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Homeland
It is 1946, and the eve of the harshest winter for a hundred years. Servicemen are pouring home from the war to a land beset by food and job shortages. As anti-Polish refugee propaganda reaches its height, Wladyslaw Malinowski, a young veteran of Monte Cassino, attempts to start a new life on a withy farm in the middle of the wetlands. His taskmaster is Billy Greer, newly demobbed, and itching to escape to a job in London. Stella, the local schoolteacher, has been waiting for the return of Lyndon Hanley, a hero of the Burma Campaign. But Lyndon is troubled, elusive, and ultimately unresponsive. When he goes away again, she finds herself falling for the beguiling and irrepressible Wladyslaw. As the country is brought to its knees by blizzards and coal shortages, people start to go hungry and attitudes harden. Then a death occurs on the wetlands, and it seems Wladyslaw, the outsider, will be held responsible.
474 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
35 people are currently reading
197 people want to read
About the author
Clare Francis
75 books65 followersClare Francis's first novel; Night Sky was published in 1983 to international success. It went to number one in the Sunday Times bestseller list, and spent six weeks in the New York Times top 10.
Three more thrillers followed, Red Crystal (1985), Wolf Winter (1987) and Requiem (1991), which was published in the U.S. as The Killing Winds. Her first crime novel, Deceit was published in 1993, and dramatised for television in 2000. Four other highly successful crime novels have followed, and a highly acclaimed literary novel, Homeland. Her latest crime novel Unforgotten has just been published. Her books have been translated into 20 languages and published in over 30 countries.
Clare was born in Thames Ditton, Surrey, the younger of two sisters. Christmas holidays were spent with her grandparents in a remote corner of the Yorkshire Dales where she developed the love of landscape that is a feature of so much of her fiction. Summer holidays were spent on the Isle of Wight, where she learnt to sail at the age of nine.
After five years at the Royal Ballet School she went to an A-level crammer in Oxford (where she appeared in the university revue Keep This to Yourself), then to University College London, where she obtained a degree in Economics. She worked in marketing for three years before taking a year out to travel and discover what she really wanted to do.
What began as a personal odyssey turned into what she terms her 'unplanned' five-year career in sailing. The odyssey was an unsponsored and unsung solo voyage across the Atlantic, during which she read, listened to music and tried her hand at writing. Soon after, Clare was offered sponsorship to take part in the Round Britain Race with Eve Bonham. This was followed by the Azores and Back Singlehanded Race, the Observer Singlehanded Transatlantic Race, and, with a crew of eleven, the Whitbread Round the World Race. It was after writing three works of non-fiction about her adventures, Come Hell or High Water (1977), Come Wind or Weather (1978), and The Commanding Sea (1981) that Clare took the leap into fiction.
In 1977 she married Jaques Redon with whom she had a son, Tom, in 1978.
She is an MBE, a Fellow of University College London, and an Honorary Fellow of UMIST. She has served as Chairman of the Society of Authors (1997-99) and Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Public Lending Right (2000-03).
For the past twenty years she has been commited to the charity Action for ME, of which she is President, a trustee and member of the Council of Management. She herself has had ME (also known as Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) for many years.
Clare Francis lives in London and the Isle of Wight, and loves opera and walking.
Three more thrillers followed, Red Crystal (1985), Wolf Winter (1987) and Requiem (1991), which was published in the U.S. as The Killing Winds. Her first crime novel, Deceit was published in 1993, and dramatised for television in 2000. Four other highly successful crime novels have followed, and a highly acclaimed literary novel, Homeland. Her latest crime novel Unforgotten has just been published. Her books have been translated into 20 languages and published in over 30 countries.
Clare was born in Thames Ditton, Surrey, the younger of two sisters. Christmas holidays were spent with her grandparents in a remote corner of the Yorkshire Dales where she developed the love of landscape that is a feature of so much of her fiction. Summer holidays were spent on the Isle of Wight, where she learnt to sail at the age of nine.
After five years at the Royal Ballet School she went to an A-level crammer in Oxford (where she appeared in the university revue Keep This to Yourself), then to University College London, where she obtained a degree in Economics. She worked in marketing for three years before taking a year out to travel and discover what she really wanted to do.
