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The Dynamite Room
A German soldier takes an 11-year-old girl hostage in her Suffolk home in July 1940. But why does he look so familiar? And how does he know her name?
416 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
43 people are currently reading
2202 people want to read
About the author
Jason Hewitt
4 books77 followersJason Hewitt was born in Oxford and lives in London. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and English and an MA in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University.
After completing his degree he spent a number of years working in a bookshop in Oxford before moving into the publishing industry.
His debut novel, The Dynamite Room, published in the UK & Commonwealth in 2014, and in the US/Canada in March 2015. It will also be translated into French in Autumn 2015. His new novel, Devastation Road, will publish in the UK this summer.
He is also a playwright and actor. His first full-length play, Claustrophobia, premiered at Edinburgh Fringe in August 2014 and was also previewed at the St James Theatre, London.
As an actor he has performed major roles in a number of plays including Pericles, A Christmas Carol, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, The Merchant of Venice and King Lear (directed by Sir Jonathan Miller).
Jason is currently writer-in-residence at Abingdon School, Oxfordshire.
After completing his degree he spent a number of years working in a bookshop in Oxford before moving into the publishing industry.
His debut novel, The Dynamite Room, published in the UK & Commonwealth in 2014, and in the US/Canada in March 2015. It will also be translated into French in Autumn 2015. His new novel, Devastation Road, will publish in the UK this summer.
He is also a playwright and actor. His first full-length play, Claustrophobia, premiered at Edinburgh Fringe in August 2014 and was also previewed at the St James Theatre, London.
As an actor he has performed major roles in a number of plays including Pericles, A Christmas Carol, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, The Merchant of Venice and King Lear (directed by Sir Jonathan Miller).
Jason is currently writer-in-residence at Abingdon School, Oxfordshire.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 184 reviews
October 1, 2018
the opening chapter of this book could have come from any post-apocalyptic novel as an eleven-year-old girl wanders alone with her gas mask through a deserted town with boarded-up windows, wondering where everyone has gone.
but this is 1940 suffolk, and lydia has just run away from her temporary shelter in wales, where she had been evacuated with several other children until her family could come for her. bullied and homesick, she decides to return to greyfriars, her family home, only to find the village empty, the house abandoned. with nowhere else to go, lydia settles into the comfort of familiar surroundings, convinced her mother will return for her. instead, in the middle of the night, a wounded german soldier named heiden arrives, telling her he is part of the first wave of an imminent german occupation. he promises not to hurt her, but he will not allow her to leave the house, claiming it is for her own safety. over the course of six claustrophobic days, the two of them will form an uneasy alliance despite lydia's initial fear and the cracks that keep appearing in heiden's story as it becomes clear he knows more about her family than he should.
it's a quietly-told and subtle story that moves slowly but is nonetheless engrossing, as we are taken from the present to the past and given backstory both for heiden and for lydia's family, and the pivotal place where those stories overlap, in the dynamite room.
the shelves are full of war stories that recount the effects of war on civilians, on children, on soldiers; books about how innocence is tarnished and idealism crushed, about the things people do in war that they could never see themselves doing in ordinary times, how turning away is as big a sin as participation, etc - all the usual themes of wartime novels, particularly WWII novels. but it's the writing in this book that sets it apart - it's deliberate and lyrical and the unusual situation gives the story a fairytale cast as these two characters come to know each other in an ever-changing dynamic/struggle/power play. it's one of those haunting novels that makes for a beautiful reading experience, even though the themes may be familiar.
and it's another exceptional debut for 2015.
come to my blog!
but this is 1940 suffolk, and lydia has just run away from her temporary shelter in wales, where she had been evacuated with several other children until her family could come for her. bullied and homesick, she decides to return to greyfriars, her family home, only to find the village empty, the house abandoned. with nowhere else to go, lydia settles into the comfort of familiar surroundings, convinced her mother will return for her. instead, in the middle of the night, a wounded german soldier named heiden arrives, telling her he is part of the first wave of an imminent german occupation. he promises not to hurt her, but he will not allow her to leave the house, claiming it is for her own safety. over the course of six claustrophobic days, the two of them will form an uneasy alliance despite lydia's initial fear and the cracks that keep appearing in heiden's story as it becomes clear he knows more about her family than he should.
it's a quietly-told and subtle story that moves slowly but is nonetheless engrossing, as we are taken from the present to the past and given backstory both for heiden and for lydia's family, and the pivotal place where those stories overlap, in the dynamite room.
the shelves are full of war stories that recount the effects of war on civilians, on children, on soldiers; books about how innocence is tarnished and idealism crushed, about the things people do in war that they could never see themselves doing in ordinary times, how turning away is as big a sin as participation, etc - all the usual themes of wartime novels, particularly WWII novels. but it's the writing in this book that sets it apart - it's deliberate and lyrical and the unusual situation gives the story a fairytale cast as these two characters come to know each other in an ever-changing dynamic/struggle/power play. it's one of those haunting novels that makes for a beautiful reading experience, even though the themes may be familiar.
and it's another exceptional debut for 2015.
come to my blog!
