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ladyhighwayman's review against another edition
4.0
I should never have requested to review this. Don't get me wrong, it was a great story and really well written. It's just, I promised myself to stay away from stories like this, especially ones that take place in wartime, because they never have happy endings.
Like I said, it was well written. It takes real talent to keep a reader interested when most of the story is just two characters located in a small, isolated area. I cared about these characters and what happened to them.
I don't know what much else to add. It took me so long to write this because I didn't know what to say.
No more wartime m/m romances for me, unless I already know the ending. I can't take much more.
Like I said, it was well written. It takes real talent to keep a reader interested when most of the story is just two characters located in a small, isolated area. I cared about these characters and what happened to them.
I don't know what much else to add. It took me so long to write this because I didn't know what to say.
No more wartime m/m romances for me, unless I already know the ending. I can't take much more.
tiggers_hate_acorns's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this story and admit to crying a bit at the end when Nate finally saw Walter again. But after thinking things through I wonder if their love would have survived . Their love had grown under extreme circumstances and closeness,
I wonder also what Carmen thought of their marriage. Did she feel cheated, as though there were always a third person in the room? Did Nate show affection towards her, initiate love-making? The way the story was written,even though they had a long marriage it sounded as though they both made the best of it and it probably only really survived due to children, grandchildren and the era they lived in.
4 stars
Spoiler
had they both lived.Spoiler
what would have happened had they got together after the war. Walter was a farm boy, would he have survived the city?I wonder also what Carmen thought of their marriage. Did she feel cheated, as though there were always a third person in the room? Did Nate show affection towards her, initiate love-making? The way the story was written,even though they had a long marriage it sounded as though they both made the best of it and it probably only really survived due to children, grandchildren and the era they lived in.
4 stars
regencyfan93's review
4.0
I'm tearing up again just entering this into Goodreads. That is a powerful book to call up such emotion more than a month later.
__________________
My rating - 5 outstanding, 4 - I liked this and will re-read it, 3 - I enjoyed it though may not re-read, 2 - I kept going because I had to see how it ended, 1 - Whatever time I spent with this book is time I'll never get back to my regret.
__________________
My rating - 5 outstanding, 4 - I liked this and will re-read it, 3 - I enjoyed it though may not re-read, 2 - I kept going because I had to see how it ended, 1 - Whatever time I spent with this book is time I'll never get back to my regret.
kaje_harper's review
4.0
I finished 2014 with an Amy Lane story, knowing that her way with words would round off my reading year without disappointment. And I was right - a sweet-with-a-hint-of-bitter ending to my year. This one is a frame story, that begins in the present and jumps to the WWII past, and then back. The present is poignant, and short, bookending the heart of the story.
Nate Meyer is an interesting hero, a man with a religious but not fanatic Jewish family, who was a WWII hero, not for charging enemy fire but for his quiet and unheralded actions as a photographer and photo analyst. The action he saw was well-depicted in this story, and unfamiliar enough to be fascinating. And his love story, an oddly slow idyll in the heart of occupied France, is a sweet, tentative and mismatched coming of age for both men. I loved watching Nate discover Walter, and Walter discover his own worth.
Perhaps because the present-day frame necessarily bleeds off some of the past tension, I didn't have my heart shredded by this story. There were also a lot of decades to cover, and things we readers wanted to know about what happened next, which had to be simply told. That meant parts of the story were more softly contemplative than emotionally immediate.
I liked Nate, and I adored Walter. The ending was right and I finished with a little lump in my throat, and an appreciation for how far we have come, and how far we have yet to go. I did wish we'd followed Nate after the moment of crisis for a bit longer, rather than seeing its reflection only decades later in retrospective. I think the pain I wanted to feel with him was mellowed and diluted by time. But perhaps that was a deliberate choice, to not be too manipulative in wringing our hearts.
If you like WWII settings that are not generic battle scenes, if you like first times between young men, if you enjoy watching someone let go and surrender to the imperatives of love, however difficult it may make their life, then you'll probably enjoy this one. This book is neither on this authors lighter end, nor one that tore emotion from me. But it earns a solid place among stories that I enjoyed in 2014.
Nate Meyer is an interesting hero, a man with a religious but not fanatic Jewish family, who was a WWII hero, not for charging enemy fire but for his quiet and unheralded actions as a photographer and photo analyst. The action he saw was well-depicted in this story, and unfamiliar enough to be fascinating. And his love story, an oddly slow idyll in the heart of occupied France, is a sweet, tentative and mismatched coming of age for both men. I loved watching Nate discover Walter, and Walter discover his own worth.
Perhaps because the present-day frame necessarily bleeds off some of the past tension, I didn't have my heart shredded by this story. There were also a lot of decades to cover, and things we readers wanted to know about what happened next, which had to be simply told. That meant parts of the story were more softly contemplative than emotionally immediate.
I liked Nate, and I adored Walter. The ending was right and I finished with a little lump in my throat, and an appreciation for how far we have come, and how far we have yet to go. I did wish we'd followed Nate after the moment of crisis for a bit longer, rather than seeing its reflection only decades later in retrospective. I think the pain I wanted to feel with him was mellowed and diluted by time. But perhaps that was a deliberate choice, to not be too manipulative in wringing our hearts.