What began as a personal odyssey turned into what she terms her 'unplanned' five-year career in sailing. The odyssey was an unsponsored and unsung solo voyage across the Atlantic, during which she read, listened to music and tried her hand at writing. Soon after, Clare was offered sponsorship to take part in the Round Britain Race with Eve Bonham. This was followed by the Azores and Back Singlehanded Race, the Observer Singlehanded Transatlantic Race, and, with a crew of eleven, the Whitbread Round the World Race. It was after writing three works of non-fiction about her adventures, Come Hell or High Water (1977), Come Wind or Weather (1978), and The Commanding Sea (1981) that Clare took the leap into fiction.
In 1977 she married Jaques Redon with whom she had a son, Tom, in 1978.
She is an MBE, a Fellow of University College London, and an Honorary Fellow of UMIST. She has served as Chairman of the Society of Authors (1997-99) and Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Public Lending Right (2000-03).
For the past twenty years she has been commited to the charity Action for ME, of which she is President, a trustee and member of the Council of Management. She herself has had ME (also known as Post Viral Fatigue Syndrome or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) for many years.
Clare Francis lives in London and the Isle of Wight, and loves opera and walking.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews
September 5, 2012
Francis takes us back to the appalling British treatment of Polish servicemen who had fought with the Allies during the Second World War. At the end of the war, many Polacks resided in Britain, in fear of returning to their homeland, that had been taken over by Stalin. In Britain, they found themselves barred from victory parades in London and contained in resettlement camps; segregated from society, they were reduced to subjects of public hostility.
Francis paints the Somerset wetlands beautifully - she captures a way of life impeccably. At the same time, she tells a story of betrayal, prejudice, and disillusionment in an unpredictable manner - her prose is free from cliché; instead, it is a sensitive characterisation of a particular time and place.
It might not win a lot of awards, but the story of Homeland is one I will not forget. Nor should any of us.
Francis paints the Somerset wetlands beautifully - she captures a way of life impeccably. At the same time, she tells a story of betrayal, prejudice, and disillusionment in an unpredictable manner - her prose is free from cliché; instead, it is a sensitive characterisation of a particular time and place.
It might not win a lot of awards, but the story of Homeland is one I will not forget. Nor should any of us.
July 27, 2022
I found this book a little underwhelming. Sadly so, since I had wanted to enjoy it.
The setting of the area of Somerset and in particular a property devoted to farming withies received more attention than any of the characters. This is often a good thing when a writer develops a sense of place, but perhaps a tad overdone here. I would have liked the characters to be fleshed out at least as much as the area. The author did do some justice to the locals but, in my humble opinion – not quite enough. I normally enjoy reading about other eras but found this writing bleak, mirroring the depths of a bleak and freezing Somerset winter. Perhaps reading it in a particularly bleak Victorian winter affected my view of it.
The setting of the area of Somerset and in particular a property devoted to farming withies received more attention than any of the characters. This is often a good thing when a writer develops a sense of place, but perhaps a tad overdone here. I would have liked the characters to be fleshed out at least as much as the area. The author did do some justice to the locals but, in my humble opinion – not quite enough. I normally enjoy reading about other eras but found this writing bleak, mirroring the depths of a bleak and freezing Somerset winter. Perhaps reading it in a particularly bleak Victorian winter affected my view of it.
June 21, 2025
great read with characters that draw you into the story deeper and deeper
April 23, 2018
Not as bad as I was expecting, not as good as it could have been. I surprised myself by picking this of my shelf and even more so when I noticed the majority of the reviews were from women.
The biggest disappointment was, I felt, how the chance to explore the xenophobic treatment of the Poles' was a tad perfunctory, and even the historical notes were cursory at best.
The story itself was fine, though a little uneventful until the final chapter.
The biggest disappointment was, I felt, how the chance to explore the xenophobic treatment of the Poles' was a tad perfunctory, and even the historical notes were cursory at best.
The story itself was fine, though a little uneventful until the final chapter.
