The Summer Before the War
Categories: Literature & Fiction
The Summer Before the War (2016) is a novel by Helen Simonson. In the English coastal town of Rye in 1914, Latin teacher Beatrice Nash arrives just as World War I begins to upend local life. Simonson mixes comedy of manners among gentry, villagers and Belgian refugees with the approach of conscription, bereavement and social change on the home front.
Recommended by 1 person
- Fareed Zakaria: “My book of the week is Helen Simonson's "The Summer Before the War." This is a gentle sweet novel that describes how a small town in England reacts to its first female teacher on the eve of the first World War. If you like "Downton Abby," you will love this little jewel of a book.”