September 11, 2015
Lydia, twelve years old runs away from the home in Wales where she was evacuated and expected to stay until the War is over. Hating her treatment there she decides to walk home to Greyfriars which is located in a village in the remote English countryside. Arriving home she is surprised to see her town boarded up, no people at all on the streets and when she reaches her home she finds her mother gone. During the night a German soldier arrives, he is wounded and shows his gun to Lydian threatening to kill her if she leaves the house.
This is a very different type of WWII story, a quiet one but one with a great deal of feeling. An intricate balance act was required of the author as there are very few characters active in this novel. We learn in flashbacks about the life of the German soldier, what brought him here and what he hopes to accomplish. Especially chilling were the times he and a few fellow soldiers spent in Denmark and is one of the reasons he arrived in this English village. Lydia is a very imaginative child, she does not understand the war nor does she know what happened to her mother. Her brother and father are also fighting in the war. Slowly, the answers to all these questions are revealed and both Lydia and the soldier begin to change.
I love the way the tension in this novel slowly began to rise, we could understand what each character was feeling at each moment. The writing was wonderful and the plot tightly woven. For those looking for a different take on this War they will not be disappointed in this one. Makes very clear that war changes everything and everyone. People do things they would not normally do and sometimes they just get stuck.
This is a very different type of WWII story, a quiet one but one with a great deal of feeling. An intricate balance act was required of the author as there are very few characters active in this novel. We learn in flashbacks about the life of the German soldier, what brought him here and what he hopes to accomplish. Especially chilling were the times he and a few fellow soldiers spent in Denmark and is one of the reasons he arrived in this English village. Lydia is a very imaginative child, she does not understand the war nor does she know what happened to her mother. Her brother and father are also fighting in the war. Slowly, the answers to all these questions are revealed and both Lydia and the soldier begin to change.
I love the way the tension in this novel slowly began to rise, we could understand what each character was feeling at each moment. The writing was wonderful and the plot tightly woven. For those looking for a different take on this War they will not be disappointed in this one. Makes very clear that war changes everything and everyone. People do things they would not normally do and sometimes they just get stuck.
January 28, 2019
The Dynamite Room by Jason Hewitt is an historical fiction set during World War II. War fiction is plentiful, but this one comes at the reader from a totally different angle. Lydia is an 11 year old evacuee who runs away from her caretaker and returns to her abandoned home. Not long after she arrives her house is taken over by a German soldier. The plot is a slow burn that is kindled with great insight into the human psyche and heart. Although primarily character driven, there are still mysteries to be solved. Why did Lydia run away and how does she come to treat the soldier with kindness? What atrocities has this soldier faced and how has this shaped him as a man? A delicate examination of who we become during war, The Dynamite Room is a thought provoking debut.
Special thanks to Lance from The Life of a Book Addict book club for picking this book for me.
Note for those of you debating between the audio or print version of the book: Consider that the book is formatted into 6 lengthy chapters each covering one day. The narration between Lydia and Heiden are divided only by paragraphs. At times I had to back up a sentence or two to see if it were Lydia talking or Heiden recalling times with Eva. Personally, I found these switches between characters to be further muddled with the audio. I am not sure if this was due simply to the formatting of the book, the narrator's British accent or the tone of his voice. I just found it easier to read the print version.
Special thanks to Lance from The Life of a Book Addict book club for picking this book for me.
Note for those of you debating between the audio or print version of the book: Consider that the book is formatted into 6 lengthy chapters each covering one day. The narration between Lydia and Heiden are divided only by paragraphs. At times I had to back up a sentence or two to see if it were Lydia talking or Heiden recalling times with Eva. Personally, I found these switches between characters to be further muddled with the audio. I am not sure if this was due simply to the formatting of the book, the narrator's British accent or the tone of his voice. I just found it easier to read the print version.
October 14, 2017
Wonderful to read three outstanding books in a row. I loved the way this book was structured; time is layered in flashbacks between two different characters--a German soldier and an English girl in the last days of WW2. It's a balancing act of desperation, lies, grief, loss, regret and guilt. It shows what war can make average, "regular" people do when they are pushed too far outside the realm of being human. The narrative was thrilling, scary, and sad. I want this author to write more, and soon. A really great read.
February 6, 2014
This stunning debut novel is set during WWII and takes place during a few days during a sweltering July summer in 1940. Schoolgirl Lydia has run away from Wales, where she has been evacuated, and is heading back to her home in Suffolk. However, when she arrives, it is to find that her village seems to have been abandoned, the houses deserted. Making it to her home, Lydia finds her mother gone and an injured German soldier in her place. ..
Over the next few days, we gradually learn about Lydia’s family – her brother Alfie, parents and the traumatised refugee boy, Button, who Lydia was entrusted to care for. We also have the unfolding memories of the soldier, Heider, his time spent fighting in Poland and Norway , why he has ended up in Lydia’s home and how he knows her name. You sense, from the first, that unseen forces have driven these two characters together, although you never feel that the situation is anything other than believable.