June 2, 2025
My first novel of the author Clare Francis, ‘Homeland’ gradually caught on to me in the beginning maybe because it speaks of Polish history dated back to 1946 & I am not much aware of its details. It is etched in post war about the Polish servicemen not wanting to return to their homeland and being treated with suspicion while being kept out in separate camps in Britain under dire circumstances in their living conditions as well as in their medical care facilities. The story revolves around recently released Billy Greer, who doesn’t want to return to his life on Somerset wetlands working for his uncle, growing & selling withies. He continues staying longer than he planned in hope of winning back his love interest Annie, the woman he walked away from. To get helping hands for his laborious work of withies, he hires Polish laborer from the nearby Polish resettlement camp, a young veteran by the name of Wladyslaw Malinowski. Another important character in the story is Stella, a local school teacher who has been waiting for the return of another war hero Lyndon Hanley, who turns out to be troubled & alcoholic, unresponsive to her. She then diverts her interest towards Wladyslaw. The story is set in harsh conditions of severe cold weather, the lack of proper food for all, lack of finances due to war ravaged countries affecting inhabitants who are forced to live extremely poor and difficult life. The end is left loose, unlike most of the novels, but it feels right.
August 20, 2023
Set in 1946, post war Britain, the characters are all dealing with the reality of the new peacetime situation. Billy has served in a tank battalion and is returning for documents he left with Stan and Flor, his aunt and uncle on the farm in Somerset, before he takes a job in London. Finding Flor bedridden and the farm in ruins he stays, for a longer period to help tidy and restore it. He reunites with Annie his former lover now widowed with a daughter.
Dr Britten is the local doctor, but is sympathetic to the Polish troops brought to England due to rhe Russian occupation of their country, and he knows Wladyslaw Malinowski and recommends him to Stan as a worker on the farm to replace Billy. There is a lot of negative feeling towards the Polish men in the community despite their efforts in supporting the British troops in the war and their personal losses due to separation from family.
He also knows Arthur Hanley, local farmer and his son Lyndon, who has returned from service in Burma a troubled man prone to excessive drinking and unsafe motorbike riding.
So the storyline follows Billy as he adjusts to the farm, and teaches Wladyslaw the tasks re quired of him, so he can leave for London but his relationship with Annie is making him revise his plans. She seems uncertain of their future so he does leave but finds the reality of London less than he hoped for his future and returns with new ideas for what that may hold.
Wladyslaw is a good worker and cares for Flor, and forms a relationship with Stella, the local teacher who helps him with English, so he can make plans for further study. They start a relationship that gives him hope and happiness but she chooses Lyndon as she feels she can help him cope with the demons of his service rhat he cannot deal with. Then his friend Jozef is arrested along with Wladyslaw, for the murder of Lyndon Hanley, and while in custody Jozef commits suicide in despair for his future.
Ultimately the death is shown to be an accident, and Annie, Billy and Dr Britten give statements on behalf of the men to the police. Wladyslaw decides to go to Canada as Stella has rejected him, but she finally asks him to write to her to tell him about his life , so there is some hope for them , though an uncertain one. The whole story is of a grim time in British and Polish history and the ending is inline with the overall theme.
Recommended as a fictionalised historical story about Polish experience in WWII and their soldiers relocation to UK and beyond, which i was unaware of.
Dr Britten is the local doctor, but is sympathetic to the Polish troops brought to England due to rhe Russian occupation of their country, and he knows Wladyslaw Malinowski and recommends him to Stan as a worker on the farm to replace Billy. There is a lot of negative feeling towards the Polish men in the community despite their efforts in supporting the British troops in the war and their personal losses due to separation from family.
He also knows Arthur Hanley, local farmer and his son Lyndon, who has returned from service in Burma a troubled man prone to excessive drinking and unsafe motorbike riding.
So the storyline follows Billy as he adjusts to the farm, and teaches Wladyslaw the tasks re quired of him, so he can leave for London but his relationship with Annie is making him revise his plans. She seems uncertain of their future so he does leave but finds the reality of London less than he hoped for his future and returns with new ideas for what that may hold.
