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At Break of Day
Librarian note: an alternate cover for this edition can be found here.
The new novel from Elizabeth Speller, author of the bestselling Richard & Judy pick The Return of Captain John Emmett, is captivating and elegant, telling of the tragedies of war as lives cross, dreams are shattered and futures altered as the hours pass on one fateful day during the Great War.
The new novel from Elizabeth Speller, author of the bestselling Richard & Judy pick The Return of Captain John Emmett, is captivating and elegant, telling of the tragedies of war as lives cross, dreams are shattered and futures altered as the hours pass on one fateful day during the Great War.
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
55 people are currently reading
1295 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Speller
15 books122 followersElizabeth Speller is a poet and author of four non-fiction books including a biography of Emperor Hadrian, companion guides to Rome and to Athens, and a memoir, Sunlight on the Garden. She has contributed to publications as varied as the Financial Times, Big Issue and Vogue and produced the libretto for a requiem for Linda McCartney, Farewell, composed by Michael Berkeley (OUP). She currently has a Royal Literary Fund Fellowship at Warwick and divides her life between Gloucestershire and Greece. She was a prize-winner in both the Ledbury and Bridport poetry competitions in 2008, and her poem, 'Finistere' was shortlisted for the Forward Poetry Prize in 2009. More profitably she is also a ghost blogger.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 123 reviews
September 6, 2016
Oh, my goodness!! This novel was astonishing and mesmerizing! It took my breath away. Do read this book; you'll be glad you did!
This novel begins in 1913; then World War I breaks out and leads up to the Battle of the Somme [which "began on the middle day, of the middle year of the War", July 1, 1916], the battle itself and aftermath. This is the story of four different men from different social classes: the Englishmen, Benedict, gentle organ student at Gloucester Cathedral and son of a vicar; Frank, a haberdasher and son of a coffin maker; Harry, the titled son, who runs off to America; and Jean-Baptiste, the French peasant lad. The novel took me right into the lives of these men. Each joins the military in a different unit, for his own reason. The pacing was just right and the book well plotted. The prose was excellent. There was not a wasted word. The characterizations were fully fleshed-out and I felt as though these men were believable and people I could know. I could feel their hope, aspirations, emotions. The chapters alternate among each of the four. You feel the passage of time. Each Part of the novel is entitled a particular year, then The Plan, The Day, Afterwards. The novel describes the war experiences of each man; because of the war and information each receives, the life of each will be changed forever. Their lives intertwine. Maybe the men do not realize this. The connections felt real to me, though incredible. The last few poignant chapters brought tears to my eyes. I feel this book will someday become a classic of WWI fiction.
This novel begins in 1913; then World War I breaks out and leads up to the Battle of the Somme [which "began on the middle day, of the middle year of the War", July 1, 1916], the battle itself and aftermath. This is the story of four different men from different social classes: the Englishmen, Benedict, gentle organ student at Gloucester Cathedral and son of a vicar; Frank, a haberdasher and son of a coffin maker; Harry, the titled son, who runs off to America; and Jean-Baptiste, the French peasant lad. The novel took me right into the lives of these men. Each joins the military in a different unit, for his own reason. The pacing was just right and the book well plotted. The prose was excellent. There was not a wasted word. The characterizations were fully fleshed-out and I felt as though these men were believable and people I could know. I could feel their hope, aspirations, emotions. The chapters alternate among each of the four. You feel the passage of time. Each Part of the novel is entitled a particular year, then The Plan, The Day, Afterwards. The novel describes the war experiences of each man; because of the war and information each receives, the life of each will be changed forever. Their lives intertwine. Maybe the men do not realize this. The connections felt real to me, though incredible. The last few poignant chapters brought tears to my eyes. I feel this book will someday become a classic of WWI fiction.
February 20, 2014
Speller certainly has the ability to craft a well-plotted, tightly constructed novel. I found that they way this novel was written was amazing. Four men from diverse backgrounds all find themselves involved in fighting in France during World War I. We first learn about these men from separate chapters, each devoted to one of the men, and thus we learn their hopes and dreams, about their lives and loves and the reader becomes emotionally vested in each of these men.
That is not to say that this is written to pluck at the heartstrings, it is not, it is written very sentimentally, it is their words and actions that draw us in, at times their inner thoughts. Benedict was particularly interesting to me as he and Theo are organists. Benedict sees great rushes of color when the music is played and I was very disappointed when this was dropped as I continued reading.
I should. however, trusted Speller more because once again an organ is played, with wonderful colors and emoticons. At the time of the playing a very poignant moment is displayed and I see now why she dropped this thread, only to resurrect it at a powerful time. The men never know each other well, but they do play key parts in each others lives and these moments are threaded in and out like the weaving of a intricate tapestry. They are ,of course ,all headed for the Battle of the Somme, where so many lives were lost.
Who will live and who will die in this brilliant novel of wartime and the toll it takes on all. Wonderful book.
That is not to say that this is written to pluck at the heartstrings, it is not, it is written very sentimentally, it is their words and actions that draw us in, at times their inner thoughts. Benedict was particularly interesting to me as he and Theo are organists. Benedict sees great rushes of color when the music is played and I was very disappointed when this was dropped as I continued reading.
I should. however, trusted Speller more because once again an organ is played, with wonderful colors and emoticons. At the time of the playing a very poignant moment is displayed and I see now why she dropped this thread, only to resurrect it at a powerful time. The men never know each other well, but they do play key parts in each others lives and these moments are threaded in and out like the weaving of a intricate tapestry. They are ,of course ,all headed for the Battle of the Somme, where so many lives were lost.
Who will live and who will die in this brilliant novel of wartime and the toll it takes on all. Wonderful book.
May 22, 2017
The First of July 1916, was the first day of the Battle of the Somme. This was a huge offensive wherein the Allies (mostly British and French in this one) attempted to finally turn the tide against Germany. That first day - one day only - the Allied casualties were enormous: 20,000 British and 7000 French died that day in that one battle. In Speller's prologue, she tells of a camerman making a movie in the silence. That silence was the prelude to the British setting off mines in the tunnels dug beneath the Germans. Film of the explosion has been preserved and is available at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPGrr... The Battle of the Somme continued until mid-November of that year, but the book is really The First of July.
