Echoes of War

by William Rivière

Through the lives of the Lammas family and their friends, Echoes of War captures the British experience of two world wars and the uneasy peace that lay between, and traces the beginning of the empire's end. With a wide cast of vividly drawn characters and ranging from Norfolk to Tuscany and Burma, this magisterial and profoundly moving novel testifies to the redemptive power of love and to mankind's enduring capacity for courage, compassion and survival.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction

634 pages, Paperback

First published September 18, 1997

About the author

Born in 1954.

Reviews

[Claire Davies]

Gave up after a few pages - not for me!

[Ron]

One factor is assessing this book is the length of time it took to read - nearly three months! The first two hundred pages were a chore and I nearly gave up for it told of the relationships and feelings of a series of upper middle class members of a family almost too "nice" to be true. Then, as the historical facts behind the events began to take a greater hold on the reader and you realised what Riviére was attempting, you are drawn more closely into how the Lammases were affected by the outside world and not just in a privileged bubble.



The book is impeccably researched with amazing detail, both historical and geographical, of the folk in Norfolk, Tuscany and especially Burma in the 1930s and 40s. I realised how little I knew of the events in Burma in WW2 and how much suffering was inflicted on both locals and ex-pats by the Japanese invaders. Of all the characters, Georgia's situation was the most harrowing as she lost all her family and her innocence in the far east, and this was the part of the book I most appreciated.



Some characters I felt were not fully drawn and almost two dimensional; Riviére is much better at understanding men than women and the ending is a little contrived [somehow I was convinced Jack would be rejected!], but, in the end, I was pleased I finished the book for the impact of the events had on me. I just wish it had been 433 not 633 pages!

[Thea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was simultaneously one of the more tedious books I have ever read and also one of the most enriching. At times (many times), I wanted to stop reading it, but I have very limited books when I travel, so I pushed through it. Ultimately, I'm very happy I did so, as I learned a lot from reading this book. I have never been able to fully appreciate the hesitancy which the UK felt before entering WWII, particularly their policy of appeasement. This book made me understand it. This book made me understand war in a way no movie, book, or history class ever has before. I don't mean the war front, but the war at home. Absolutely a book to read, but only if you're very interested in wartime UK.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wartime saga that spans the globe and the range of human emotions. You must love sweeping historical fiction to appreciate this and if you do, you will not be disappointed. It is a rich novel with a host of complete, sympathetic characters and period detail that will captivate.