Wladyslaw is a good worker and cares for Flor, and forms a relationship with Stella, the local teacher who helps him with English, so he can make plans for further study. They start a relationship that gives him hope and happiness but she chooses Lyndon as she feels she can help him cope with the demons of his service rhat he cannot deal with. Then his friend Jozef is arrested along with Wladyslaw, for the murder of Lyndon Hanley, and while in custody Jozef commits suicide in despair for his future.
Ultimately the death is shown to be an accident, and Annie, Billy and Dr Britten give statements on behalf of the men to the police. Wladyslaw decides to go to Canada as Stella has rejected him, but she finally asks him to write to her to tell him about his life , so there is some hope for them , though an uncertain one. The whole story is of a grim time in British and Polish history and the ending is inline with the overall theme.
Recommended as a fictionalised historical story about Polish experience in WWII and their soldiers relocation to UK and beyond, which i was unaware of.
July 29, 2022
I liked this book. It was very readable after a bit of a slow start. I was disappointed
September 4, 2024
Rating 1.5 stars.
This book left a lot to be desired. From reading the blurb I was expecting to fall in love with characters and their love stories, however, no love story really happened until near the end and it was very short lived.
This book lacked any real action of entertainment until the last eighth of the book. Prior to that it’s a lot of description and flat tales of life after the War. I appreciate the historic element of the treatment of Polish people who resided in England, but even that was only briefly alluded to before the final part of the book. Overall, I wouldn’t read again and I wouldn’t recommend.
This book left a lot to be desired. From reading the blurb I was expecting to fall in love with characters and their love stories, however, no love story really happened until near the end and it was very short lived.
This book lacked any real action of entertainment until the last eighth of the book. Prior to that it’s a lot of description and flat tales of life after the War. I appreciate the historic element of the treatment of Polish people who resided in England, but even that was only briefly alluded to before the final part of the book. Overall, I wouldn’t read again and I wouldn’t recommend.
September 21, 2023
Another very good read from Clare Francis [2004] great bit of historical remembrances from the end of WWII and even 20 years ago when she wrote this, (referring to the late 1940s) there is a totally pertinent discourse about the untrustworthiness of Russia as a state. Along with the tribality that causes mistrust when 'foreigners' are settled into a nation, a beautiful storytelling, with characterisations that make you part of the group.
The only thing that kept off the fifth star is the lack of wisdom in certain dialogues, and mealy-mouthed female love-interests.
February 8, 2021
We, the British, certainly treated the poles very badly after the 2nd World War. This well researched novel is relatable for me as it is set very close to where I live in Somerset and paints a good picture of the xenophobia that existed here at that time (and now methinks!). It's an interesting read but with a longish tangent in London that managed to lose my interest completely before the story picked up again.
June 17, 2017
3.8 points : an enjoyable and interesting read covering the hard times experienced by the Polish in England after WW2. Set in the wetlands of Somerset, an area I'm not familiar with. My main criticism is that I would have liked the author to have developed the characters more. I was left feeling I'd never really got to know them.
July 2, 2017
Not what I expected, but a interesting insight into post WWII England and the Somerset district, and the people who lived there. Not really aware before of the ill-feelings against Polish refugees there at that time. I thought the characters were interested, but could have been better developed, and found the ending a let-down.
December 6, 2020
Very well researched and well written. My first Clare Francis read and I would certainly be pleased to read another of her novels. Homeland is set around post war Britain when a soldier returns from the war to his uncle's farm. At the same time Polish soldiers are settling in the country. Not sure I really could relate to Billy, an odd mix of a character but nevertheless an enjoyable read.
February 21, 2024
Good read. Offered an opportunity to learn about the Polish soldiers who went to England at the end of the war. I liked it that the author painted the main Polish character as an educated thoughtful hard working person, sad to read of the English military treatment of these men who had fought the same battle with such huge looses. Lose of their family and no homeland to return to.
July 29, 2017
A little hard to get I into but very captivating as a whole, good history information
June 20, 2018
The book is a bundle of tragic romances. A sad easy read...