The book itself begins in July 1913. This first section is 4 chapters, each telling us of one main character, his background and circumstances: Jean-Baptiste, a poor, young Frenchman; Frank, from Devonshire, now living in London; Benedict, an organist in Gloucester; Harry, a successful businessman, a Londoner now living in New York. The next section is a year later and over the course of the next two years we follow the lives of these four men.
This is excellent characterization, where we come to know these four through the events of their lives. My favorite was the one on the page in front of me. The men are real people with challenges, friends and family. This is also excellent historical fiction, well-researched, with enough plot to keep the novel moving. The prose is a bit better than just good enough. I'll look forward to another by this author.
The book itself begins in July 1913. This first section is 4 chapters, each telling us of one main character, his background and circumstances: Jean-Baptiste, a poor, young Frenchman; Frank, from Devonshire, now living in London; Benedict, an organist in Gloucester; Harry, a successful businessman, a Londoner now living in New York. The next section is a year later and over the course of the next two years we follow the lives of these four men.
When they disembarked in Dover the customs officer told them, in some agitation, that Germany had declared war on France. The country whose great and beautiful capital Harry had strolled in just a day earlier, the country that lay so few miles to the south, that was visible across the Channel on a clear day, was under attack. He thought of the tense clerk at the hotel desk, the affable waiters who had served them in Nice, the carrier who had borne them to Calais, and the young workman, hardly more than a boy, who had told them of mobilization, and he wondered how quickly they would be scooped up into a war France could never win.On the back cover of the edition I read are a couple of review quotes that indicate this is a mystery or a whodunit. What? This is nothing of the sort. There is no mystery here, other than the usual wanting to know what becomes of the characters. Isn't that what reading is about?
This is excellent characterization, where we come to know these four through the events of their lives. My favorite was the one on the page in front of me. The men are real people with challenges, friends and family. This is also excellent historical fiction, well-researched, with enough plot to keep the novel moving. The prose is a bit better than just good enough. I'll look forward to another by this author.
November 7, 2013
This is the third novel by Elizabeth Speller, a stand-alone novel, following the brilliant; The Return of Captain John Emmet and The Strange Fate of Kitty Easton, which feature a character in the years following WW1. This novel follows the fortunes of four very different men, just before and during the First World War.
Next year of course it will be a hundred years since the outbreak of WW1 – so the publication of this novel then is very timely, pulling no punches, it is an emotional, evocative story. The landscapes, characters and incidents of this novel will stay in the mind for some time, as the reader embarks on a journey that will take them back to the 1st July 1916. (The US edition of this novel is called The First of July).
“Some day he would steal a boat and row all the way to the sea. He sat on the bank of the river, where willows trailed on the surface of the water and where carp sometimes basked – a flash of silver just under the surface – and he threw a stone into the tiny scum of broken leaves and twigs, caught in the river’s slow bend. In high summer everything here was green – the water, the trees, the bright duckweed – and the smell; the beginning of slightly rotten vegetation, the deep smell of mud and fat eels who lived on flesh and everything mad with growing. “
Four men whose fates are destined to come together on that dreadful day of 1st July 1916 – the first and most disastrous day of the battle of the Somme, four men from different backgrounds with different hopes and dreams, Jean-Baptiste, Frank, Harry, and Benedict. Jean-Baptiste is a young French man, the son of a widow, he loves the river near to his town of Corbie, befriended by the local doctor, he feels betrayed when he finds his friend is also his mother’s lover, running off to Paris he find comradeship with a group of workmen –with whom he joins up when war comes. Frank, the son of a Devonshire coffin maker, has gone to London getting work in Debenhams department store, his one great desire is to own his own bicycle. Resisting the clamour to join up when war comes, Frank has been influenced by rabble rousing anti-war cries – however following the death of a friend – whose bicycle he is looking after - early in the war, Frank joins the 7th Hunts ( Cyclists) battalion. Harry is the son of a baronet, now living prosperously in America, newly married to Marina, he initially tries to get on with his life, but he is English and as war comes he realises he too must answer the call. Harry has not revealed the truth of his family background to his wife, or that he once had a brief love affair with the woman who later became his step-mother. Benedict is a musical scholar, the son of a Devonshire clergyman, enthralled by his synaesthesia he loves his music but fears he will never be as good as his gifted friend Theo. Theo persuades Benedict to join up, Theo becomes a pilot, Benedict joins he Royal Field Artillery, though they are able to share a cottage in France where Benedict continues to be concerned by his own complicated feelings for Theo.
Opening in 1913 – At Break of Day follows the fates of these men, as events lead them inexorably to the fields of France where on the first bloodiest day of the battle of the Somme their paths will cross.
“There were rumours flying like bullets, humming overhead with no fixed target. He wave had broken and here was its vicious undertow; with the casualties came all shades of truth and speculation. The unbroken wire, the broken promises (this was mostly the young ones who still believed in such things). All those shells, they said, the cross fire from machine guns that had never been taken out. Men had been mown
down as soon as they left the trench, or were left dying on the wire; they’d tried to hide in fox-holes but found them stuffed with corpses.”
In the opening section of book, we are introduced slowly to Jean-Baptiste, Frank, Benedict and Harry, I thoroughly enjoyed how the stories of these men were built up, I found myself thoroughly engaged with these characters, and began to worry for them as the story and the war took told. I particularly loved Frank’s and Jean-Baptiste’s stories - they are the characters I will remember best and longest – moving and unforgettable. Speller’s descriptions of the French countryside slowly torn apart by the ravages of war are fabulous, and surely must show a deep affection for the country.
This was an engrossing read, beautifully written, atmospheric and rich in historical detail. Taking the reader from London department stores, a Gloucestershire music school, the streets of New York and a small French town on the banks of the Seine in 1913 – to a field hospital in a French Abbey, to the filth and devastation of the trenches in the middle of the war, Elizabeth Speller faithfully blends fabulous storytelling with excellent research.
Next year of course it will be a hundred years since the outbreak of WW1 – so the publication of this novel then is very timely, pulling no punches, it is an emotional, evocative story. The landscapes, characters and incidents of this novel will stay in the mind for some time, as the reader embarks on a journey that will take them back to the 1st July 1916. (The US edition of this novel is called The First of July).