Much of this what is wonderful about this novel is the fact that things are often inferred, rather than spelt out. The author sets the scene wonderfully, giving his readers the benefit of assuming they are with him in the story and perfectly capturing that time when the threat of invasion was very real. I found the characters of both Heider and Lydia extremely sympathetic and found the novel compelling, tense and extremely well written. This is an engaging read, from an author who has shown from his first novel, that he has much to offer. I look forward to reading his future work with great interest.
I received a copy of this book, from the publisher, for review.
Over the next few days, we gradually learn about Lydia’s family – her brother Alfie, parents and the traumatised refugee boy, Button, who Lydia was entrusted to care for. We also have the unfolding memories of the soldier, Heider, his time spent fighting in Poland and Norway , why he has ended up in Lydia’s home and how he knows her name. You sense, from the first, that unseen forces have driven these two characters together, although you never feel that the situation is anything other than believable.
Much of this what is wonderful about this novel is the fact that things are often inferred, rather than spelt out. The author sets the scene wonderfully, giving his readers the benefit of assuming they are with him in the story and perfectly capturing that time when the threat of invasion was very real. I found the characters of both Heider and Lydia extremely sympathetic and found the novel compelling, tense and extremely well written. This is an engaging read, from an author who has shown from his first novel, that he has much to offer. I look forward to reading his future work with great interest.
I received a copy of this book, from the publisher, for review.
January 31, 2014
Suffolk, July 1940 . . . In terms of choosing a place and time to set his debut novel, Jason Hewitt is off to a scintillating start. Suffolk is a county of diverse landscapes, rich in myth and fascinating histories that includes a wild man, green children, a buried Anglo-Saxon ship, UFOs and an abundance of rumours concerning thwarted German landings. The Second World War is of course much written about, but Hewitt’s angle is well chosen for this is Britain in the early throes of war with no end in sight and without a key ally, the United States, to tip the balance. The Channel Islands have just been occupied by the Nazis and an invasion of the British mainland seems entirely plausible, even imminent.
In ‘The Dynamite Room’, Hewitt tells the story of a Suffolk girl, the sole occupant of a house in an isolated village, who comes face to face with a Nazi soldier; the soldier takes her as his hostage. Whether this tale has any basis in fact whatsoever, whether it was propaganda designed to needle the conscience of our American cousins or just a product of wartime paranoia and too many pints of Adnams may never be known. But that doesn’t matter, because Hewitt’s version gives us a fleshed-out psychological drama between two extraordinary characters, Heiden, the first of a German invasion party to reach dry land, and Lydia, 11 years old and utterly alone.
Both Lydia and Heiden are resilient in their way. Both are afraid of – and dependent upon – one another. The book provides an explanation of how such a meeting may’ve occurred and plays out the intriguing consequences. Domestic challenges such as trying to get the water running, sharing a dinner with one’s captor or prisoner and procuring maps from hiding places are magnified into emotional battlegrounds. Each character probes the other for information while trying to conceal their troubled past and the anxieties of the present.
This is WWII fiction as apocrypha and alternative reality, as opposed to researched-to-the-nth-degree realism. Hewitt delves into his two lead characters’ points of view, in essence switching the protagonist/antagonist roles. Some of the flashback scenes are ambitious, and perhaps uneven as a result, because this writer is trying to explore human feeling in extremis. Not wishing to detract from the Nazi character whose conflicting motives drive the story forward, Lydia is the one who steals the show. She’s vulnerable without being passive and at a precarious age where innocence is ebbing away and full maturity has yet to blossom. Her thoughts and reactions are the soul of this novel.
It’s interesting to note that Hewitt is an actor and playwright because his work undoubtedly has the dramatic elements of a play. Claustrophobic, touching, character-driven and told in lovely prose, this novel has great crossover appeal. Readers who loved ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne and ‘The Separation’ by Christopher Priest will have a strong affinity with ‘The Dynamite Room’.
In ‘The Dynamite Room’, Hewitt tells the story of a Suffolk girl, the sole occupant of a house in an isolated village, who comes face to face with a Nazi soldier; the soldier takes her as his hostage. Whether this tale has any basis in fact whatsoever, whether it was propaganda designed to needle the conscience of our American cousins or just a product of wartime paranoia and too many pints of Adnams may never be known. But that doesn’t matter, because Hewitt’s version gives us a fleshed-out psychological drama between two extraordinary characters, Heiden, the first of a German invasion party to reach dry land, and Lydia, 11 years old and utterly alone.
Both Lydia and Heiden are resilient in their way. Both are afraid of – and dependent upon – one another. The book provides an explanation of how such a meeting may’ve occurred and plays out the intriguing consequences. Domestic challenges such as trying to get the water running, sharing a dinner with one’s captor or prisoner and procuring maps from hiding places are magnified into emotional battlegrounds. Each character probes the other for information while trying to conceal their troubled past and the anxieties of the present.