November 11, 2018
Excellent - not least in its evocation of location, character and relationships - and genuinely moving. I wasn't sure what to expect but enjoyed and appreciated it enormously.
July 25, 2020
A nice informative story
June 7, 2022
not for me
Read
April 16, 2023A strange meandering story with no discernible end or plot points. Although hard reading, this did serve to educate me on life after the war and how it affected people.
December 27, 2011
It's 1946 in the wetlands of Somerset and many of the inhabitants aren't very welcoming to the Polish soldiers and refugees living in camps in the area. Against a backdrop of a bitter winter with rationing of food and services unfolds a story of how Poles try to piece together their broken lives with very little encouragement from ignorant, resentful and backward-looking locals. There are a few sympathetic characters amongst the British, but not many.
Couldn't finish this. Not because I didn't want to, but there were technical problems.
I was going to listen to this on a four-hour car journey to the coast and back again (it's a 14-hour unabridged audio so I would have had a further six hours left once I was home). Outward journey ok apart from the cat screaming (see below) and a fair amount of Sat/Nav finding-the-way stress and mild-mannered disputes with the driver. But when motoring back, the Playaway kept defaulting to Chapter 4, the one where the doctor comes home and is contemplating an evening of quiet reading and domestic peace, only to be reminded by his wife that they must go out in their galoshes, walking in order to save petrol, to a nearby farm to welcome home Lyndon Hanley, a hero of the Burma Campaign. I removed the casing over the machine's battery, and by pressing on the battery firmly with my thumb I was able get back to the right part of the story using the "Chapter Forward" button. One of my travelling companions was a 15-year-old Burmese cat that hates car journeys. She screamed the whole way there and back although she did enjoy being in the holiday house. With the occasional stop to pacify the cat, I'd attempt to fire up the Playaway again and back it would go to the beginning of Chapter 4.
Eventually I decided to discover what happened later in the story and heard the beginnings of all the chapters, but after a while the little screen in the middle that shows how long is left in that chapter would go blank and I'd be off the air again. The pressing of the battery seemed no longer to be effective and I felt for the boy in the Dutch story about how he kept the sea from flooding the land by pressing his finger into a hole in the dyke.
Homeland, beautifully narrated by Steven Pacey by the way, would always grind to a blank-screen halt but when powered up again, the machine invariably reverted to the beginning of jolly old Chapter 4.
Wladyslaw Malinowski's story involving the loss of his parents and siblings was heart-breaking. Here was young man of culture and optimism beset by heartless British bureaucracy but reluctant to go home because of his well-founded fear of the Russians. By contrast, the local yokels in Somerset were brutish and backward. Billy Greer, returned serviceman and eventually the employer of Wladyslaw in the harvesting of withies, also had a tough story but his suffering started in childhood and tainted his character making him repellant.
Other reviewers mention a murder but I didn't get that far.
I won't try to read or listen to this again and I'll give the librarian a full report of the faulty MP3. Next time, I'll try something different.
Couldn't finish this. Not because I didn't want to, but there were technical problems.
I was going to listen to this on a four-hour car journey to the coast and back again (it's a 14-hour unabridged audio so I would have had a further six hours left once I was home). Outward journey ok apart from the cat screaming (see below) and a fair amount of Sat/Nav finding-the-way stress and mild-mannered disputes with the driver. But when motoring back, the Playaway kept defaulting to Chapter 4, the one where the doctor comes home and is contemplating an evening of quiet reading and domestic peace, only to be reminded by his wife that they must go out in their galoshes, walking in order to save petrol, to a nearby farm to welcome home Lyndon Hanley, a hero of the Burma Campaign. I removed the casing over the machine's battery, and by pressing on the battery firmly with my thumb I was able get back to the right part of the story using the "Chapter Forward" button. One of my travelling companions was a 15-year-old Burmese cat that hates car journeys. She screamed the whole way there and back although she did enjoy being in the holiday house. With the occasional stop to pacify the cat, I'd attempt to fire up the Playaway again and back it would go to the beginning of Chapter 4.