“Some day he would steal a boat and row all the way to the sea. He sat on the bank of the river, where willows trailed on the surface of the water and where carp sometimes basked – a flash of silver just under the surface – and he threw a stone into the tiny scum of broken leaves and twigs, caught in the river’s slow bend. In high summer everything here was green – the water, the trees, the bright duckweed – and the smell; the beginning of slightly rotten vegetation, the deep smell of mud and fat eels who lived on flesh and everything mad with growing. “
Four men whose fates are destined to come together on that dreadful day of 1st July 1916 – the first and most disastrous day of the battle of the Somme, four men from different backgrounds with different hopes and dreams, Jean-Baptiste, Frank, Harry, and Benedict. Jean-Baptiste is a young French man, the son of a widow, he loves the river near to his town of Corbie, befriended by the local doctor, he feels betrayed when he finds his friend is also his mother’s lover, running off to Paris he find comradeship with a group of workmen –with whom he joins up when war comes. Frank, the son of a Devonshire coffin maker, has gone to London getting work in Debenhams department store, his one great desire is to own his own bicycle. Resisting the clamour to join up when war comes, Frank has been influenced by rabble rousing anti-war cries – however following the death of a friend – whose bicycle he is looking after - early in the war, Frank joins the 7th Hunts ( Cyclists) battalion. Harry is the son of a baronet, now living prosperously in America, newly married to Marina, he initially tries to get on with his life, but he is English and as war comes he realises he too must answer the call. Harry has not revealed the truth of his family background to his wife, or that he once had a brief love affair with the woman who later became his step-mother. Benedict is a musical scholar, the son of a Devonshire clergyman, enthralled by his synaesthesia he loves his music but fears he will never be as good as his gifted friend Theo. Theo persuades Benedict to join up, Theo becomes a pilot, Benedict joins he Royal Field Artillery, though they are able to share a cottage in France where Benedict continues to be concerned by his own complicated feelings for Theo.
Opening in 1913 – At Break of Day follows the fates of these men, as events lead them inexorably to the fields of France where on the first bloodiest day of the battle of the Somme their paths will cross.
“There were rumours flying like bullets, humming overhead with no fixed target. He wave had broken and here was its vicious undertow; with the casualties came all shades of truth and speculation. The unbroken wire, the broken promises (this was mostly the young ones who still believed in such things). All those shells, they said, the cross fire from machine guns that had never been taken out. Men had been mown
down as soon as they left the trench, or were left dying on the wire; they’d tried to hide in fox-holes but found them stuffed with corpses.”
In the opening section of book, we are introduced slowly to Jean-Baptiste, Frank, Benedict and Harry, I thoroughly enjoyed how the stories of these men were built up, I found myself thoroughly engaged with these characters, and began to worry for them as the story and the war took told. I particularly loved Frank’s and Jean-Baptiste’s stories - they are the characters I will remember best and longest – moving and unforgettable. Speller’s descriptions of the French countryside slowly torn apart by the ravages of war are fabulous, and surely must show a deep affection for the country.
This was an engrossing read, beautifully written, atmospheric and rich in historical detail. Taking the reader from London department stores, a Gloucestershire music school, the streets of New York and a small French town on the banks of the Seine in 1913 – to a field hospital in a French Abbey, to the filth and devastation of the trenches in the middle of the war, Elizabeth Speller faithfully blends fabulous storytelling with excellent research.
February 17, 2015
For a book titled, The First of July, this novel has very little do to with the first day of the battle of the Somme and a great deal in leading up to it. Which is ok, we care about the characters when the worst day of their collective lives approaches. At the beginning we meet four different men, three Brits and one Frenchman and follow their lives before and leading up to the fateful day. Their paths cross, sometimes significantly and sometimes just in passing.
The frame is constructed perfectly - so perfectly that you don't feel details are mentioned just because you think the author found them interesting, or anything to take you out of the timeframe. This isn't Speller's first work about World War I and it is masterfully drawn as the rich backdrop for her story. The pacing is appropriate for the story and the chapters being from different perspectives moves it along. While I enjoy novels from different voices, the one fault of this is the multiple perspectives. There are two characters who, in my opinion, were the fullest and most unique - Jean-Baptiste and bicycle crazy Frank Stanton. Their stories and the outcomes of the storylines for these two men could had much more of an emotional punch if we had been allowed to linger in their worlds. Both men struggle with thoughts of their families back home and what it means to do the right thing. I was somewhat intrigued by organist Benedict Chatto, but his story never got off the ground for me and felt like possibly a whole separate book. I liked the storyline of his torment over his love of for his best friend, Theo, but there wasn't enough weight and space for that story to make me completely care. The throwaway character was Harry - the baronet who ran away to America and married a Yank and goes back to sign up because of bravery, or a secret uncovered, or pride, or something.
I love the themes of fate and chance, of family dynamics and finding your own way even in chaos. Overall, Speller does a great job at creating a war story that tackles these themes and breathes life into them. I will read whatever she writes.
The frame is constructed perfectly - so perfectly that you don't feel details are mentioned just because you think the author found them interesting, or anything to take you out of the timeframe. This isn't Speller's first work about World War I and it is masterfully drawn as the rich backdrop for her story. The pacing is appropriate for the story and the chapters being from different perspectives moves it along. While I enjoy novels from different voices, the one fault of this is the multiple perspectives. There are two characters who, in my opinion, were the fullest and most unique - Jean-Baptiste and bicycle crazy Frank Stanton. Their stories and the outcomes of the storylines for these two men could had much more of an emotional punch if we had been allowed to linger in their worlds. Both men struggle with thoughts of their families back home and what it means to do the right thing. I was somewhat intrigued by organist Benedict Chatto, but his story never got off the ground for me and felt like possibly a whole separate book. I liked the storyline of his torment over his love of for his best friend, Theo, but there wasn't enough weight and space for that story to make me completely care. The throwaway character was Harry - the baronet who ran away to America and married a Yank and goes back to sign up because of bravery, or a secret uncovered, or pride, or something.
I love the themes of fate and chance, of family dynamics and finding your own way even in chaos. Overall, Speller does a great job at creating a war story that tackles these themes and breathes life into them. I will read whatever she writes.