This is WWII fiction as apocrypha and alternative reality, as opposed to researched-to-the-nth-degree realism. Hewitt delves into his two lead characters’ points of view, in essence switching the protagonist/antagonist roles. Some of the flashback scenes are ambitious, and perhaps uneven as a result, because this writer is trying to explore human feeling in extremis. Not wishing to detract from the Nazi character whose conflicting motives drive the story forward, Lydia is the one who steals the show. She’s vulnerable without being passive and at a precarious age where innocence is ebbing away and full maturity has yet to blossom. Her thoughts and reactions are the soul of this novel.
It’s interesting to note that Hewitt is an actor and playwright because his work undoubtedly has the dramatic elements of a play. Claustrophobic, touching, character-driven and told in lovely prose, this novel has great crossover appeal. Readers who loved ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’ by John Boyne and ‘The Separation’ by Christopher Priest will have a strong affinity with ‘The Dynamite Room’.
February 9, 2014
The Dynamite Room explores a huge 'what if...' of the Second World War. What if German soldiers had reached British shores? What if there had been an invasion?
The novel begins with an 11 year old girl called Lydia making her way home to the house she grew up in in rural Suffolk, after escaping from her temporary evacuee home in Wales. She is shocked and scared to find the village and her house eerily empty and sets up home, willing for her mother to return. That evening, while she is trying to sleep, she hears noises downstairs and finds a wounded soldier. He speaks with a German accent, tells her that there is an invasion on its way and gives her a list of rules to live by - she must not leave the house and she must do as he says or he will kill her.
As Lydia and the soldier get used to each other's presence in the house, we learn of each of their experiences during the war and the heartbreak which they are both recovering from. With a sense of desperation and claustrophobia, these two characters begin to interact with each other and The Dynamite Room becomes a disturbing, compelling and moving story of two unlikely residents of a village house.
The Dynamite Room is a stunning debut novel. It is gripping and compelling with an almost poetic touch, with the garden blooms and Lydia's young innocence in stark contrast to the brutality of war and the soldier's experiences. There are equal amounts of beautiful and shocking imagery as the solider almost cannot believe the sights that he has seen and been involved with. His memories have a sense of detachment to them and Lydia's actions and thoughts feel very authentic of a scared 11 year old girl. The pair's relationship as they prepare the house for expected guests as a result of the invasion and the complexity of everyday chores, such as providing food for each other, feel very genuine.
I have loved WWI and WWII literature since doing A Level coursework on the subject and The Dynamite Room succeeds in being a unique take on the Second World War, using rumour / propaganda of Germans arriving on British shores and the little-known conflict in Norway at the battle for Narvik. This feels like a very well researched and accomplished novel. I was gripped throughout and the final scenes had my heart pounding, I hadn't had a reaction like that to the end of a book since reading M.L Steadman's excelling The Light Between Oceans. Ultimately The Dynamite Room explores human bonds in even the worse of situations and these are two characters that will certainly stay in my mind for a while.
The novel begins with an 11 year old girl called Lydia making her way home to the house she grew up in in rural Suffolk, after escaping from her temporary evacuee home in Wales. She is shocked and scared to find the village and her house eerily empty and sets up home, willing for her mother to return. That evening, while she is trying to sleep, she hears noises downstairs and finds a wounded soldier. He speaks with a German accent, tells her that there is an invasion on its way and gives her a list of rules to live by - she must not leave the house and she must do as he says or he will kill her.
As Lydia and the soldier get used to each other's presence in the house, we learn of each of their experiences during the war and the heartbreak which they are both recovering from. With a sense of desperation and claustrophobia, these two characters begin to interact with each other and The Dynamite Room becomes a disturbing, compelling and moving story of two unlikely residents of a village house.
The Dynamite Room is a stunning debut novel. It is gripping and compelling with an almost poetic touch, with the garden blooms and Lydia's young innocence in stark contrast to the brutality of war and the soldier's experiences. There are equal amounts of beautiful and shocking imagery as the solider almost cannot believe the sights that he has seen and been involved with. His memories have a sense of detachment to them and Lydia's actions and thoughts feel very authentic of a scared 11 year old girl. The pair's relationship as they prepare the house for expected guests as a result of the invasion and the complexity of everyday chores, such as providing food for each other, feel very genuine.
I have loved WWI and WWII literature since doing A Level coursework on the subject and The Dynamite Room succeeds in being a unique take on the Second World War, using rumour / propaganda of Germans arriving on British shores and the little-known conflict in Norway at the battle for Narvik. This feels like a very well researched and accomplished novel. I was gripped throughout and the final scenes had my heart pounding, I hadn't had a reaction like that to the end of a book since reading M.L Steadman's excelling The Light Between Oceans. Ultimately The Dynamite Room explores human bonds in even the worse of situations and these are two characters that will certainly stay in my mind for a while.
September 24, 2014
Superb debut novel.
Not a conventional World War II novel but a brilliant fresh approach to the narrative of this conflict. It is about the casualties of war, seen through relationships. How war changes people, attitudes and lives. Set predominately in a Suffolk house, isolated due to the fear of invasion it is the story of a 12 year old hostage and a German commando. Their interaction has the potential to change their lives forever. However, the war has already done that and it is a story of them coming to terms with this new reality. Beautifully told, smart dialogue and locations; through back stories we gain insights into various aspects of this time, from evacuees to the Berlin home front. I liked the tension built from confined locations, a Berlin garret room, the dynamite room and where the drama unfolds Greyfriars.