Eventually I decided to discover what happened later in the story and heard the beginnings of all the chapters, but after a while the little screen in the middle that shows how long is left in that chapter would go blank and I'd be off the air again. The pressing of the battery seemed no longer to be effective and I felt for the boy in the Dutch story about how he kept the sea from flooding the land by pressing his finger into a hole in the dyke.
Homeland, beautifully narrated by Steven Pacey by the way, would always grind to a blank-screen halt but when powered up again, the machine invariably reverted to the beginning of jolly old Chapter 4.
Wladyslaw Malinowski's story involving the loss of his parents and siblings was heart-breaking. Here was young man of culture and optimism beset by heartless British bureaucracy but reluctant to go home because of his well-founded fear of the Russians. By contrast, the local yokels in Somerset were brutish and backward. Billy Greer, returned serviceman and eventually the employer of Wladyslaw in the harvesting of withies, also had a tough story but his suffering started in childhood and tainted his character making him repellant.
Other reviewers mention a murder but I didn't get that far.
I won't try to read or listen to this again and I'll give the librarian a full report of the faulty MP3. Next time, I'll try something different.
August 25, 2015
No, not the American TV series about Carrie Mathison and Nicholas Brody, the thriller by British author Clare Francis. Francis is a proficient thriller writer, but it is some years since I last read one of her books: until I picked one at random off my shelf one day.
Homeland is set after World War Two in the quiet rural corner of England that is the Somerset Levels. A land of rising and ebbing water levels, and unworldly place of withies and willows. Into this walks Billy Greer on his return from the war, going back to the house of his uncle and aunt where he spent the difficult teenage years before the war. There, he finds the house and farm in disarray, his uncle dramatically aged, and his aunt upstairs confined to bed after a stroke. And he meets again the woman who made his spine tingle when they were both teenagers.
Will he stay to rebuild the farm, or will he go to the promised job in London. And what of Annie, the local girl he could not forget while he fought his way around Europe?
Underlying the telling of Billy’s story is that of the Polish soldiers, in a holding camp while they await either return to Poland or settlement in the UK. It is a difficult decision: their beloved country is unrecognizable and run by the Soviet Union, but they do not feel 100% welcome in England. Wladyslaw, a literature student who left university to join the Polish army, is an intellectual and a dreamer. But he takes a job working for Billy Greer, helping to set the rundown farm to rights. And there he meets local schoolteacher Stella who agrees to give him English lessons.
This feels like a quiet tale - and it is not a thriller in the ‘spy story’ definition – but it is a story which kept me turning the pages. There are many uncertainties: the future of the Poles, the various love triangles, locals and immigrants living alongside each other without a common language with inevitable arguments and misunderstandings. The denouement is not what I expected.
Having loved this, I now want to re-read Clare Francis’ other books.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-revie...
Homeland is set after World War Two in the quiet rural corner of England that is the Somerset Levels. A land of rising and ebbing water levels, and unworldly place of withies and willows. Into this walks Billy Greer on his return from the war, going back to the house of his uncle and aunt where he spent the difficult teenage years before the war. There, he finds the house and farm in disarray, his uncle dramatically aged, and his aunt upstairs confined to bed after a stroke. And he meets again the woman who made his spine tingle when they were both teenagers.
Will he stay to rebuild the farm, or will he go to the promised job in London. And what of Annie, the local girl he could not forget while he fought his way around Europe?
Underlying the telling of Billy’s story is that of the Polish soldiers, in a holding camp while they await either return to Poland or settlement in the UK. It is a difficult decision: their beloved country is unrecognizable and run by the Soviet Union, but they do not feel 100% welcome in England. Wladyslaw, a literature student who left university to join the Polish army, is an intellectual and a dreamer. But he takes a job working for Billy Greer, helping to set the rundown farm to rights. And there he meets local schoolteacher Stella who agrees to give him English lessons.
This feels like a quiet tale - and it is not a thriller in the ‘spy story’ definition – but it is a story which kept me turning the pages. There are many uncertainties: the future of the Poles, the various love triangles, locals and immigrants living alongside each other without a common language with inevitable arguments and misunderstandings. The denouement is not what I expected.