May 4, 2014
Stories of 4, very different, men who enlist and towards the end of the novel find themselves in the bloody battle of the Somme in one way or another. Vivid battle scenes mainly from different angles, which made it interesting. Although the stories appear diverse they are linked to each other in different ways. I love Speller's writing - although at the beginning it was hard when the characters kept changing, just when I was getting into their stories, her writing flows. Looking forward to her next book.
July 20, 2020
Great stories from each individual character’s perspective on their lives before and just leading up to the war. I really enjoyed the specific details of each of their struggles and ethical dilemmas. The only downside that I did not enjoy about this book was the fact that it only had a short section where each character was on the battle field. I would have loved to have read more of what they may have experienced. Aside from that, an overall decent book to read for those history buffs!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 8, 2020
The First of July by Elizabeth Speller is a novel that examines the lives of four men leading up to the opening of the Battle of the Somme. Speller has lived throughout western Europe and currently splits her time between Gloucestershire and Greece. She has written for The Independent, Financial Times, Vogue, and Big Issue. This is her third novel.
I spend quite a bit of time reading World War I books, from Ernest K Gann's In the Company of Eagles which started me in my early teens to Paul Jankowski's Verdun in my current to read pile. I find it an extremely interesting subject and something that has driven almost everything in the twentieth century. I have stayed away from World War I fiction because I found it too easy to nit-pick and there is plenty of poetry to show the more human side of the war. Nevertheless, I gave The First of July a try.
The story follows four men starting in July 1913, three years before the start of the Battle of the Somme. Jean-Baptiste Mallet is a blacksmith leaves his home of Corbie, France before before the war; he is disenchanted with recent events in his town. Frank Stanton found his way to London when he was nineteen. He is a carpenter and made coffins before arriving in London. Frank becomes a store clerk and dreams of owning a quality bicycle. He has follows the Tour d' France and the racers. Frank and his friend dream about bicycle touring. Benedict Chatto is from Gloucester is a music man and spends time with his friend Theo. Harry Sydenham lives in New York and is marrying Marina. Harry is British and has fled his home land keeping with him secrets he chooses not to share, even with his wife.
Speller takes these four men and shows the reader how the war will change the lives of all classes of people as the characters lives intertwine. Theo convinces Benedict to join the artillery with him, but no sooner does Benedict sign up, Theo signs on to be a pilot. Frank has no real desire to fight in a war once his friend Dick, who owns a fine Hercules bicycle, dies in the war. Benedict, meets Frank and suggest he join a cyclist brigade. That seemed to be a perfect tribute to his departed friend. On a personal level I was drawn in by Frank and his love of bicycles. The men's stories are interesting and provide a realistic look into their personal lives and the personal issues their faced or kept secret. The book also gives a feel for the general feeling of the populations in France, Britain, and the United States.
The First of July is an excellent World War I novel. It focuses on the main characters and their families and give a nice human element to the war. The novel ends on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. This was the bloodiest battle of the war. For five months the battle went on and produced a million casualties. The British alone suffered 60,000 casualties on a single day, the July 1st. The story is interesting enough so I never had a chance to nit-pic or notice any historical inaccuracies. It is truly enjoyable to find a work of fiction that fits so well into an area of study mine.
I spend quite a bit of time reading World War I books, from Ernest K Gann's In the Company of Eagles which started me in my early teens to Paul Jankowski's Verdun in my current to read pile. I find it an extremely interesting subject and something that has driven almost everything in the twentieth century. I have stayed away from World War I fiction because I found it too easy to nit-pick and there is plenty of poetry to show the more human side of the war. Nevertheless, I gave The First of July a try.
The story follows four men starting in July 1913, three years before the start of the Battle of the Somme. Jean-Baptiste Mallet is a blacksmith leaves his home of Corbie, France before before the war; he is disenchanted with recent events in his town. Frank Stanton found his way to London when he was nineteen. He is a carpenter and made coffins before arriving in London. Frank becomes a store clerk and dreams of owning a quality bicycle. He has follows the Tour d' France and the racers. Frank and his friend dream about bicycle touring. Benedict Chatto is from Gloucester is a music man and spends time with his friend Theo. Harry Sydenham lives in New York and is marrying Marina. Harry is British and has fled his home land keeping with him secrets he chooses not to share, even with his wife.
Speller takes these four men and shows the reader how the war will change the lives of all classes of people as the characters lives intertwine. Theo convinces Benedict to join the artillery with him, but no sooner does Benedict sign up, Theo signs on to be a pilot. Frank has no real desire to fight in a war once his friend Dick, who owns a fine Hercules bicycle, dies in the war. Benedict, meets Frank and suggest he join a cyclist brigade. That seemed to be a perfect tribute to his departed friend. On a personal level I was drawn in by Frank and his love of bicycles. The men's stories are interesting and provide a realistic look into their personal lives and the personal issues their faced or kept secret. The book also gives a feel for the general feeling of the populations in France, Britain, and the United States.
The First of July is an excellent World War I novel. It focuses on the main characters and their families and give a nice human element to the war. The novel ends on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. This was the bloodiest battle of the war. For five months the battle went on and produced a million casualties. The British alone suffered 60,000 casualties on a single day, the July 1st. The story is interesting enough so I never had a chance to nit-pic or notice any historical inaccuracies. It is truly enjoyable to find a work of fiction that fits so well into an area of study mine.
September 25, 2014
For some reason I never got connected to this book. There are five or six different strands that get woven together as they approach July 1, 1916. The lives of these people are nicely developed. They are from a variety of socio-economic conditions. They have their own histories. But I never became concerned or emotionally interested in any of them. There is a lot of vivid description of the horrors of the trench warfare, and the pain and suffering of the combatants. As one might suspect in a book about World War I and a major offensive in that war, that there are not a lot of happy things that can be written. So this is not a comedy.
March 23, 2014
I really enjoyed this book. At first, I wasn't sure I was going to like it, but it didn't take long for me to be sucked in. I love reading WWI era fiction, and this one didn't disappoint (unlike Wake). I liked how the 4 main characters were connected, yet separate, and didn't feel like a far fetched "you gotta be kidding me" coincidence when their lives intersect. Well done!
