The blurb of the book sounded right up my alley. I love a war survival story and the fact that it was to be interspersed with receptions of the main character's granddaughter was a big selling point for me but while I really enjoyed the part where we followed the nine, I did not like the way the narrative changed between the two narrators was too much for me and didn't live up to my expectations. It may be a brilliant book but I can already tell it's not for me and I'd just be confused reading it being thrown hither and thither by the dual narrators.