A joy to read, tense, with mystery and thrills. I liked the slow reveals if the various plot lines and the generosity of the author not to hide things other than in plain sight. However, the plot did have a few twists and turns I didn't fully see or understand until later.
Other themes I see are trying to escape and seeking forgiveness for those left behind or used to achieve that end.
This would be a great book group read and is a must read for 2014.
Not a conventional World War II novel but a brilliant fresh approach to the narrative of this conflict. It is about the casualties of war, seen through relationships. How war changes people, attitudes and lives. Set predominately in a Suffolk house, isolated due to the fear of invasion it is the story of a 12 year old hostage and a German commando. Their interaction has the potential to change their lives forever. However, the war has already done that and it is a story of them coming to terms with this new reality. Beautifully told, smart dialogue and locations; through back stories we gain insights into various aspects of this time, from evacuees to the Berlin home front. I liked the tension built from confined locations, a Berlin garret room, the dynamite room and where the drama unfolds Greyfriars.
A joy to read, tense, with mystery and thrills. I liked the slow reveals if the various plot lines and the generosity of the author not to hide things other than in plain sight. However, the plot did have a few twists and turns I didn't fully see or understand until later.
Other themes I see are trying to escape and seeking forgiveness for those left behind or used to achieve that end.
This would be a great book group read and is a must read for 2014.
March 30, 2015
I actually finished reading this book 2 days ago, but I felt like I needed to sit with it for a little while before writing about it. It's that kind of book. I could feel my heart break - just a little - with every page I read. Yes, it's set in World War II...eleven year old English girl...wounded German soldier...abandoned village. I knew no good would come of this. But, I had hope.
This is a prime example of, "it's not the destination, it's the journey." The reader may think they know where Hewitt is going with his story, and to some extent they may be right. But, I admit, I never saw THAT coming. Between the beginning and the end, Hewitt doles out tiny bits of insight - told in flashback - that build the tension. And I do mean tension. The kind of tension you feel when watching a movie and you actually say out loud, "No, no! Don't split up to explore the woods alone...at night!" The structure of the story, while initially confusing sets just the right tone of confusion, regret and "what ifs" that usually accompany the exploration of our own pasts. The writing is beautiful, and the characters (Lydia and Heiden) are sympathetic and likeable.
If you want a book that will push you, pick this one. If you want to read about growing up and lost love, complicated by war and all the horror that entails, pick this book. I suspect your book group will love this book (as I did) for all the ideas to ponder and viewpoints to discuss.
This is a prime example of, "it's not the destination, it's the journey." The reader may think they know where Hewitt is going with his story, and to some extent they may be right. But, I admit, I never saw THAT coming. Between the beginning and the end, Hewitt doles out tiny bits of insight - told in flashback - that build the tension. And I do mean tension. The kind of tension you feel when watching a movie and you actually say out loud, "No, no! Don't split up to explore the woods alone...at night!" The structure of the story, while initially confusing sets just the right tone of confusion, regret and "what ifs" that usually accompany the exploration of our own pasts. The writing is beautiful, and the characters (Lydia and Heiden) are sympathetic and likeable.
If you want a book that will push you, pick this one. If you want to read about growing up and lost love, complicated by war and all the horror that entails, pick this book. I suspect your book group will love this book (as I did) for all the ideas to ponder and viewpoints to discuss.
August 2, 2014
In giving this one of my rare four star reviews (almost impossible to get a five from me) mainly for how atmospheric it felt...the days were long, they dragged out with little to do, and with Lydia narrating, it felt like that, whilst the soldiers story was busy with remembering, but done so well, that I almost felt the cold of Norway!
It was no surprise that Heiden had met the father, and got information from him, but a nice twist to the story, that he wanted to become him, and set about a path to take him there.
I enjoyed the small plot line of Alfie..... Well all of it really..nicely done.
It was no surprise that Heiden had met the father, and got information from him, but a nice twist to the story, that he wanted to become him, and set about a path to take him there.
I enjoyed the small plot line of Alfie..... Well all of it really..nicely done.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 2, 2017
Powerful psychological thriller
Set near Shingle Street in Suffolk during the invasion threat of 1940 this powerful story has a young evacuee running away back to her parents house to discover her parents have left and a new dangerous occupant is in residence.
Hewitt's debut novel is a real page turner as he ratchets up the tension while you learn more about the protagonists and what brought them to the house.
It's difficult to tell more without spoiling the book but suffice to say this is a brilliant story and a memorable book.
Recommended.
Set near Shingle Street in Suffolk during the invasion threat of 1940 this powerful story has a young evacuee running away back to her parents house to discover her parents have left and a new dangerous occupant is in residence.
Hewitt's debut novel is a real page turner as he ratchets up the tension while you learn more about the protagonists and what brought them to the house.
It's difficult to tell more without spoiling the book but suffice to say this is a brilliant story and a memorable book.
