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Product Description
As the year 2001 approaches the men who fought in the Great War have all but faded away, and only the memory of their sacrifice will be preserved. Between 1914 and 1918 soldiers from all over the world converged on the trenches of Belgium and Northern France: from Australia and New Zealand, Canada, England, India, Ireland, Scotland, South Africa, Wales and the far reaches of the British Empire they came to fight alongside the Belgians and the French.
Vale Valhalla traces the lives of a group of Australians through the years prior to, and during, the First World War, and reveals how they were forever altered by their sufferings in that singular and relentless conflict.
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Each character is lovingly portrayed with careful words, and while it is true that there are certain coincidences included that are not really lifelike, it has to be said that the way in which they come across do not seem unrealistic at all. There is just enough of each ingredient to keep the reader hooked and I think comparisons to "Mills and Boon" are unfairly given, this is not just your everyday romance, there is true heartache here NOT based around love at all, but based on war scenes.
I have recommended this to several people and they all enjoyed it, the storyline is pacy without excluding too many facts, the war scenes are gripping without being too gory, the love bits are sweet without being too heavyhanded with any passion and romance.
I have also re-read Vale Valhalla three times, and every time I do so all the emotions come flooding back, it not being spoilt at all by the fact that I know what will come next. It is above all a "soft" book, very heartfeltly written (if that is a word!!) displaying, yes I have to agree with other reviewers, a certain pride in the contribution of Australia in the war.
One last bit I have to add, this book was very useful in displaying facts and possible facts about Kitchener. He is sculpted very well, and comes across as a shy, vulnerable man, rather thn the cold standoffish one he is portrayed as in other books of the sort.
Well this is turning into an essay, so I'll leave it there, but this is definitely recommended if you like historical romance.
However, as the front cover is dominated by a picture of an Edwardian woman, I think it is fair to say that that any reader should expect a love story set against the backdrop of the Great War rather than hard-bitten, brutal war fiction. If you want a more heavyweight novel about WW1, read Birdsong.
This book doesn't claim to be definitive war fiction. If you take it at face value, it is an historical saga, following the three main characters over three decades. It does have its share of cliches but it was well-written, the pace moved along quickly enough and I found it absorbing enough to want to find out what happens to the characters.
The war scenes were maybe not as vivid and graphic as others I have encountered but the Western Front was certainly not depicted as a picnic or a day at the races. The author has made every effort to paint a picture in the minds of her readers of the conditions soldiers faced daily in the mud-filled trenches of Northern France.
Joy Chambers obviously writes with great pride, both on a personal and national level, about the Australian troops who came thousands of miles to fight for a mother country most had never seen. And to give her credit where it's due, her passion and desire to get her facts right does come through.
At the risk of pandering to the previous reviewer, it is perhaps more a book for women but if historical fiction appeals to you and you are interested in the period surrounding the First World War, this book is well worth a look.
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