I loved this book. It is a long read but never did it feel laboured; once you get to know the characters you will not want to put it down. The author tells the story through the eyes of Drum, Gwen and their two children.
The story follows Drum from his National Service, where he meets Carter, to after his death, spanning from the 1950’s to 2019. I was interested to read about Doom Town, the mocked-up town scenario of the effect of a nuclear strike as I was not aware that this type of training was given in the 1950s and how serious the threat was. His time in training has an everlasting effect on Drum, not only the how it shapes his mental health but also his lifelong friendship with Carter. Drum is working class, Carter is upper middle class and the relationship is not always what you could refer to as healthily balanced due to their different social backgrounds. This is key to the book and is cleverly used by the author throughout.
The author uses all the characters very skillfully, and they are all beautifully written. None of them are contrived and the way they are used to tell the story spanning over fifty years draws you in. It is a story about families, friendships, what drives us to make the decisions we made and how society and world events influence us more than we possibly realise. One of the best books I have read for a long while.
The story follows Drum from his National Service, where he meets Carter, to after his death, spanning from the 1950’s to 2019. I was interested to read about Doom Town, the mocked-up town scenario of the effect of a nuclear strike as I was not aware that this type of training was given in the 1950s and how serious the threat was. His time in training has an everlasting effect on Drum, not only the how it shapes his mental health but also his lifelong friendship with Carter. Drum is working class, Carter is upper middle class and the relationship is not always what you could refer to as healthily balanced due to their different social backgrounds. This is key to the book and is cleverly used by the author throughout.
The author uses all the characters very skillfully, and they are all beautifully written. None of them are contrived and the way they are used to tell the story spanning over fifty years draws you in. It is a story about families, friendships, what drives us to make the decisions we made and how society and world events influence us more than we possibly realise. One of the best books I have read for a long while.