By
d.arcadian letterpress seller extraordinaire
on 16 Oct. 2016
Format: Kindle Edition
Verified Purchase
An amazingly complex story
told in a disarmingly simple and easy to read style that keeps the
reader turning from page to page. The narrator is the title character,
Josiah Stubb and it is his story and is his struggle to rise above the
life into which he was born and become someone that he, himself can
respect. It is a remarkably brave and confident author who can tackle
the subjects in this book, subjects that should never be taboo but sadly
often are, with tact, sensitivity and without any hint of smuttiness or
gratuitous sexual content. C. W. Lovatt has proved, yet again, that his
work is up there with the best of the classics and this book deserves
to be one that is still on shelves and being read in a hundred years,
not just for the meticulously researched and told battle scenes, but for
the extremely accurate and vivid portraits of social history and life
at that place at this point in history. It is exceptionally fine, honest
and tells a labyrinthine and enthralling tale in an approachable and
easy to digest manner.
The siege and battle scenes are so well described that the reader actually feels to be part of the action and coupled with the photographs of the areas on the author's own website, somehow give an almost three D aspect to a war that is still causing controversy today.
The historical detail is incredibly accurate and has some very fascinating little snippets of information that bring the era and the place to life. The author has gone to considerable lengths to keep the content honest and accurate within the framework of the personnel who inhabit the pages and has also undertaken many, many hours of painstaking research and fieldtrips to ensure that each detail is absolutely accurate.
The story is told with warmth and compassion and occasionally with big hearted humour. Josiah Stubb and the people who surround him, are more than just characters in a book, they become real living human beings for whom we, the reader, develop feelings and to whom we can relate. C W Lovatt has pulled off a master stroke in creating Fat Sally as a warm and humorous woman, making a character whose actions could make the reader thoroughly dislike and despise her into one who we embrace with warmth and laughter. As always with this incredible writer’s work, every word has been measured and placed just where it belongs for maximum impact and that gives the book a very clever extra dimension. There are two, maybe three story lines going on - Josiah as a child, Josiah as a young adult male in love and Josiah at war – but the clever use of words makes the narrative – narratives!- able to be read in two different ways, as a simple story as told and as a much deeper insight into the workings of the human psyche, making it appealing to many different readers. Furthermore, whilst it is Historical Fiction, there are other genres in which it could confidently sit.
It is a remarkably intelligent book from a remarkably intelligent author.
The book should be reviewed on its merit and not on one person’s view of what is right or wrong. It should be judged with the highest of praise for its historical accuracy and literary brilliance.
As always when reading anything by this incredibly talented writer, I experienced a whole range of emotions, not just as surface feelings but as deeply as if they were happening to someone I know.
The siege and battle scenes are so well described that the reader actually feels to be part of the action and coupled with the photographs of the areas on the author's own website, somehow give an almost three D aspect to a war that is still causing controversy today.
The historical detail is incredibly accurate and has some very fascinating little snippets of information that bring the era and the place to life. The author has gone to considerable lengths to keep the content honest and accurate within the framework of the personnel who inhabit the pages and has also undertaken many, many hours of painstaking research and fieldtrips to ensure that each detail is absolutely accurate.
The story is told with warmth and compassion and occasionally with big hearted humour. Josiah Stubb and the people who surround him, are more than just characters in a book, they become real living human beings for whom we, the reader, develop feelings and to whom we can relate. C W Lovatt has pulled off a master stroke in creating Fat Sally as a warm and humorous woman, making a character whose actions could make the reader thoroughly dislike and despise her into one who we embrace with warmth and laughter. As always with this incredible writer’s work, every word has been measured and placed just where it belongs for maximum impact and that gives the book a very clever extra dimension. There are two, maybe three story lines going on - Josiah as a child, Josiah as a young adult male in love and Josiah at war – but the clever use of words makes the narrative – narratives!- able to be read in two different ways, as a simple story as told and as a much deeper insight into the workings of the human psyche, making it appealing to many different readers. Furthermore, whilst it is Historical Fiction, there are other genres in which it could confidently sit.
It is a remarkably intelligent book from a remarkably intelligent author.
The book should be reviewed on its merit and not on one person’s view of what is right or wrong. It should be judged with the highest of praise for its historical accuracy and literary brilliance.
As always when reading anything by this incredibly talented writer, I experienced a whole range of emotions, not just as surface feelings but as deeply as if they were happening to someone I know.