April 13, 2018
This year - 2014 - is the 100th year anniversary of the beginning of The Great War. It has been marked by the issuance of many books about the war - from military, political, historical, and personal perspectives. Each book, whether fiction or non-fiction, almost seems better than the last. There's a lot of good writing going on and I'm pleased to include British novelist Elizabeth Speller's new book, "The First of July", on that list.
Elizabeth Speller is the author of two previous novels about the time, "The Strange Fate of Kitty Easton" and "The Return of Captain John Emmett". (She's also written a family memoir called "The Sunlight on the Garden" which was a strangely readable look at her very odd family.) Anyway, in "The First of July", Speller tells us about that first, terrible day in 1916, the beginning of the Battle of the Somme.
July 1st, 1916 has been called the bloodiest day in British history. An article in Wiki puts it this way: "1 July 1916 was also the worst day in the history of the British Army, which had c. 60,000 casualties, mainly on the front between the Albert-Bapaume road and Gommecourt, where the attack failed disastrously, few British troops reaching the German front line".
Speller has taken the battle on that day and using the four soldiers - three British and one French of whom she has given us the back stories - she writes of unbelievable physical and emotional pain, heroism, valor, and...fear. Who among us would not have felt the fear of battle?
These are characters whom Speller has drawn with incredible nuance; characters who we follow with a sense of dread and foreboding. We know what they have to lose and to gain by surviving the war; who they loved and of the lives they left behind. Speller does an equally good job writing about the war and the politics behind it, as well as the logistics of this particular battle. She has her four characters interact in strange, quiet ways as each is affected that terrible day.
Elizabeth Speller's book is not for the faint of heart. It's toughly written, but it is written well. Her two previous novels were very good, but with "The First of July", Speller seems to have found her true voice. It's very, very good and very, very sad. As World War One was very, very sad...
Elizabeth Speller is the author of two previous novels about the time, "The Strange Fate of Kitty Easton" and "The Return of Captain John Emmett". (She's also written a family memoir called "The Sunlight on the Garden" which was a strangely readable look at her very odd family.) Anyway, in "The First of July", Speller tells us about that first, terrible day in 1916, the beginning of the Battle of the Somme.
July 1st, 1916 has been called the bloodiest day in British history. An article in Wiki puts it this way: "1 July 1916 was also the worst day in the history of the British Army, which had c. 60,000 casualties, mainly on the front between the Albert-Bapaume road and Gommecourt, where the attack failed disastrously, few British troops reaching the German front line".
Speller has taken the battle on that day and using the four soldiers - three British and one French of whom she has given us the back stories - she writes of unbelievable physical and emotional pain, heroism, valor, and...fear. Who among us would not have felt the fear of battle?
These are characters whom Speller has drawn with incredible nuance; characters who we follow with a sense of dread and foreboding. We know what they have to lose and to gain by surviving the war; who they loved and of the lives they left behind. Speller does an equally good job writing about the war and the politics behind it, as well as the logistics of this particular battle. She has her four characters interact in strange, quiet ways as each is affected that terrible day.
Elizabeth Speller's book is not for the faint of heart. It's toughly written, but it is written well. Her two previous novels were very good, but with "The First of July", Speller seems to have found her true voice. It's very, very good and very, very sad. As World War One was very, very sad...
August 26, 2016
This book as was a quick and – despite the subject matter – light read. Unfortunately, it did not do much for me: I kept thinking that I was supposed to feel more than I actually did. The book follows four separate men (three British and one French) caught up in World War I, culminating in the Battle of the Somme. Though each character has his own thread, they coincide too frequently to be credible.
The book clearly is aiming straight for the heart – as the postscript informs us, the Battle of the Somme was one of the worst military disasters to befall the British Army in terms of losses – but it falls flat. Three of the four main characters are undergoing considerable emotional turmoil at the start of the war and it is the coming to terms with themselves and their lives that resonates; the war is peripheral and merely serves as a setting. However, even this was superficial. Jean Baptiste and Harry have come to Jesus moments where they instantaneously realize how wrong they’ve been. Frank is surprisingly the most one dimensional, despite being the only character with a first person narrative; he’s not very interesting and his dialogue is stilted and unrealistic. I know this is weird but he read as that earnest , gee-whiz way British authors frequently write American characters. The most compelling narrative was Benedict, a quiet organ scholar who has a complicated relationship with his best friend, Theo. Benedict’s synesthesia is mentioned but is not explored in a meaningful way – with all the shelling, bombing and shooting, it seems like he would have gone into sensory overload.
In sum, I think it was an easy read (though there are some gruesome descriptions of injuries and general unpleasantness of trench life) but one that examined a fascinating time period and its characters’ experiences without any depth.
The book clearly is aiming straight for the heart – as the postscript informs us, the Battle of the Somme was one of the worst military disasters to befall the British Army in terms of losses – but it falls flat. Three of the four main characters are undergoing considerable emotional turmoil at the start of the war and it is the coming to terms with themselves and their lives that resonates; the war is peripheral and merely serves as a setting. However, even this was superficial. Jean Baptiste and Harry have come to Jesus moments where they instantaneously realize how wrong they’ve been. Frank is surprisingly the most one dimensional, despite being the only character with a first person narrative; he’s not very interesting and his dialogue is stilted and unrealistic. I know this is weird but he read as that earnest , gee-whiz way British authors frequently write American characters. The most compelling narrative was Benedict, a quiet organ scholar who has a complicated relationship with his best friend, Theo. Benedict’s synesthesia is mentioned but is not explored in a meaningful way – with all the shelling, bombing and shooting, it seems like he would have gone into sensory overload.
In sum, I think it was an easy read (though there are some gruesome descriptions of injuries and general unpleasantness of trench life) but one that examined a fascinating time period and its characters’ experiences without any depth.
January 17, 2015
Ultimately I found this novel a bit disappointing. Much of it was very good and in some places it was outstanding, but a few things really brought it down from where it could have been.
Given the title of the novel At Break of Day and it's alternate title of The First of July, I expected much more of the narrative to be set in the days just before, during or in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of the Somme. Of course we need the back stories of the main characters so our emotions can become invested in them, but in this novel the balance and the narrative structure just felt all wrong. The split was about 70:30 in favour of the histories of the four men Jean-Baptiste, Harry, Frank and Benedict which were then told in an awkward semi-chronological way that failed really to develop any of them as credible, rounded characters. Then, too often the stories veered into romantic historical fiction particularly in the case of Harry and his American partner. Was this awkward storyline put in just to attract a US readership? I suspect so. I so wanted more about the soldiers thoughts and fears as they waited, thinking about the lives that had brought them to this point. Almost nothing was told of what Harry and Benedict had done in the war. It almost seemed as if they hadn't even been in the army until the night before the battle started.
Having said all that there was still some great writing. The best chapter in the book without doubt comes relatively early and describes Jean-Baptiste's experience of Verdun and the following line will remain with me for a long time as it just made my flesh creep:
".......and the ground became more bodies than mud, and under his boots things cried out."
Overall, yes I enjoyed it, so 3 stars but I so wanted it to be so much more than it was.
Given the title of the novel At Break of Day and it's alternate title of The First of July, I expected much more of the narrative to be set in the days just before, during or in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of the Somme. Of course we need the back stories of the main characters so our emotions can become invested in them, but in this novel the balance and the narrative structure just felt all wrong. The split was about 70:30 in favour of the histories of the four men Jean-Baptiste, Harry, Frank and Benedict which were then told in an awkward semi-chronological way that failed really to develop any of them as credible, rounded characters. Then, too often the stories veered into romantic historical fiction particularly in the case of Harry and his American partner. Was this awkward storyline put in just to attract a US readership? I suspect so. I so wanted more about the soldiers thoughts and fears as they waited, thinking about the lives that had brought them to this point. Almost nothing was told of what Harry and Benedict had done in the war. It almost seemed as if they hadn't even been in the army until the night before the battle started.
Having said all that there was still some great writing. The best chapter in the book without doubt comes relatively early and describes Jean-Baptiste's experience of Verdun and the following line will remain with me for a long time as it just made my flesh creep:
".......and the ground became more bodies than mud, and under his boots things cried out."
Overall, yes I enjoyed it, so 3 stars but I so wanted it to be so much more than it was.
September 11, 2019
A story that propels us to the inevitability of horrors, mayhem, and injustice at the Somme in WW1, where over 1 million casualties on all sides followed a massive British assault on a German position that began on July 1, 1916. The Somme is just one WW1 battle, massive in scale as it was, yet the book takes an epic sweep by following the pre-war lives of three British and one French soldiers of various ranks and social status. The life circumstances of each of our four protagonists are deftly painted in the narrative, as are their skills, motivations, and even insecurities that lead them to the battlefield. The narrative captures the public mood and personal points of view that sweep young men into service. When the story moves to the Somme, physical deprivations and emotional despondencies at the front are described in stark terms. Memorable passages present fears of death, joys of a short reprieve, and the spectrum of leadership a common soldier encounters. Connections between the four protagonists as well as their relationships with minor characters deftly bind the story of the Somme. I haven’t seen much acclaim for this title and, to me, it is much underrated.
Was this review helpful? I am an avid world war based fiction reader and author. You can read more of my takes here https://brodiecurtis.com/curtis-takes/
Was this review helpful? I am an avid world war based fiction reader and author. You can read more of my takes here https://brodiecurtis.com/curtis-takes/
November 23, 2024
The Battle of the Somme began on 1 July 1916 and continued for the next four and a half months. By the end of the engagement, more than 1,000,000 men had been killed or wounded. It is one of the deadliest (if not the deadliest) battle in history. The title of Elizabeth Speller’s incredible novel, The First of July serves as a constant reminder to the reader of what’s coming for the five protagonists. The men The First of July centers on enlisted in their countries’ armies because of misguided camaraderie, hereditary patriotism, or sheer bad luck. The novel begins in the summer of 1914, but the clock is already counting down to 1 July 1916...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
August 29, 2014
I very much enjoyed this book and the stories of the four different men from different social and family backgrounds. Initially I was really grabbed by Harry's story but in the end it was Jean-Baptiste's story that I most took to. For me the other two stories were interesting but not compelling. My only disappointment was that given the subject matter I expected to be much more emotionally engaged than I was. I've read a few WWI stories this, the centenary, year and haven't been able to contain my tears but with this story, despite the vivid depiction of the battle field and some heroic action amid the devastation of the first day of The Somme I remained dry eyed throughout. I would recommend it though for the fantastic writing.
December 1, 2015
Being a history buff, this wasn't quite "up my alley", though my (ok) rating is not a reflection on the ability of the author, but merely my personal take on novels of this type. Having read Lyn MacDonald's Somme, which gives a detailed account of the history of the battle, Speller's novel shows an interesting contrast by depicting the personal accounts of 4 characters and focusing on the human aspect of not only the battle, but of war itself.
June 17, 2020
I just read this book through for the second time, immediately after the first time. I have never done that before. My brain was weary the first time through and I had trouble following who was who. But it is so well written and such a good read I read it again, immediately upon finishing. I rarely read a book twice, never mind back to back!!
I am thinking I may read it again. UNHEARD of for me.
I am thinking I may read it again. UNHEARD of for me.
November 28, 2017
I absolutely love war history so this was amazing for me. Super powerful ending and I loved how you had the characters from different countries with there stories interacting
May 21, 2017
Beginning in 1913, At Break of Day follows the lives of four young men from very different backgrounds whose paths all cross in one way or another, for better or for worse, leading up to and during one fateful day in July 1916, on the bloody first day of the Battle of the Somme.
Skillfully weaving together the four separate story threads into a cohesive, captivating whole, this novel telling of the tragedies of war makes for an enthralling and occasionally heartrending (as well it should, considering the topic) read.
Skillfully weaving together the four separate story threads into a cohesive, captivating whole, this novel telling of the tragedies of war makes for an enthralling and occasionally heartrending (as well it should, considering the topic) read.
August 3, 2018
A new take on a day in WW1
Elizabeth Speller has found a different way to tell us something about the First World War. By focusing on four men and the events leading up to the first day of the Battle of the Somme, she’s created a sense of the scope of the war and those involved in it. The book is carefully researched, but the author doesn’t force-feed you the history - it unfolds organically. Only one of the four stories felt as though the ending had been a little forced, but I felt the overall book was so good I could overlook that. And I loved the way each character’s life intersected every other, even if only tangentially.
