Official Review: A Soldier's Wife by Marion reynolds

[jcheiser]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "A Soldier's Wife" by Marion reynolds.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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A Soldier’s Wife, by Marion Reynolds, is a novel about a young woman, named Ellen, from Castlebar who meets, falls in love with, and marries a soldier named James. The story begins in Castlebar in June 1901 and carries the couple through the trials and tribulations of the life of a soldier and his wife through1922.

Shortly after the couple gets married, they make the long journey to India, where they live for seven years with the British Army. During this time, they live in luxury with a maid and a cook to help Ellen with the daily chores and with raising her children. They return to Ireland after seven years and then have to deal with adjusting to life in a colder climate with no maid or cook. Throughout the story, Ellen and her family watch as her parents grow weaker with age and illness, deal with James being sent to the trenches for four years, during which time he was listed as missing in action until he was found wounded, and struggle to keep food on the table because of war and politics.

The chapters in this story are broken down by years, which I think helps to make it easier to keep up with the passage of time, as well as make it easier to compare events with those occurring in other parts of the world at that time. The book moves very quickly through time, and sometimes I feel as though it was a little too quickly. I found a few sections where the reader was given a quick summary of events that had happened, but I found myself wanting to hear more about those events. I would have liked to read more, but at the same time, doing that could have made the book too long. All in all, I think Reynolds did a good job detailing some parts and summarizing others for the sake of the length of the book and the sake of the story.

A Soldier’s Wife is filled with Irish history, which I found really interesting. I think it really added to the story to have the historical information to help set the scene and the tone. While I am no expert on Irish history, the details seemed very well researched. I found no reason to question much of what Reynolds included as historical fact, especially considering she is from Ireland (which, I think, gives more to the story since she has a connection to the area).

I only found a couple of small word use or typographical errors throughout the entire novel, and I do not think that they detract from the book at all. Overall, it is well written and well edited. Reynolds has a writing style that makes events easy to picture without overwhelming the reader with descriptive details. I look forward to reading more from her.

I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. It is a wonderful book that I will recommend, but I don’t think it will be interesting to everyone because of the amount of historical details included and the lack of fast-paced adventure that seems to be so popular at the moment. I would recommend this book to young adults who enjoy reading about history and the lives of military families.

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A Soldier's Wife
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Like jcheiser's review? Post a comment saying so!

[zeldas_lullaby]

This isn't the book for me at all, but your review made that pretty clear to me. (I think someone interested in the subject matter might enjoy it more.) Great review!

[bookowlie]

Great review! You had me at the mention of Irish history. I have always been intrigued by Irish and British history.

[Amheiser]

Good review! This sounds like a book that I would like to read. I like that this story compares events in the story to events happening in other parts of the world at the time. I think it makes history so much easier to understand that way. I never liked just learning historical facts. I like learning about the lives of the people and what they are going through when these historical events happened. I have ancestors who were from Ireland so I am interested in finding out what life might have been like for them and from your review it sounds like this story might give me an idea of what they might have gone through living during that time.

[gali]

Not my kind of book, but I enjoyed the review.

[chytach18-]

Nice review, jcheiser. It seems like my cup of tea.

[Tanaya]

I found a few sections where the reader was given a quick summary of events that had happened, but I found myself wanting to hear more about those events. I would have liked to read more, but at the same time, doing that could have made the book too long.

I always feel this way when I read something that glazes over really interesting parts. For a while, I tended toward longer books because I wanted to make sure that everything was thoroughly explained and developed.

[Cee-Jay Aurinko]

I would certainly like to know more about Irish history, and this book sounds like it can do just that. Your review was wonderful to read, jcheiser. I look forward to reading more from you. No grammatical errors, no typos. Nicely done!

[Heidi M Simone]

This also doesn't seem like my kind of book. However, I did enjoy reading your review!

[kimmyschemy06]

That was a very honest review. I love historical details and I think I'll enjoy this one.