Recommended.
March 22, 2019
Found pace slow and i couldn't engage.
Great premise for a story and flashbacks were good.
Great premise for a story and flashbacks were good.
April 12, 2015
My immediate reaction to this book was that I was unsure about it. Now having taken time away from it I am still not sure how I feel about this book.
It starts of promisingly with Lydia returning home to a deserted town and over the course of a few days we are introduced to her backstory. She then finds a solider (Heiden) in her home who knows her name. As with Lydia, his back story is also told in flashback. I think this is part of what troubles me about this book, we are mid conversation or mid action and then suddenly the action ceases and a bit of unrelated back story is revealed.
It was not until about 60% that the two stories converge and we learn how Heiden is connected to Lydia and the additional connection to the novel’s title.
There was one part of the novel that really did turn this reader off and that was the sexualisation of Lydia. I sort of understand her motivations for it but why does have to be in there at all? Is it just me that thinks children should be children for a long as possible. Societal demands ensure that children become adults too soon. Instead we should allow them to develop much needed skills in a loving caring environment, without these skills the world would turn into anarchy.
Much of the story is inferred rather than spelling the story out. The novel is intense and compelling but the characters did not fully engage this reader and if I was not been a compulsive book finishers this would have ended up on my ‘did not finish’ pile.
There was too much of this novel that did not really work and many stands that needed fleshing out. The suspense such as it was merely fizzled, and this reader thought the ending was a huge let down. In short this reader was disappointed in this rather dull, overly long novel.
Full Disclosure: ARC received from Netgalley for an honest review.
It starts of promisingly with Lydia returning home to a deserted town and over the course of a few days we are introduced to her backstory. She then finds a solider (Heiden) in her home who knows her name. As with Lydia, his back story is also told in flashback. I think this is part of what troubles me about this book, we are mid conversation or mid action and then suddenly the action ceases and a bit of unrelated back story is revealed.
It was not until about 60% that the two stories converge and we learn how Heiden is connected to Lydia and the additional connection to the novel’s title.
There was one part of the novel that really did turn this reader off and that was the sexualisation of Lydia. I sort of understand her motivations for it but why does have to be in there at all? Is it just me that thinks children should be children for a long as possible. Societal demands ensure that children become adults too soon. Instead we should allow them to develop much needed skills in a loving caring environment, without these skills the world would turn into anarchy.
Much of the story is inferred rather than spelling the story out. The novel is intense and compelling but the characters did not fully engage this reader and if I was not been a compulsive book finishers this would have ended up on my ‘did not finish’ pile.
There was too much of this novel that did not really work and many stands that needed fleshing out. The suspense such as it was merely fizzled, and this reader thought the ending was a huge let down. In short this reader was disappointed in this rather dull, overly long novel.
Full Disclosure: ARC received from Netgalley for an honest review.
May 12, 2015
July 1940. In the high heat of summer, eleven-year-old Lydia walks alone down a dusty road to her English village and finds the place deserted. Disquieted, she continues homeward with her suitcase bumping her leg and the box for her gas mask swinging from her shoulder. Greyfriars is empty, but Lydia settles in to wait for her family’s return. And then that night, she wakes to the creak of footsteps in the house.
It is a wounded Nazi soldier who did not expect to find anyone here, certainly not Lydia, who is a runaway from Wales, where she had been sent as an evacuee. A German invasion is coming, he says. They must prepare Greyfriars for the next arrivals. He will not hurt her if she does as he says. Break the rules, and he will shoot her. Thus, their cautious relationship begins: a cat-and-mouse game wherein she tiptoes past him while he explores Greyfriars, searching for… what? When they are in separate rooms, Heiden feels Lydia “crouching behind the door, listening to him listening to her,” though neither makes a sound. They, and we, feel the pulse of the house breathing as this wonderful, thoroughly original story unfolds. What is our German soldier about? What brought him here, and how does he know so much about Lydia’s absent family?
In The Dynamite Room, novelist Jason Hewitt weaves a spellbinding tale to linger over and savor, looping back and drawing us forward to a conclusion that is equally heartbreaking and beautiful. Long listed for the Desmond Elliott Prize (2014) and a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Pick of 2015, this gripping first novel is a book for the ages, so engaging and well written, I did not want it to end. Very highly recommended.
EDITOR'S CHOICE: Historical Novel Society "Review," Issue 72 (May 2015)
It is a wounded Nazi soldier who did not expect to find anyone here, certainly not Lydia, who is a runaway from Wales, where she had been sent as an evacuee. A German invasion is coming, he says. They must prepare Greyfriars for the next arrivals. He will not hurt her if she does as he says. Break the rules, and he will shoot her. Thus, their cautious relationship begins: a cat-and-mouse game wherein she tiptoes past him while he explores Greyfriars, searching for… what? When they are in separate rooms, Heiden feels Lydia “crouching behind the door, listening to him listening to her,” though neither makes a sound. They, and we, feel the pulse of the house breathing as this wonderful, thoroughly original story unfolds. What is our German soldier about? What brought him here, and how does he know so much about Lydia’s absent family?
