The novel is set in Belfast in the second world war. It revolves primarily around the two sisters, Audrey and Emma, and their immediate family, but the author has cleverly incorporated a supporting cast of characters loosely linked to the two sisters which help balance the book and add a different perspective.
I found the book to be structured in an interesting way, using the devastation of the bombing raids on Belfast to highlight how they affected different characters and the internal turmoil they each had to deal with. I enjoyed the author’s clever use of this to develop and highlight the different characters and the sub-plots going on in each of their lives, which I found gave the novel depth and left me thinking about each individual long after I had finished the book. An example of this is the hidden heartbreak of Audrey and Emma’s mother regarding a lost love from her past, which subtly highlighted that not all losses are due to something as dramatic as a bomb raid and we all can carry scars from past events in our lives. I also enjoyed the inclusion of the short chapter regarding Paul and his first experience of romance, a clever juxtaposition of how age also affects us and the ways in which we react to what is happening around us.
I found the book to be structured in an interesting way, using the devastation of the bombing raids on Belfast to highlight how they affected different characters and the internal turmoil they each had to deal with. I enjoyed the author’s clever use of this to develop and highlight the different characters and the sub-plots going on in each of their lives, which I found gave the novel depth and left me thinking about each individual long after I had finished the book. An example of this is the hidden heartbreak of Audrey and Emma’s mother regarding a lost love from her past, which subtly highlighted that not all losses are due to something as dramatic as a bomb raid and we all can carry scars from past events in our lives. I also enjoyed the inclusion of the short chapter regarding Paul and his first experience of romance, a clever juxtaposition of how age also affects us and the ways in which we react to what is happening around us.