The Shouting Wind

The Shouting Wind Trilogy #1

by Linda Newbery

Kay rebels against her mother's wishes and signs up for the WAAFs, but independence is never easy, especially during a time of frightening uncertainty. Through her eyes we witness wartime as it really was - with all its humour, tension and passion.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Historical

Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Linda Newbery's latest novel for adults is THE ONE TRUE THING. She has published widely for readers of all ages, and is a Costa Prize category winner with SET IN STONE, a young adult Victorian mystery. She has twice been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, with THE SHELL HOUSE and SISTERLAND.

With friends Adele Geras and Celia Rees, Linda hosts the literary blog WRITERS REVIEW, which features reviews, recommendations, interviews with authors and insights from booksellers.

Linda is an active campaigner on animal and environmental issues and has published a guide to compassionate living: THIS BOOK IS CRUELTY FREE - ANIMALS AND US.

She lives in rural Oxfordshire.

Reviews

[Daisy May Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up The Shouting Wind primarily due to the strapline on the front: "Three lives, three times, three heroines who dare to be different". It's the first of a trilogy concerning the lives of a grandmother, mother, and daughter in the same family and is followed by The Cliff Path and A Fear Of Heights The idea of a female-centred, multi-generational family story is something that really very much appeals to me.

I have a lot of love for Linda Newbery. She's a superb writer; Polly's March for example is genuinely one of the best historical YA books I've read for a long while and the same goes for Some Other War. Newbery has a freshness and a sensitivity to her work that can be outstanding.

And yet, for some reason, The Shouting Wind did not really work for me. I actually think Newbery's written better books that deal with similar thematic elements and a similar historical time period (see the previous two titles mentioned). The Shouting Wind (something about that title does not sit right for me)is the story of Kay, who joins the WAAF during WW2. There's some very solid detail and historical colour here which is handled well, and I really liked the details of base life. Newbery is gifted at mixing the banal with the bloody without slipping into bathos.

The Shouting Wind is a solid, readable book with likeable characters and an emotional core. I wonder though whether the impact of this book is more negated through acting as an introduction to a trilogy rather than a stand alone text. There's a self-awareness here of structure, and I imagine this may get paid off in the next two novels. For now though, The Shouting Wind has a rather disappointingly brief impact.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

When we were putting together the Remembrance Day display, Cousin J. recommended the books of Linda Newberry to me. I chose The Shouting Wind because it's a book about the WAAF (her WWI books are more about nurses, and the WAAF interested me that little bit more). It's the first of the trilogy, and pretty much the minute I finished this I was back at the F NEW shelves making sure we had the other two. (I started The Cliff Path at lunchtime and am halfway through.)

The storyline is fabulous, the characters well drawn, and, like Kay, I never gave up hope that David would be alive. I didn't cry when it turned out that he wasn't, and Kay marrying Charlie makes a certain amount of sense, and yet... he isn't David, and David was totally wonderful.

The rest of the trilogy focuses on Kay and Charlie's daughter and granddaughter, and I can't help but be sorry that Newberry never wrote a book all about Kay's mother Alice, and her life, which was at least as interesting.

Once I've finished this trilogy, I intend to work my way through the rest of Newberry's books, starting with Some Other War

[Max · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book on the bookshelf at home and have been procrastinating for years to read it. Now I wonder why I procrastinated for so long - I actually liked it, even though it is considered a pre-teen book.

While I found the first few chapters of the story a little confusing (due to the change in viewpoints between Tamsin and Kay), I eased easily into the story after that. I liked that the themes explored in the book - love, loss, war, family - were addressed adequately and did not overshadow each other. I was pleased that it was not a love novel masquerading as a novel about war, and that the war aspect was addressed - I do find the war a fascinating topic to read about, although I hope I never have to go through one!

[Jo]

one of my favourite pre-teen novels - the whole trilogy is great - this one is the story of a young woman during the second world war, the second book is about her daughter, and the final one about her granddaughter