Then to finish the day off we just had to get one of those board games on the table

Synopsis (from book cover):

Saturday, February, 2003.  Henry Prowne is a contented man – a successful neorosurgeon, the devoted husband of Rosalind and proud father of two grown-up children.  Unusually, he wakes before dawn, drawn to the window and filled with  a growing unease.  As he looks out at the night sky he is troubled by the state of the world – the impending war against Iraq, a gathering pessimism since 9/11, and a fear that his city and his happy family life are under threat.

Later as Perowne makes his way through London streets filled with hundreds of thousands of anti-war protestors, a minor car accident brings him inot a confrontation with Baxter, a fidgety, aggressive young man, on the edge of violence.  To Perowne’s professional eye, there appears to be something profoundly wrong with him.  But it is not until Baxter makes a sudden appearance as the Perowne family gathers for a reunion that Henry’s earlier fears seem about to be realised.

Review:

The book as the title suggests, covers just one day of Henry Perowne’s life.  The current and recent past events of the world are laying heavily on his shoulders as he wakes unusually early to see what he initially thinks is a comet fly low through the night sky.  Ian fleshes out all the characters in the book very well and gives them all individual personality.  He describes very well the Perowne families history and what makes them bond together or not.  All the family members, although quite different in character are all successful in their different ways.

The pending war on Iraq and the anti-war march cause tension within the family due to differing view points.  The march itself is the cause of what turns out to be one of the major events of the day for the Perowne family.

I loved the style of writing and descriptive details, but in some places I found there was too much detail which slowed down the narrative to much for my liking.

The book throughout  gave a feeling of ominous foreboding  and uncertainty, but ultimately I found the book delivered a glimmer of hope.

Overall I would give the book 4 stars.

I read this for my book group and yesterday we met to discuss it, so what did we all think of it?

I think it is probably the first book that we have read that we all agreed on.  We thought it was an excellent novel although we all got so wrapped up in the narrative we had to remind ourselves that it was a novel and not a biography.  The characters are very well drawn and filled out.  The descriptions of what it was like on a WW1 battlefield and in the trenches were so well described you actually thought you were there yourself.  It describes the awful conditions and lack of food and it portrays many different human emotions; fear, love, loss, betrayal, confusion etc  The narrative is very lyrical which makes the book quite compelling despite the horrific details of the battlefield.  One of the most awful passages for me was the description of the first time they soldiers encountered mustard gas!

The author also manages to bring in the political aspect of the war and the Irish situation and reasons for why some of the Irish soldiers were taking part in the war.  The political views of the main character change as the war leaves it mark on him, leaving him to feel confused about the situation.

I would thoroughly recommend anyone to read this book, especially if you are interested in WW1.