- Hardcover: 531 pages
- Publisher: Magna Large Print Books; Large Print edition edition (15 May 2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0750516496
- ISBN-13: 978-0750516495
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 5,597,129 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
‘Julia Bryant creates a vivid picture of Portsmouth in the final years and aftermath of the "Great" War of 1914-1918, weaving it into a story that pulses with the warm blood of humanity.’ Rhona Martin on WAITING FOR THE TIDE
‘Wonderful powers of detailed description and of putting convincing, authentic dialogue together.’ (John Sadden, author of Keep the Home Fires Burning )
‘A pulsating and heart-warming saga peopled with human and compelling characters with a convincing dialogue. It is a rich first novel conjuring up a vivid and realistic portrait of Portsmouth in the final years and aftermath of the Great War.’ Yorkshire Evening Post on WAITING FOR THE TIDE
‘A rich first novel . . . packed with interesting people.’ (Betty Burton ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
‘Wonderful powers of detailed description and of putting convincing, authentic dialogue together.’ (John Sadden, author of Keep the Home Fires Burning )
‘A pulsating and heart-warming saga peopled with human and compelling characters with a convincing dialogue. It is a rich first novel conjuring up a vivid and realistic portrait of Portsmouth in the final years and aftermath of the Great War.’ Yorkshire Evening Post on WAITING FOR THE TIDE
‘A rich first novel . . . packed with interesting people.’ (Betty Burton ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
John Sadden, author of Keep the Home Fires Burning
‘Wonderful powers of detailed description and of putting convincing, authentic dialogue together.'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Portsmouth during the First World War is only sometimes full of sailors home on leave - but it is always full of sailors' wives and families.
They have to exist on their spouses' meager pay and supplement it as best they can, bringing up children, caring for elderly relatives and invalid ex-sailors. It is a hard life, for nobody knows when it will be their turn for the telegram boy to deliver the devastating news that a loved one has died at sea, but it is not without its joys.
Young Lily Forrest and her grandmother Beattie are keeping the home fires burning for Beattie's son who is away at sea, when they receive the news that Lily's brother's ship has sank. It is her birthday and she is twelve years old. Next door the feckless Vine family have to be looked after. With three children and another on the way, Dolly falls to pieces when she hears that her husband has just suffered the same fate. Meanwhile Miriam Slattery works as a barmaid at her aunt's pub and is in love with a handsome young sailor. When she is raped following his departure to sea and falls pregnant - whose baby is it? And will Alec want her back if she tells him the truth?
There is plenty going on at all times in this novel as the characters suffer the pangs of love, loss and childbirth and the joys of parenthood and the various small victories over life's vicissitudes. Providing a backdrop to all this is the turbulent period of the war and afterwards.
The characters celebrate Armistice Day, go to the pictures to see Charlie Chaplin and Lillian Gish, try to help the starving victims of the war as they sell matches or beg and try to make ends meet.
It is a novel about survival, of triumphing over the odds and making the best of what you have. As it deals with poverty I wondered on opening it whether it would be another typical "clog and shawl" tale about the sufferings of various unfortunates. I was pleasantly surprised and couldn't put it down, reading far into the night. I eagerly await the next chapter in the lives of the Forrest family.
Rachel A. Hyde for The Charlotte Austin review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Read this and want the next
7 Jan 2000
Format:Hardcover
Julia Bryant has written a novel full of humanity. The reader is immersed in the Portsmouth of the Great War and immedietaly afterwards. This rich tale of the women who wait for their sailors shows their strength and humour. Through the skilfully crafted plot the reader is swept along in the ebb and flow of the lives of the Forrest women. It is a beautifully written book from a new writer.
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