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Dot & Ben: A 20th Century Love Story
What do you know about your ancestors?
This book, the third one in the ANCESTORS series is based on the lives of the authors parents.
Dot and Ben were born in the 1920’s, lived and fought in WW2 and their story continues until 2014. What was their day to day life like? Did their love survive?
"Once Hitler is defeated, my proper life will begin. I will travel the world, have adventures, paint and write. My life will be glorious."
"It was all the rage to have enormous wedding bouquets, Dot guessed it was a reaction to the austere war years, as well as everyone trying to copy the magnificent bouquet Princess Elizabeth had carried on her wedding day."
Read now to find out if their love story lasted?
This book, the third one in the ANCESTORS series is based on the lives of the authors parents.
Dot and Ben were born in the 1920’s, lived and fought in WW2 and their story continues until 2014. What was their day to day life like? Did their love survive?
"Once Hitler is defeated, my proper life will begin. I will travel the world, have adventures, paint and write. My life will be glorious."
"It was all the rage to have enormous wedding bouquets, Dot guessed it was a reaction to the austere war years, as well as everyone trying to copy the magnificent bouquet Princess Elizabeth had carried on her wedding day."
Read now to find out if their love story lasted?
198 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 16, 2024
3 people are currently reading
3 people want to read
About the author
Pat Backley
12 books23 followersPat Backley is English, but decided to become a Kiwi when she was 59. She now lives in Auckland New Zealand.
She wrote and published her first book just before her 70th birthday and having discovered her passion, she now intends to write till she dies!
She wrote and published her first book just before her 70th birthday and having discovered her passion, she now intends to write till she dies!
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 3, 2024
Another beautifully told story by the talented author, Pat Backley. I love the lyrical flow of Pat’s storytelling style.
In Dot and Ben’s story we learn about each of them as youngsters before their lives coincide in adulthood. I loved seeing the world through Dot’s eyes as the author delves into her private thoughts and emotions sympathetically.
Dot and Ben go through the many difficulties of loss, poverty and war with stoic determination until one of them just can’t anymore, and more sorrow ensues. But, theirs is a tale of enduring love through hardships in a time when loyalty meant everything.
In Dot and Ben’s story we learn about each of them as youngsters before their lives coincide in adulthood. I loved seeing the world through Dot’s eyes as the author delves into her private thoughts and emotions sympathetically.
Dot and Ben go through the many difficulties of loss, poverty and war with stoic determination until one of them just can’t anymore, and more sorrow ensues. But, theirs is a tale of enduring love through hardships in a time when loyalty meant everything.
June 7, 2024
Dot & Ben. A beautifully written love story and tribute to the greatest generation.
It is only fitting I completed Pat Backley’s book Dot & Ben on June 6, 2024, the day marking the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day invasion. The day was filled with remembrances of the thousands of men who landed on the beaches of Normandy and helped turned the tide of WWII. In the many tributes to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, one is reminded of the scope of the conflict and how it impacted the lives of nearly everyone on Earth, as it did with Dot & Ben.
Backley’s book is fiction, but it based on her parents’ lives. I suppose that makes it a kind of fictionalized memoir. She starts her story in 1921 and it continues through 2014. Just as everyone else was touched by the war, Dot & Ben’s lives were also forever changed by it. They could be anyone’s parents of grandparents, but they happen to be Backley’s, and she has authored a beautiful story of their lives together. Dot & Ben’s lives were filled with ups and downs and was far from perfect. The reader probably has a sense of how their life together unfolded. But Backley’s prose is beautiful, elegant, yet simple and direct. It makes the reader want to turn the page and keep reading on to find out if Dot & Ben’s love truly lasted.
Certainly, readers of a certain age will relate to Backley’s pre-Internet description of the world Dot & Ben grew up in. But it is a book for readers of all ages. I especially recommend it to younger readers who may look at the grandparents or great-grandparents, perhaps shaking their head, wondering why their Nan cannot grasp the intricacies of a computer or smartphone. Reading Dot & Ben will give them greater insight and appreciation for what they had to go through.
Backley describes Dot & Ben as a 20th century love story. It is definitely that. But it is also a history. Most of all it is a beautifully written tribute to Backley’s parents, who happen to be a lot like mine, and I would venture to guess, a lot like yours. I heartily recommend this book. Buy it. Read it. Share it with your children. It will bring you closer to them and to each other.
It is only fitting I completed Pat Backley’s book Dot & Ben on June 6, 2024, the day marking the 80th Anniversary of the D-Day invasion. The day was filled with remembrances of the thousands of men who landed on the beaches of Normandy and helped turned the tide of WWII. In the many tributes to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, one is reminded of the scope of the conflict and how it impacted the lives of nearly everyone on Earth, as it did with Dot & Ben.
Backley’s book is fiction, but it based on her parents’ lives. I suppose that makes it a kind of fictionalized memoir. She starts her story in 1921 and it continues through 2014. Just as everyone else was touched by the war, Dot & Ben’s lives were also forever changed by it. They could be anyone’s parents of grandparents, but they happen to be Backley’s, and she has authored a beautiful story of their lives together. Dot & Ben’s lives were filled with ups and downs and was far from perfect. The reader probably has a sense of how their life together unfolded. But Backley’s prose is beautiful, elegant, yet simple and direct. It makes the reader want to turn the page and keep reading on to find out if Dot & Ben’s love truly lasted.
Certainly, readers of a certain age will relate to Backley’s pre-Internet description of the world Dot & Ben grew up in. But it is a book for readers of all ages. I especially recommend it to younger readers who may look at the grandparents or great-grandparents, perhaps shaking their head, wondering why their Nan cannot grasp the intricacies of a computer or smartphone. Reading Dot & Ben will give them greater insight and appreciation for what they had to go through.
Backley describes Dot & Ben as a 20th century love story. It is definitely that. But it is also a history. Most of all it is a beautifully written tribute to Backley’s parents, who happen to be a lot like mine, and I would venture to guess, a lot like yours. I heartily recommend this book. Buy it. Read it. Share it with your children. It will bring you closer to them and to each other.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews