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Resistance by Owen Sheers
The Blurb On The Back:
When Sarah Lewis, a twenty-six year-old farmer's wife, wakes to find her husband has disappeared, she discovers she is not the only one - all the men in the Welsh border valley of Olchon have gone. It is 1944 and following the failed D-Day landings, a German counter-attack has landed on British soil. A few months after the men's disappearance, a German patrol arrives in the valley, and when Sarah begins an acquaintance with the patrol's commanding officer, both sides must decide whether to remain enemies or to come together in defiance of the war surrounding the valley. A gripping portrait of a community under seige, Resistance is also a moving story of unexpected love and friendship.
I think is a very well written and very carefully written book, albeit one that ultimately made little impact on me.
The author's poetry background shows through in his writing, which is highly evocative of the Welsh valley in which this book is set and the attitude of the women who live there. Told in the third person mainly through the perspective of Sarah and Maggie (two of the farmer's wives left behind when their husbands leave to form an insurgency group to counter the German invasion) and Captain Albrecht Wolfram, a German officer sent on a secret mission to the valley by the Gestapo, the plot draws together their experiences and desires as each character struggles to come to terms with the war.
Sheers has clearly done his research on the period and I found his view of an alternate history where the D-Day landings fail, the Russians lose Stalingrad and the Americans pull out of the European war to focus on the Japanese a credible and interesting one. However, one of the quote blurbs on the front page describes this as a "sometimes frightening thriller" and I found it misleading. In my opinion, the plot is not fast-paced enough to be classed as a thriller as Sheers is too considered in his approach to his characters and too careful in setting out how they deal with their world and whilst there is a climax of sorts at the end, Sheers decides to leave the ending open, which I found rather frustrating.
There are some fine moments in the text - notably the segments dealing with George Bowen and his dealings with Tommy Atkins, which I think are the tensest segments of the book.
However, I found it unfortunate that Sheers never really resolves what happens to the farmers who leave their wives behind. I appreciate that by implying their fate and leaving it open to question, Sheers is putting the reader in the same position as the wives, but I still found it frustrating. Also frustrating is the way he draws Albrecht and Sarah together towards the end of the book, which I felt came a little too far out of left field to be truly believable.
Ultimately, I think that the book is a good literary addition to the alternate history genre with a strong emphasis on time and period, but I suspect that people looking for a more thrilling, fast-paced read will be disappointed.
The Verdict:
It's very well written and has an interesting alternate history premise, but to be honest, the plot didn't really do it for me. In particular, I think that the end relationship between the two main characters is too forced to be believable and I found the author's decision to leave the ending open too frustrating.
When Sarah Lewis, a twenty-six year-old farmer's wife, wakes to find her husband has disappeared, she discovers she is not the only one - all the men in the Welsh border valley of Olchon have gone. It is 1944 and following the failed D-Day landings, a German counter-attack has landed on British soil. A few months after the men's disappearance, a German patrol arrives in the valley, and when Sarah begins an acquaintance with the patrol's commanding officer, both sides must decide whether to remain enemies or to come together in defiance of the war surrounding the valley. A gripping portrait of a community under seige, Resistance is also a moving story of unexpected love and friendship.
I think is a very well written and very carefully written book, albeit one that ultimately made little impact on me.
The author's poetry background shows through in his writing, which is highly evocative of the Welsh valley in which this book is set and the attitude of the women who live there. Told in the third person mainly through the perspective of Sarah and Maggie (two of the farmer's wives left behind when their husbands leave to form an insurgency group to counter the German invasion) and Captain Albrecht Wolfram, a German officer sent on a secret mission to the valley by the Gestapo, the plot draws together their experiences and desires as each character struggles to come to terms with the war.
Sheers has clearly done his research on the period and I found his view of an alternate history where the D-Day landings fail, the Russians lose Stalingrad and the Americans pull out of the European war to focus on the Japanese a credible and interesting one. However, one of the quote blurbs on the front page describes this as a "sometimes frightening thriller" and I found it misleading. In my opinion, the plot is not fast-paced enough to be classed as a thriller as Sheers is too considered in his approach to his characters and too careful in setting out how they deal with their world and whilst there is a climax of sorts at the end, Sheers decides to leave the ending open, which I found rather frustrating.
There are some fine moments in the text - notably the segments dealing with George Bowen and his dealings with Tommy Atkins, which I think are the tensest segments of the book.
However, I found it unfortunate that Sheers never really resolves what happens to the farmers who leave their wives behind. I appreciate that by implying their fate and leaving it open to question, Sheers is putting the reader in the same position as the wives, but I still found it frustrating. Also frustrating is the way he draws Albrecht and Sarah together towards the end of the book, which I felt came a little too far out of left field to be truly believable.
Ultimately, I think that the book is a good literary addition to the alternate history genre with a strong emphasis on time and period, but I suspect that people looking for a more thrilling, fast-paced read will be disappointed.
The Verdict:
It's very well written and has an interesting alternate history premise, but to be honest, the plot didn't really do it for me. In particular, I think that the end relationship between the two main characters is too forced to be believable and I found the author's decision to leave the ending open too frustrating.