In The Dynamite Room, novelist Jason Hewitt weaves a spellbinding tale to linger over and savor, looping back and drawing us forward to a conclusion that is equally heartbreaking and beautiful. Long listed for the Desmond Elliott Prize (2014) and a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Pick of 2015, this gripping first novel is a book for the ages, so engaging and well written, I did not want it to end. Very highly recommended.
EDITOR'S CHOICE: Historical Novel Society "Review," Issue 72 (May 2015)
August 14, 2015
Not strictly, strictly, a crime book I know, but contains more than enough thought-provoking psychological suspense to keep any reader satisfied. With the claustrophobic setting of two completely contrasting characters confined within a contained space for the majority of the book, Hewitt completely immerses us in the issues of morality and loyalty that come into play in times of conflict. By using the setting of Lydia’s home, but carefully interweaving details of the background of both characters, there is much mileage to be had in manipulating and changing the reader’s empathy as piece by piece certain details are revealed- particularly in the case of Heiden’s former experiences. In the characterisation of both, Hewitt more than demonstrates his authorial control, and the pace of this meditative and at times lyrically written plot, carries the reader along effortlessly. With his background in acting, there is a very visual quality to his description, and Lydia’s home in particular is tangible and real, taking on a character of its own. I have one small grievance. I wish that the book had been concluded at the end of the penultimate chapter which was mighty powerful and caused more than a sharp inhalation of breath, as I do have a personal aversion to ‘wrap-up’ final chapters. However, the prose style of the book, which I found very reminiscent of the Irish literary style ( a la Toibin, Trevor etc), the depth of research, and beautifully drawn characters, were completely satisfying. Excellent.
September 6, 2019
I’ve read dozens of WWII novels and am still amazed how often the writer brings a very different twist to the plot. This book is an extremely eerie and suspenseful psychological drama (no spoilers here beyond what is on the book jacket). Hewitt is a playwright and actor, so he brings what he’s learned about pacing and character motivation to this book. The only thing that surprised me was how rapidly he jumps back and forth in time, place, and characters. There are many buried secrets he doesn’t want us to learn too quickly. If this story is ever turned into a movie (and it would make a good one), the leaps would need to be shuffled and smoothed out a bit to help the audience keep up. In the flashbacks, we gradually understand how the war has already affected the characters and why they act as they do. Not only do they change, but our perceptions of them change.
Lydia, age 11, lives in coastal England outside a small town. Her family had taken in Button, a very young Jewish evacuee, before it was decided best to send all the local children to Wales. Her father and brother both enlisted. She expects her mom to join them soon, but decides she can’t wait. She hates Wales and the mean woman housing them, so she runs away, leaving poor Button behind. She returns home to find family and neighbors all gone. She thought only the children had been shipped away. It’s spooky to be staying in her boarded up house alone, wondering what has happened. It’s even spookier to learn she isn’t alone. A wounded German soldier has moved in.
Lydia, age 11, lives in coastal England outside a small town. Her family had taken in Button, a very young Jewish evacuee, before it was decided best to send all the local children to Wales. Her father and brother both enlisted. She expects her mom to join them soon, but decides she can’t wait. She hates Wales and the mean woman housing them, so she runs away, leaving poor Button behind. She returns home to find family and neighbors all gone. She thought only the children had been shipped away. It’s spooky to be staying in her boarded up house alone, wondering what has happened. It’s even spookier to learn she isn’t alone. A wounded German soldier has moved in.
August 15, 2018
This was a book club read that I started the day before the meeting and miraculously managed to finish on my way out of the house to the meeting. The lady who suggested it reviews books for the Historical Novel Society, and said this is one of the best books she’s read. I didn’t have as strong a reaction, but I did find it worthwhile and enjoyable. It reminded me a bit of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.
Set during World War II, debut author Hewitt creates the feeling of a post-apocalyptic world as the eleven-year-old heroine makes her way home through her abandoned village in England, having run away from the family she was sent to as an evacuee. That night, alone in her home, she hears someone enter and search the house. He doesn’t find her, but she finds him—a German soldier who soon takes charge, threatening to kill her if she tries to leave. As his backstory unfolds in flashbacks, we discover he isn’t there by chance.
The book was good fodder for a lively discussion about how the novel uses these two characters to explore themes of war, power and morality. Like many British novels, there’s more exposition than typically found in American novels, but somehow Hewitt managed to make the challenging limited scope of two characters trapped in a house together for most of the novel to be engaging. It’s an impressive novel, particularly for a first-time author.
Set during World War II, debut author Hewitt creates the feeling of a post-apocalyptic world as the eleven-year-old heroine makes her way home through her abandoned village in England, having run away from the family she was sent to as an evacuee. That night, alone in her home, she hears someone enter and search the house. He doesn’t find her, but she finds him—a German soldier who soon takes charge, threatening to kill her if she tries to leave. As his backstory unfolds in flashbacks, we discover he isn’t there by chance.