Elizabeth Speller has found a different way to tell us something about the First World War. By focusing on four men and the events leading up to the first day of the Battle of the Somme, she’s created a sense of the scope of the war and those involved in it. The book is carefully researched, but the author doesn’t force-feed you the history - it unfolds organically. Only one of the four stories felt as though the ending had been a little forced, but I felt the overall book was so good I could overlook that. And I loved the way each character’s life intersected every other, even if only tangentially.
July 25, 2020
Really strong description of events leading up to the war and the battle of the Somme. Felt character description strong too and link between them all good too. Just disappointed in the ending slightly but good read
January 12, 2016
This was a wonderful book to start off the new year. If I were given the entirely of the world’s history to study, WWI and the inter-war years is my choice, hands down. Basically anything from 1910-1935 I just devour. This was a great novel in that it showcased not just the war and the soldiers who fought it, but their lives before the war, the culture(s) they were part of the, and most importantly, how the war affected them, despite their different cultures/stations. Everyone seems to prefer to focus on WWII, because it’s easier, I believe. It was a war that had purpose, it had clear “evil” that needed to be vanquished and WWII opened so many doors to technology and culture that changed our world for the better. What I’m fascinated by regarding WWI is how it was an utterly pointless, useless war that decimated (quite literally) a generation, and really was the turning point in terms of how our world was/is structured. WWI essentially killed off the aristocracy, the last vestiges of British colonialism, and it set the stage for WWII. It also was the impetus for my favorite genre of literature - Modernism.
But, this isn’t an essay. Clearly I very much enjoy the subject matter and setting, so I’ll skip that, and focus on what gave the novel life. The characters.
They were quite masterfully created. I didn’t expect so much back-story, and I also didn’t expect them to not end up in the same unit together (and then band together and become such good friends blah blah). Likewise, the connections they did share were not cliché or too coincidental; they simply reinforced what the world had forgotten during the war – that we’re all on the same planet and are tied closer together than we may think.
The characters were all realistic and easy to relate to, despite their different stations and decisions in life.
No story was uninteresting to me, but Harry was, I suppose, was the least interesting, though a convenient way to bring in the American aspect of WWI and to introduce the theme of duty/loyalty. He was also a lord, of course, so it was great to see the novelist did her research and placed him where he would have been in the ranks.
Frank, the cyclist wasn’t as interesting to me either as the other two, but he was a great example of a middle-class working man. I guess that’s why he wasn’t as interesting to me – he was so urban middle-class, especially in his love of bicycles.
Jean-Baptiste, despite his dumb decisions, was endearing to me as he really had it rough. His story had me quite hooked and the parallels between his were very compatible. Plus, his story was the most exciting, I found, in terms of action and sheer plot movement.
Benedict. Oh, Benedict, my favorite. This entire this in spoilers, so just stop here.
His synesthesia was an interesting inclusion to the story as well as physically represented his homosexuality; he couldn’t talk about either, both were a secret he thought he had to hide; the parallels between the two was very well done. I am rather fond of unrequited love stories and Benedict’s balanced the line quite well between Benedict being in love and being pathetically in love. You could tell, especially with the scene at a restaurant, that he wanted so badly to tell Theo to just screw off and leave him alone forever, but doesn’t. And then it shows you why – Theo had the spontaneity that Benedict loved so much, the bravery to do the unexpected. Theo was a bit of a jerk, but he wasn’t a jerk intentionally to Benedict. He likely had a suspicion that Benedict was gay, but not that he loved him with such intensity (perhaps he would have acted differently?). Despite being a little selfish and narcissistic, I really liked Theo because I understood his rage and sense of lacking a purpose. If I were a soldier in WWI, I’d want to be a pilot too. His death (suicide – I argue) was one of the best scenes in the novel.
This was such a great novel. The more I think about it, the more I really loved it. The author was great at not just drawing parallels, but themes, connections, and teasing you along. The story had suspense, drama, a couple love stories, some good battle/fight scenes, didn’t glide over the uncomfortable parts of war/sexuality, and was less focused on showing how dire the circumstances of the Somme were (which, to be honest, was done in All Quiet on the Western Front) than progressing the story. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who likes history, a quick-moving story, and something with emotional depth.
But, this isn’t an essay. Clearly I very much enjoy the subject matter and setting, so I’ll skip that, and focus on what gave the novel life. The characters.
They were quite masterfully created. I didn’t expect so much back-story, and I also didn’t expect them to not end up in the same unit together (and then band together and become such good friends blah blah). Likewise, the connections they did share were not cliché or too coincidental; they simply reinforced what the world had forgotten during the war – that we’re all on the same planet and are tied closer together than we may think.
The characters were all realistic and easy to relate to, despite their different stations and decisions in life.
No story was uninteresting to me, but Harry was, I suppose, was the least interesting, though a convenient way to bring in the American aspect of WWI and to introduce the theme of duty/loyalty. He was also a lord, of course, so it was great to see the novelist did her research and placed him where he would have been in the ranks.
Frank, the cyclist wasn’t as interesting to me either as the other two, but he was a great example of a middle-class working man. I guess that’s why he wasn’t as interesting to me – he was so urban middle-class, especially in his love of bicycles.
Jean-Baptiste, despite his dumb decisions, was endearing to me as he really had it rough. His story had me quite hooked and the parallels between his were very compatible. Plus, his story was the most exciting, I found, in terms of action and sheer plot movement.
Benedict. Oh, Benedict, my favorite. This entire this in spoilers, so just stop here.
His synesthesia was an interesting inclusion to the story as well as physically represented his homosexuality; he couldn’t talk about either, both were a secret he thought he had to hide; the parallels between the two was very well done. I am rather fond of unrequited love stories and Benedict’s balanced the line quite well between Benedict being in love and being pathetically in love. You could tell, especially with the scene at a restaurant, that he wanted so badly to tell Theo to just screw off and leave him alone forever, but doesn’t. And then it shows you why – Theo had the spontaneity that Benedict loved so much, the bravery to do the unexpected. Theo was a bit of a jerk, but he wasn’t a jerk intentionally to Benedict. He likely had a suspicion that Benedict was gay, but not that he loved him with such intensity (perhaps he would have acted differently?). Despite being a little selfish and narcissistic, I really liked Theo because I understood his rage and sense of lacking a purpose. If I were a soldier in WWI, I’d want to be a pilot too. His death (suicide – I argue) was one of the best scenes in the novel.
