. Don't get me wrong, I'm so grateful for the amazing men and women who serve and their families but I don't know if I'd be very good at handling the psychological scarring. I know WW2 was different than today but this was a hard book to read. A lot of cruelty and issues that were never addressed. I am grateful I didn't grow up in turn of the century England. More...

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Jul 31, 2011

Christine rated it:

From reading some of the reviews here I wasn't sure if I was going to like the book! But I did!

I hated the character Stephen throughout the whole of the book which I think is a sign of a very well written character, one you are either routing for, or one which you detest. Lily was a sweet character, although sometimes naive she seemed to have some inner strength. I loved reading about this era, something I didn't really know much about. Combined with some theatrical moments that Lily experiences More...

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Jul 27, 2011

Mary added it

We're on holiday, so I thought I'd finally read this very large paperback; it is 640 pages long. I don't think the author could have thought of many more horrible things to happen to the main character. It seems she thought of (nearly) everything possible and wove a story to make it all fit in. I don't really know what the purpose of this book is. It isn't a love story. Is it a rant/condemnation of war, the Victorian/Edwardian middle class, suppression of women? It filled a lot of hours, b More...

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May 11, 2009

Gael rated it:

While I enjoyed the writing style, the book was pretty dark and depressing. Since it was a selection for the book club I belong to, I forced myself to wade through the first half, but once I got into it, I did begin to really enjoy it, and found the ending to be a page turner. I never really liked any of the characters . . . there did not appear to be the "hero" or "good person" you find in many other works of fiction . . . someone you cheer on as they face adversity, but More...

2 comments like