Having loved this, I now want to re-read Clare Francis’ other books.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-revie...
November 22, 2015
I gather Clare Francis is known as a writer crime novels and thrillers. Homeland is neither (which is fine with me as neither are particularly my cup of tea). This is really a story of battered young soldiers returning from the nearly endless horror that was WWII to the impoverished peace of post-war rural Britain.
In this desolate aftermath, Billy Greer and Lyndon Hanley return to their roots in the wetlands of Somerset, but both feel utterly out of place and unable to settle. Wladyslaw fought in the Polish corps under the British. With Poland now under The control of Russia, he and his fellow soldiers feel they have lost their homeland. The British, out of obligation, are offering them a new home in Britain. But the British give the refugee Poles a chilly welcome.
Francis deftly describes the Somerset Levels and the business of farming withies, the main livelihood in this sodden landscape. Her two viewpoint characters, Billy and Wladyslaw are well-drawn and strong foils: Billy with his resentment for his unhappy childhood, quick jealousy and angry outbursts; Wladyslaw a refugee and alone in the world, quietly intelligent and determined to make his way in the world. The storyline follows both young men as they struggle to find a livelihood and love. Lyndon is an enigmatic presence, charismatic and daring, but restless, unable to feel at home anywhere. His occasional arrivals brings disruption to both Billy and Wladyslaw, and features in the novel's tension and final crisis.
This is a story of real people dealing with very human issues, feeling the full range of human emotions in a very challenging time. The world, events and feelings of the characters rang true to me. Well worth reading.
In this desolate aftermath, Billy Greer and Lyndon Hanley return to their roots in the wetlands of Somerset, but both feel utterly out of place and unable to settle. Wladyslaw fought in the Polish corps under the British. With Poland now under The control of Russia, he and his fellow soldiers feel they have lost their homeland. The British, out of obligation, are offering them a new home in Britain. But the British give the refugee Poles a chilly welcome.
Francis deftly describes the Somerset Levels and the business of farming withies, the main livelihood in this sodden landscape. Her two viewpoint characters, Billy and Wladyslaw are well-drawn and strong foils: Billy with his resentment for his unhappy childhood, quick jealousy and angry outbursts; Wladyslaw a refugee and alone in the world, quietly intelligent and determined to make his way in the world. The storyline follows both young men as they struggle to find a livelihood and love. Lyndon is an enigmatic presence, charismatic and daring, but restless, unable to feel at home anywhere. His occasional arrivals brings disruption to both Billy and Wladyslaw, and features in the novel's tension and final crisis.
This is a story of real people dealing with very human issues, feeling the full range of human emotions in a very challenging time. The world, events and feelings of the characters rang true to me. Well worth reading.
September 11, 2012
Interweaving the stories of the villagers of a rural community with that of the Polish servicemen living in a large resettlement camp based nearby, Homeland offers an interesting insight into the struggles of this particular community in post-war Britain and in particular that of the Polish servicemen but for me I'm afraid that's about as good as it gets.
Lacking any deeply meaningful story. The author seems to concentrate on the narrative and describing the somewhat bleak landscape and living/working conditions - goodness only knows I got to know more about the thankless task of gathering 'withies' than I ever thought I would - and whilst I acknowledge that this is a work of historical fiction and not an action thriller I was disappointed that the occasional drama fuelled moments seemed both ill thought-out and as if they had been added as an afterthought to pad out the narrative.
Character wise, I'm afraid to say that things were little better. Lacking in any depth, I thought the men mostly stereotypical, the women particularly poorly penned and in need of some padding out.
A novel with huge potential that sadly never came to fruition.
Lacking any deeply meaningful story. The author seems to concentrate on the narrative and describing the somewhat bleak landscape and living/working conditions - goodness only knows I got to know more about the thankless task of gathering 'withies' than I ever thought I would - and whilst I acknowledge that this is a work of historical fiction and not an action thriller I was disappointed that the occasional drama fuelled moments seemed both ill thought-out and as if they had been added as an afterthought to pad out the narrative.
