Resistance opens in 1944, as the women of a small Welsh farming community wake one morning to find that their husbands have gone. Soon after that a German patrol arrives in their valley. In his hugely anticipated debut novel, Owen Sheers has produced a beautifully imagined and powerfully moving story of love and loss.
Resistance
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'Sheers is a poet by nature and so no detail ... escapes close examination.' -- Telegraph
Book Description
A thrilling and emotionally intense novel set in a World War Two where Britain has been invaded.
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48 of 53 people found the following review helpful
By S. Barnes
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.
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By bloodsimple
Format:Paperback
This book has a decent premise - the Germans actually invaded Britain in WW2, and are slowly taking over the country and imposing their regime. In a quiet Welsh valley, the menfolk disappear overnight to join the resistance, leaving the wives to carry on. It's not totally original, but it is engaging enough to join in.
Unfortunately, this is the closest it gets to creative and impactive writing. Sheers knows the area, and the history; unfortunately, he can impart neither. I know that region quite well, and yet there is nothing in the description that summons it up. Frankly, it could be any rural part of the UK. The female characters are poorly drawn and intermingle - only two of them are of any substance at all. In addition, Sheers fails to convey a sense of the local language or culture - the dialogue in particular feels generic.
The book teeters between an historical novel of what might have been, and an emotional novel of relationships. Ultimately, it manages neither of these convincingly. The plotting appears to unravel once the German soldiers arrive; why do the women's relations never visit, why is there no postal service, where are the traders and businesses they used to deal with? The total isolation of the valley is, really, a bit absurd.
Without spoiling the ending, it is lame and contrived, and a bit on the amateurish side. Overall, this is a book with a decent premise, but carried out without great skill, strong characterisation or realistic plotting.
Unfortunately, this is the closest it gets to creative and impactive writing. Sheers knows the area, and the history; unfortunately, he can impart neither. I know that region quite well, and yet there is nothing in the description that summons it up. Frankly, it could be any rural part of the UK. The female characters are poorly drawn and intermingle - only two of them are of any substance at all. In addition, Sheers fails to convey a sense of the local language or culture - the dialogue in particular feels generic.
The book teeters between an historical novel of what might have been, and an emotional novel of relationships. Ultimately, it manages neither of these convincingly. The plotting appears to unravel once the German soldiers arrive; why do the women's relations never visit, why is there no postal service, where are the traders and businesses they used to deal with? The total isolation of the valley is, really, a bit absurd.
Without spoiling the ending, it is lame and contrived, and a bit on the amateurish side. Overall, this is a book with a decent premise, but carried out without great skill, strong characterisation or realistic plotting.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By W. P. WRIDE
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Really good and entreating book. Characters well drawn and the language is, not surprisingly ,almost poetic which is befitting Owen Shears' history as a poet. The premise of a German invasion is believable though the reason the group of soldiers are sent to a particular Wesh valley is a bit stretched. However, for me, the landscape and it's description through a winter is the star of this novel, not least because of the knowledge of how little it has changed over the years and could be discovered even now sixty odd years on. highly recommend this book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
possibly the worst book in the world
My daughter is studying this book for her english gcse exam so I thought I would read it and compare notes. Read more
Published 23 days ago by e williams
5.0 out of 5 stars
Well written and absorbing
I enjoyed this book very much. The details and descriptions are almost poetic and the story riveting to its mysterious ending.
Published 1 month ago by ginny
4.0 out of 5 stars
Absorbing
The awful dilemmas faced by individuals on both sides of a grim conflict are sensitively examined in this story. Mercifully it has an appropriately realistic ending.
Published 2 months ago by R. MCMILLAN
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good in parts
Though I found the evocation of the time and place really well done, and the shifting emotions of the Welsh women likewise,
I felt dissatisfied with the implausibilities, e.g. Read more
I felt dissatisfied with the implausibilities, e.g. Read more
Published 3 months ago by David John Young
4.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable alternative history
I really enjoyed Resistance; a re-imagining of the course and outcome of World War II. The Germans have the upper hand and during 1944 are able start their invasion on the south... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Anthony Harrison
5.0 out of 5 stars
I Saw the Film – I've Read the Book
I was captivated by the film of this book to the extent that I had to read it and I'm glad I did because although the author co-wrote the screenplay, some of the nuances of the... Read more
Published 5 months ago by LP
3.0 out of 5 stars
Lonely Beauty
I enjoyed it but wanted something more. The descriptions of the landscape were vivid, the loneliness of the hard land clearly evoked. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Emma Meade
4.0 out of 5 stars
An idea that almost works
Forget the historian pedants who question the accuracy of events; the concept of this novel, the invasion of the UK by Nazi forces, is chillingly realised through the fragments of... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mr. Jonathan Pratt
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not what I expected
Having just completed a degree module on the effects of the two big 20th century wars I read this to obtain a view of 'what-if'. It did not provide that. Read more
Published 6 months ago by S. Farnaby
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not all it is cracked up to be...
The book is based around a fictitious invasion of the UK following the failure of the D-Day landings. Read more
Published 6 months ago by simon
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