Resistance
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Product Description
Observer
'[A] devastating tale.'
Daily Mail
'Mixing lush descriptions of the landscape with a very human story of war ... this is a sparkling debut.'
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
43 of 46 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an extremely powerful story set in the imagined backdrop of an invaded and Nazi-occupied Britain, from 1944 onwards... an alternative outcome for the Second World War which could quite conceivably have come true. After failed D-Day landings the German invasion begins in earnest on British soil and this story unfolds as the country gradually becomes another occupied territory of the Third Reich - herein lies its power and horror.
One morning, in one of the most remote valleys in the Black Mountains on the English-Welsh border, twenty-six-year-old Sarah Lewis awakes unusually late in the day to find her husband has disappeared. Suspicions are confirmed as all the women in the valley meet to find that all seven men in the valley have literally vanished overnight. The women fear that their husbands have joined an underground resistance group... and they are left to tend their farms, taking on the full heavy workload previously undertaken by the men.
Fear and mistrust envelops them when a German patrol arrives in the valley on an important mission, until an uneasy truce is formed from a mutual need for help during the harsh frozen winter months in this isolated valley of the Black Mountains. The men in the patrol are war-weary and glad of their respite from the fighting; the women are struggling with their workloads.... both sides have a tendency to forget that there is a war on, and this could be a very dangerous thing to forget indeed.
Owen Sheers (also poet) writes in a beautifully lyrical way, vividly bringing to life the Olchon valley. The power of the novel lies in its ability to shock, as the slow realisation gradually dawns that this outcome could have been the one to come true... An idea that stays with you long after turning the last page. I did hestiate before giving it 5 stars because I didn't find it quite as compelling a read in the first half, as in the second; the pace was slightly lacking. However, what it loses in pace it really does make up for in prose and description.
A good read for anyone. I'd especially recommend it for young students of the Second World War, if only to see the Nazi occupation of other European countries in a different light, and perhaps even bring their history more vividly alive.
One morning, in one of the most remote valleys in the Black Mountains on the English-Welsh border, twenty-six-year-old Sarah Lewis awakes unusually late in the day to find her husband has disappeared. Suspicions are confirmed as all the women in the valley meet to find that all seven men in the valley have literally vanished overnight. The women fear that their husbands have joined an underground resistance group... and they are left to tend their farms, taking on the full heavy workload previously undertaken by the men.
Fear and mistrust envelops them when a German patrol arrives in the valley on an important mission, until an uneasy truce is formed from a mutual need for help during the harsh frozen winter months in this isolated valley of the Black Mountains. The men in the patrol are war-weary and glad of their respite from the fighting; the women are struggling with their workloads.... both sides have a tendency to forget that there is a war on, and this could be a very dangerous thing to forget indeed.
Owen Sheers (also poet) writes in a beautifully lyrical way, vividly bringing to life the Olchon valley. The power of the novel lies in its ability to shock, as the slow realisation gradually dawns that this outcome could have been the one to come true... An idea that stays with you long after turning the last page. I did hestiate before giving it 5 stars because I didn't find it quite as compelling a read in the first half, as in the second; the pace was slightly lacking. However, what it loses in pace it really does make up for in prose and description.
A good read for anyone. I'd especially recommend it for young students of the Second World War, if only to see the Nazi occupation of other European countries in a different light, and perhaps even bring their history more vividly alive.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A friend lent me the book and I wasn't expecting too much given the "what if" nature of the story. After sticking out the first couple of chapters I was slowly drawn into the compelling narrative by the rather lovely writing of Owen Sheers. Slowly but surely your natural inclination as to how you feel about the occupying soldiers changes and you are able to see them as human beings suffering alienation from their families in a foreign land. The tension steadily racks up and there were times when I felt terribly anxious reading this book which is an experience I have only ever felt with two other books to this degree (The Woman in Black by Susan Hill and Pompeii by Robert Harris). The affect on the emotions is quite startling and is the mark of a great writer. It was always going to be hard to end this story and I think on balance it was well handled by Sheers. This novel also has a wonderful sense of place. The descriptions of that part of south east Wales is evocative and much of it is still as unspoilt as it was 65 years ago. Give this book a go - you will find it well worth it.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
"More people are good because they are happy than happy because they are good." Walter Savage Landor
8 Aug 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
What would have happened if World War II had ended in victory for Germany? This is the premise of Owen Sheers frightening and superbly imagined book. The writing is wonderful, sharp, insightful and lacking only in the poeticisms one might have expected from a writer more known for poetry than novels. It is shorn of any such pretension and very much in tune with its setting: Wales, in a remote hillside area with a matter of four or five farms dotted around the landscape.
