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It might be a long summer12/24/2023 ![]() ![]() In 1901 his recovery was often iffy - and he knew it. Medicine of today would have had this injury treated and Paul sent on his way. Paul Craddock has come home from the Boer War having been shot through the knee. I would appreciate hearing how the later books compare to the first. Eventually, I guess I will return to the second. This prevents me from giving the book a higher rating. I am not gung ho to read the next in the series. To be fair, the author does a pretty good job of reminding readers who is who in the story, even if I do think there are just too many people. There is an abundance of characters! I have given the narration three stars. ![]() It is at times difficult to distinguish the names but usually you can guess who she means IFyou can remember who the character is. Ulla Malmström reads the books of this series translated into Swedish. I grew particularly fond of this boy and of the Devon countryside! The people of the estate Craddock has purchased share in the trials and tribulations of each other’s lives. He settles himself in Devonshire and takes a child under his wing. This aspect of the story I strongly related to! Paul Craddock, returning home injured after the Boer War, is one central character. There is a focus upon love of the countryside too. ![]() We hear a lot about Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928), the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), their hunger strike protests and imprisonments. There is a focus upon the suffragette movement, feminism and strong women in general. Eventually there occurs a gradual shift to a focus on to newly introduced characters. There are characters that tie story together, but to these many, many more are added. The number of characters will both widen and change. The story ends with a party celebration at which new characters are introduced. How the book concludes is a good example of that which I have just explained. Do you understand the difference? Have I made myself clear? This is why I claim the focus is more on a group of people, a place and an era rather than separate individuals per se. The book is at it ‘s best when the focus zooms in on a character or two, but there are so many characters and eventually it becomes hard to keep them all straight. Some readers are sure to raise their voices in protest, saying that there IS a focus on characters too. The setting is primarily rural Devonshire of southwestern England and the Victorian and Edwardian age. This is a book more about a time and a place than its characters. This turned into an enjoyable sweeping saga and I look forward to the next episode, 'Post of Honour'. Total reboot summer 2015 and am pleased to say it was worth the effort of getting through the front-loaded introductions. It's mid-summer, hailstones ricocheting around, so what better time to crack this open. Opening: He left the carriage, ascended the short flight of steps and walked briskly past the dozing porter sitting in the deep shade of the portico a small neat man, in dark, well-cut city clothes and glossy topper. But as storm clouds gather over Europe, Paul learns that no part of England, however remote, can escape the challenge of the times. It seems remote from the march of progress. PARANORMAL ELEMENTS: One character of gypsy background reads cards to herselfġ966: A Horseman Riding By (published in the USA as two novels, Long Summer Day and Post of Honor)ĭescription: Paul Craddock is still young when he is invalided out of the army after the Boer War and he discovers the neglected estate of Shallowford in a secluded corner of Devon. VIOLENCE: One murder, a few knock outs, suffragest violence. SEX: A number of non-explicit, but frank encounters, mostly behind closed doors. Yes, I would be very sad to leave these folks but there's no need for tears yet as I've got two more books in the series to read :) I feel like I know them so personally that if I was to travel to Shallowford now, a hundred years later, there would be no "empty chairs at empty tables" but the fields would be alive, ringing with scythes and familiar laughter, the villagers I know putting down their burdens to wave or lend a hand. Time covered is roughly twenty years and the characters are varied and three dimentional. Aside from very absorbing family melodrama, there is madness, a grisly murder with a hay knife, a shipwreck, poaching gone wrong, suffragist action and romances aplenty. Once the characters are all introduced (which takes some time so consider yourself forewarned) the story gallops along without a lull. Simply put, a young man, Paul Craddock, is invalided out of the Boer war, inherits some money and purchases a large estate in Devonshire, 'playing squire' to the laboring families in the valley. *hugs book close* It's going on my favorites shelf for sure. ![]()
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