This was such a great novel. The more I think about it, the more I really loved it. The author was great at not just drawing parallels, but themes, connections, and teasing you along. The story had suspense, drama, a couple love stories, some good battle/fight scenes, didn’t glide over the uncomfortable parts of war/sexuality, and was less focused on showing how dire the circumstances of the Somme were (which, to be honest, was done in All Quiet on the Western Front) than progressing the story. I highly recommend this novel to anyone who likes history, a quick-moving story, and something with emotional depth.
August 6, 2014
Patron Review:
This book centers on the experience of four young men, on French and three British, who experience and participate in World War I from the eye of the war on July 1, 1913, to the eye of the great battle of the Somme on July 1, 1916. Jean-Baptiste comes from a small village in France; Bennedict,an organ student at the great cathedral at Gloucester; Frank Stanton, the son of a casket maker, who goes to London to seek his fortune as a cabinet maker and then department store clerk; and finally, Harry Sydenham, the son of a British aristocrat, who leaves his privileged life in England for a new life in New York City.
The book explores the path of each young man, the personal and economic issues that they face before the war, the reasons that lead to their signing up for military service, and the events that cause them to cross path during the war. None of them were prepared for the nature and brutality of the war with its experimentation with new lethal "modern" weapons: the machine gun, Has, the airplane, and advanced artillery.
The author knows her history of World War I and the horror of trench warfare and the use of these new weapons. Yet her narrative of the experience of the four is moving and authentic. It gives the reader an inside-view of the ugliness and violence that destroyed the lives and mental balance of the survivors.
This book centers on the experience of four young men, on French and three British, who experience and participate in World War I from the eye of the war on July 1, 1913, to the eye of the great battle of the Somme on July 1, 1916. Jean-Baptiste comes from a small village in France; Bennedict,an organ student at the great cathedral at Gloucester; Frank Stanton, the son of a casket maker, who goes to London to seek his fortune as a cabinet maker and then department store clerk; and finally, Harry Sydenham, the son of a British aristocrat, who leaves his privileged life in England for a new life in New York City.
The book explores the path of each young man, the personal and economic issues that they face before the war, the reasons that lead to their signing up for military service, and the events that cause them to cross path during the war. None of them were prepared for the nature and brutality of the war with its experimentation with new lethal "modern" weapons: the machine gun, Has, the airplane, and advanced artillery.
The author knows her history of World War I and the horror of trench warfare and the use of these new weapons. Yet her narrative of the experience of the four is moving and authentic. It gives the reader an inside-view of the ugliness and violence that destroyed the lives and mental balance of the survivors.
August 28, 2014
This is in a different league to Elizabeth Speller's first two novels which were inter-war Agatha Christie-style whodunnits, and more akin to her lovely memoir The Sunlight on the Garden: A Memoir of Love, War and Madness in its psychological insights. Praise for The Return of Captain John Emmett wrongly said it was "like Birdsong only better". This novel actually is in Birdsong territory, albeit less verbose, and even if it's not "better" she does it really well. She convincingly involves the reader in the lives and thoughts of four ordinary men, each extraordinary in his own way, and each thrust into the living hell of the Somme on 1 July 1916, described in graphic Faulks-like detail. I enjoyed reading it although needless to say there are no happy endings here. I hope she carries on in this vein, as I liked it better than her Bartram novels.
February 28, 2017
The First of July is a novel describing the lives of several characters who end up enlisting to fight in the First World War, prior to the battle of the Somme in the summer of 1916. Although the battle of the Somme is central to the novel, very little of the book is dedicated to the actual battle, and the challenges surrounding the battle (beyond the wire not being cut). Second, the perspectives of the characters (British, British-American and French) participating in the battle is somewhat typical of such novels. You would hope that a novel about the First World War written in the 21st century could perhaps discuss the perspectives of other individuals involved in the war. All that aside, this is still a good novel of the First World War. Is it a classic? No.
August 10, 2014
An enjoyable engaging and at times emotive novel depicting the lives and experiences of four men who are somewhat intertwined in the battle of the Somme in WW1. I felt that the flow of the story was disrupted by the irregular jumping from character to character and leaps in time and location. It caused some slight confusion particular earlier on but this settled to some degree as the plot progressed. The characters are all likeable and I was rooting for each of the four protagonists but I felt that the horrific atrocities experienced by the men were not quite captured enough. Overall I did enjoy it but I was hoping for more.
August 18, 2014
I enjoyed this book very much. Thank God it wasn't like a bunch of WWI fiction I have had the misfortune of wasting my time with,where the female characters are so wishy-washy you want to smack them or so militant you want to tranquilize them just to get them to calm down a tad. This book did not have that. Excellent character development, and I was emotionally involved/invested in all four of the men.I was overjoyed with the survivors and the characters who perished...well,I was destroyed. I signed this out of my local library (support your local libraries!! :D )but am planning on buying a copy for my home library. For me, this rated an 11 on a 1 to 10 scale of WWI fiction.
December 15, 2015
Four quite different young men (three English, one French) are tracked here, and each ends up near Verdun as the Battle of the Somme begins on July 1, 1916, hence the title. That battle was a turning point in warfare, and the novel provides an anti-war view of how this particular battle changed the lives of these individuals. It's well-written and plotted, and I found myself wanting to know a bit more about the characters---a good sign really. The author switiches points of views (and from third to first person), and occasionally tosses in a minor chacters and we see things from their pov. Not a thriller or a grabber per se, but a good reflection on the impact of war.
September 11, 2015
I wound up really enjoying this book...if the first half was closer in pace to the second I would have given First of July 4 stars. It was just a slow starter, wandering a bit and somewhat difficult to follow....until the various individual plot lines came together towards the end, at which point this book got pretty darn good.
You'll definitely need to pay close attention throughout the book to understand things when you turn the final page. I found First of July to be a pretty solid read. Not great, a bit plodding and wordy, but certainly glad I picked it up.
You'll definitely need to pay close attention throughout the book to understand things when you turn the final page. I found First of July to be a pretty solid read. Not great, a bit plodding and wordy, but certainly glad I picked it up.
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