The book has quite a lot in common with Peter Ho Davies' novel The Welsh Girl, which takes place in a similar setting, though that follows WWII history in the success of the the D Day landing. In this novel it is a successful German invasion that provides the frisson and fear for a lonely hillside community. The novel opens as Sarah wakes up and, feeling for the warmth of her husband Tom, alights on cold sheets. Three other women wake that same morning - their husbands gone to join the resistance.
The German Patrol that is sent to the valley has a particular mission but Captain Albrecht, the mission's commander, soon finds himself curiously in sympathy with the hard lives of the women.
This is a remarkable story, told uncommonly well, which never oversteps the bounds of believability. For all we know it didn't happen, it has the realism of lives caught up in the murderous inevitability of war.
The book has quite a lot in common with Peter Ho Davies' novel The Welsh Girl, which takes place in a similar setting, though that follows WWII history in the success of the the D Day landing. In this novel it is a successful German invasion that provides the frisson and fear for a lonely hillside community. The novel opens as Sarah wakes up and, feeling for the warmth of her husband Tom, alights on cold sheets. Three other women wake that same morning - their husbands gone to join the resistance.
The German Patrol that is sent to the valley has a particular mission but Captain Albrecht, the mission's commander, soon finds himself curiously in sympathy with the hard lives of the women.
This is a remarkable story, told uncommonly well, which never oversteps the bounds of believability. For all we know it didn't happen, it has the realism of lives caught up in the murderous inevitability of war.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
It's not about war, it's about people
For readers expecting a war story with a highly viable rationale for a German invasion in 1944 and it's broader aftermath, this book will probably disappoint. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Steven Jones
Resistance is futile
With such an interesting plot line, I was really disappointed with the ending - another book to add to my list of 'Author couldn't think of an ending so just stopped writing'... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Nick H
No research and unbelievable
As has been said in other reviews, the sheer lack of anything resembling plausibility in this story meant I gave up reading it pretty quickly. Read more
Published 4 months ago by T. M. Wilson
Thriller....?!
I bought this on the strength of the recent film release (seeing that next week) - the reviews of the book I heard were pretty good. Read more
Published 4 months ago by R. Parry
historical impossibility
An excellent example of what can happen when poets and talented writers are let loose on the realities of history.
The book was an absolute and total impossibility. Read more
The book was an absolute and total impossibility. Read more
Published 5 months ago by sammy
Excellent read, very well written.
It brought to life the hardships faced by a group of women in an upland farming community when their husbands had mysteriously disappeared.Well written and researched.
Published 5 months ago by CARL
Intriguing 'love' story with some surprises...
Novels that 'skew' history - so, create stories around the fact that the Nazis did win World War 2 (which they nearly did of course.... Read more
Published 5 months ago by ijhodgson
Why did I waste my time?
This is an awful book and one that further embarrasses Wales and Welsh writers in general. Must admit I gave up after just a few pages it was so bad. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Tembo
Disappointing
IMO, the title 'Resistance' is misleading in that the story barely touches the activities of the British Resistance Movement. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Churchmouse
Irresistable
Thought this was a wonderful piece of writing. Intelligent prose presented in a beautifully understated manner. A great story idea developed convincingly. Read more
Published 8 months ago by nickyb
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