Character wise, I'm afraid to say that things were little better. Lacking in any depth, I thought the men mostly stereotypical, the women particularly poorly penned and in need of some padding out.
A novel with huge potential that sadly never came to fruition.
January 6, 2011
Gentle comment by way of an unadventurous story on the shameful (as we look back now with the advantage of hindsight) treatment of the Polish servicemen in the UK after the last war. Things then were not so clear-cut in a time of shortage, tension and the post-war uncertainty as to Russia’s intentions.
The tale is set in the relatively unfamiliar literary background of the Somerset wetlands.
This is an atmospheric book but some of the characters are thinly drawn. Lyndon Hanley loses importance because of it, and the story line is erratic. We are not sure whether this is Billy’s or Wladyslaw’s story because the focus shifts leaving neither tale fully developed. The structure is weak.
Nevertheless Clare Francis writes engagingly, particularly when setting the scenes
The tale is set in the relatively unfamiliar literary background of the Somerset wetlands.
This is an atmospheric book but some of the characters are thinly drawn. Lyndon Hanley loses importance because of it, and the story line is erratic. We are not sure whether this is Billy’s or Wladyslaw’s story because the focus shifts leaving neither tale fully developed. The structure is weak.
Nevertheless Clare Francis writes engagingly, particularly when setting the scenes
May 31, 2013
The story was ok, basic, predictable and readable, however the historical interest was new to me and hooked me. I didn't know that the Poles had joined us so many years ago and am especially surprised at how difficult it was for them when now 65 years later they have arrived on our shores again. I also find books like this so fascinating to see how women were treated and what little value they had in society. Important yes as wife and homemaker but clearly no authority and expected to go back into the home after their exciting war time employment. Parts of this book are difficult to read especially as you know they will be based on fact but as all things to do with the First and Second wars we must learn from them.
June 25, 2017
Zupełnie nie przewidziałam, że ta książka wywrze na mnie aż tak głębokie wrażenie. Teraz jednak, z całą pewnością mogę powiedzieć, że jeśli szukacie czegoś patriotycznego, silnie związanego z naszą tożsamością narodową, a jednocześnie przeraźliwie autentycznego, to jest to lektura także i dla Was.
Nie dajcie się zmylić zimowej okładce - w tej lekturze aż wrze od emocji! Czytając tę powieść, ma się wrażenie, że Autorka wręcz bezpośrednio gra, operuje na naszym sercu. Nie wiem, czy jest to efekt, którego chcielibyście doświadczyć, ale u mnie akurat sprawdził się doskonale. Gorąco polecam.
pełna recenzja po polsku
Nie dajcie się zmylić zimowej okładce - w tej lekturze aż wrze od emocji! Czytając tę powieść, ma się wrażenie, że Autorka wręcz bezpośrednio gra, operuje na naszym sercu. Nie wiem, czy jest to efekt, którego chcielibyście doświadczyć, ale u mnie akurat sprawdził się doskonale. Gorąco polecam.
pełna recenzja po polsku
March 18, 2008
I read this quite quickly and enjoyed it as it was a change from the heavier reads I have been tackling lately. On the plus side I learnt about the Polish refugees who were relocated to London after WWII, or rather, could not return to their homeland. This was an aspect of the war I was not familiar with. But somehow the charaters seemd a little one dimensional and I couldn't really connect with the main character. The "murder" mystery came to late - almost an afterthought. I am left feeling the "real" story wasn't told. Somehow not satisfying...
March 23, 2013
This beautifully read and essentially sad audiobook required close attention to its many characters. Clare Francis provides a detailed story of the difficulties of life in post-war England where Polish refugees are badly treated in their temporary home. It is probably difficult for those born after 1950 to imagine how hard it was for all of those who were affected by war, whether directly or indirectly.
January 21, 2015
I always feel a bit guilty for abandoning a book, like if I was a better person and had given it more a=of a chance then I might have liked it. But life is too short to be reading things you have no interest in just to please the part of yourself that hates to give in. I just found this book really boring and I hated all of the characters. The one thing I did find interesting was the treatment of Polish soldiers in Britain after the war but that interest wasn’t enough to keep me going.
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