If you like WWII settings that are not generic battle scenes, if you like first times between young men, if you enjoy watching someone let go and surrender to the imperatives of love, however difficult it may make their life, then you'll probably enjoy this one. This book is neither on this authors lighter end, nor one that tore emotion from me. But it earns a solid place among stories that I enjoyed in 2014.
ladyhighwayman's review
4.0
I should never have requested to review this. Don't get me wrong, it was a great story and really well written. It's just, I promised myself to stay away from stories like this, especially ones that take place in wartime, because they never have happy endings.
Like I said, it was well written. It takes real talent to keep a reader interested when most of the story is just two characters located in a small, isolated area. I cared about these characters and what happened to them.
I don't know what much else to add. It took me so long to write this because I didn't know what to say.
No more wartime m/m romances for me, unless I already know the ending. I can't take much more.
Like I said, it was well written. It takes real talent to keep a reader interested when most of the story is just two characters located in a small, isolated area. I cared about these characters and what happened to them.
I don't know what much else to add. It took me so long to write this because I didn't know what to say.
No more wartime m/m romances for me, unless I already know the ending. I can't take much more.
evila_elf's review
4.0
I almost didn't finish this book.
I had a hard time getting into it and I had to constantly retrace what I read because it felt like something had been left out of the narrative.
But as soon as Nate met Walter, the story picked up and I had a hard time putting the book down.
I did get annoyed at how often the author referred to Walter as being 'childlike' or his actions as being so. Made his character not as fully fleshed as he could have been. We got to know Nate real well and I really wish that Walter was more.
I loved how we got some 'flash forwards' to see what became of the characters. And I expected the ending to be sad and managed to keep my eyes dry until the last couple of paragraphs. Hurts
I had a hard time getting into it and I had to constantly retrace what I read because it felt like something had been left out of the narrative.
But as soon as Nate met Walter, the story picked up and I had a hard time putting the book down.
I did get annoyed at how often the author referred to Walter as being 'childlike' or his actions as being so. Made his character not as fully fleshed as he could have been. We got to know Nate real well and I really wish that Walter was more.
I loved how we got some 'flash forwards' to see what became of the characters. And I expected the ending to be sad and managed to keep my eyes dry until the last couple of paragraphs. Hurts
wart's review
5.0
You can read this and other reviews at Things I Find While Shelving
I received a free ARC via NetGalley
Ouch. This book hurts.
Well, I mean, it’s a WWII novel with a gay Jewish main character so the chances of not hurting were very slim, and the amount that it hurts is just a testament to how well Amy Lane has crafted this beautiful, moving story.
We begin with modern times. Our main character, Nate, has had a stroke and can no longer talk and is wheelchair bound. But he still insists on going to Times Square every New Years, listening for bells he knows will never ring, as he has been doing since the end of WWII, listening for the bells that will connect him and the love he lost.
This year, his grandson takes him. And his grandson’s boyfriend comes to, and it begins with a sweet, heart wrenching coming out scene as Nate thinks of his own first love and struggles to speak to his grandson, to give him the words he’s hoping to hear.
And then we get Nate’s flashback. We go through everything he went through, from a crashed plane to a lost midwesterner nursing him back to health. Walter has been holed up in a house in the German countryside for quite awhile after escaping a POW camp. Now he brings Nate into his sanctuary, his safe haven, and they slowly develop a friendship and, deep down, Nate longs for something more. He won’t admit it at first, between a lack of cultural acceptance and a religious background that generally frowns upon such things, Nate has been denying his attraction to men for a long time.
But he’s falling for Walter. It isn’t just physical attraction, he is truly falling in love with Walther. And though it takes a lot for him to admit it - living in a world that insists it isn’t possible for people like them - Walter falls for Nate.
And then they have a chance to get out, to get back to relative safety. And they have resistance members who will help them - partly because one of them is the reason that they can’t just hide any more.
But…well.
I won’t tell you any more. Because this book. It is quite the story, very well written, well crafted, and heart wrenching. And beautiful. Very beautiful.
I received a free ARC via NetGalley
Ouch. This book hurts.
Well, I mean, it’s a WWII novel with a gay Jewish main character so the chances of not hurting were very slim, and the amount that it hurts is just a testament to how well Amy Lane has crafted this beautiful, moving story.
We begin with modern times. Our main character, Nate, has had a stroke and can no longer talk and is wheelchair bound. But he still insists on going to Times Square every New Years, listening for bells he knows will never ring, as he has been doing since the end of WWII, listening for the bells that will connect him and the love he lost.
This year, his grandson takes him. And his grandson’s boyfriend comes to, and it begins with a sweet, heart wrenching coming out scene as Nate thinks of his own first love and struggles to speak to his grandson, to give him the words he’s hoping to hear.
And then we get Nate’s flashback. We go through everything he went through, from a crashed plane to a lost midwesterner nursing him back to health. Walter has been holed up in a house in the German countryside for quite awhile after escaping a POW camp. Now he brings Nate into his sanctuary, his safe haven, and they slowly develop a friendship and, deep down, Nate longs for something more. He won’t admit it at first, between a lack of cultural acceptance and a religious background that generally frowns upon such things, Nate has been denying his attraction to men for a long time.
But he’s falling for Walter. It isn’t just physical attraction, he is truly falling in love with Walther. And though it takes a lot for him to admit it - living in a world that insists it isn’t possible for people like them - Walter falls for Nate.
And then they have a chance to get out, to get back to relative safety. And they have resistance members who will help them - partly because one of them is the reason that they can’t just hide any more.
But…well.
I won’t tell you any more. Because this book. It is quite the story, very well written, well crafted, and heart wrenching. And beautiful. Very beautiful.
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