The book was good fodder for a lively discussion about how the novel uses these two characters to explore themes of war, power and morality. Like many British novels, there’s more exposition than typically found in American novels, but somehow Hewitt managed to make the challenging limited scope of two characters trapped in a house together for most of the novel to be engaging. It’s an impressive novel, particularly for a first-time author.
March 30, 2017
Nathan Filer author of The Shock of the Fall and I, have something in common. We both agree The Dynamite Room is 'superb'. I know Mr Filer does, because it's quoted on the front cover. I think therefore, I shall have to seek out Mr F's book because clearly he has exceptional taste! Set in 1940, the book takes me back to old black and white films I watched as a child on a Sunday afternoon while passing around Riley's Toffee Rolls and Richmond Selection always to be shared between my three sisters and Mum and Dad. Lydia, the young girl in the story is a kind of Hayley Mills in Whistle Down The Wind character, only rather than the 'baddy' Alan Bates who turns up in a barn, it's a young German Nazi officer who breaks into Lydia's abandoned and boarded up family home, only to discover Lydia, an escaped evacuee has fled fled back there to hide. And so begins the relationship between the two. It's thought provoking, touching and very emotionally charged, - talk about read it and weep! Cannot believe this is a debut novel and I shall certainly be buying his second book Devastation Road. Such writing talent - and then you seen the man!!
September 29, 2015
Original review can be found at http://kristineandterri.blogspot.ca/2...
** I received a copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review.**
This book held a lot of potential. The synopsis was intriguing and the genre is one of my favourites. I couldn't wait to get lost in it.
But...
Although there wasn't anything horribly wrong with it, the story fell a little flat. It was really slow to get going and I found my mind wandering often. I wanted to know how everything would tie together but not in an anticipation type of way. It was more like an "I'm bored" kind of way.
However, I do see quite a bit of potential with this author. The Dynamite Room was his debut novel and as debuts go it was a solid effort. I didn't love it but I didn't hate it.
** I received a copy of this book through a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review.**
This book held a lot of potential. The synopsis was intriguing and the genre is one of my favourites. I couldn't wait to get lost in it.
But...
Although there wasn't anything horribly wrong with it, the story fell a little flat. It was really slow to get going and I found my mind wandering often. I wanted to know how everything would tie together but not in an anticipation type of way. It was more like an "I'm bored" kind of way.
However, I do see quite a bit of potential with this author. The Dynamite Room was his debut novel and as debuts go it was a solid effort. I didn't love it but I didn't hate it.
May 31, 2015
Lydia is walking down the street, alone in a gas mask. The year is 1940, and she is trying to get home to her mother. There is someone in her house, but it's not her mother. And this is the beginning of a stressful week for Lydia and her unexpected house guest.
At times, I really liked this book. At other times, I was very confused. She seemed quite helpless, and in need of the strangers attention (maybe he was going for this?) I also felt like the breaks between points of view were very disjointed. Sometimes, I would have to re read entire sections, before I could figure out which point of view it was. I was so hoping for a climactic ending, but it kind of fell flat for me. It was ok, the setting was an interesting twist, but something was lacking in the execution. On to the next one!
At times, I really liked this book. At other times, I was very confused. She seemed quite helpless, and in need of the strangers attention (maybe he was going for this?) I also felt like the breaks between points of view were very disjointed. Sometimes, I would have to re read entire sections, before I could figure out which point of view it was. I was so hoping for a climactic ending, but it kind of fell flat for me. It was ok, the setting was an interesting twist, but something was lacking in the execution. On to the next one!
March 11, 2015
The Dynamite Room is Jason Hewitt’s first published novel, and a very good one at that. The whole novel takes place over the course five days, during which Lydia and the soldier are forced together in this house, stuck in the strangest of intimacies. Hewitt effectively reduces the Second World War to a battle on the very smallest scale. The set-up of the novel is brilliant, and the idea well executed, for the use of flashback and memory allows us to travel far beyond the confines of the house, to Germany in the 1930s and the Norwegian campaigns during the war...
Read full review: http://justbooksandthings.blogspot.co...
Read full review: http://justbooksandthings.blogspot.co...
August 20, 2014
What a heart wrenching, disturbing book! The story is about an 11 year old evacuee from WWII who runs away to go back home, only to find the whole village deserted. After locking herself in her abandoned house, a German soldier breaks in and holds her hostage for 5 days. I have very mixed feelings about the German soldier, sometimes I was horrified by him and sometimes I pitied him. I cried my eyes out at the end so I guess I did learn to like him in a strange way. The book was beautifully written and the idea of the story was genius. I'll definitely be looking out for more Jason Hewitt.
November 19, 2014
Longlisted for the Desmond Elliott prize 2014, this gem of a novel is a daring and original story of an unusual and complex relationship between a German soldier and a young British girl whom he takes hostage. Intense and fully gratifying in terms of characterization and storytelling, the author takes us carefully and thoroughly through a secluded portion of that well trod area of World War 2 with a completely different sort of story. "The Dynamite Room" begins with strong, memorable images and follows through beautifully until its devastating end.
August 26, 2017
Bravo Jason Hewitt for this superb book! Jason Hewitt is not only an author,but a playwright and actor and you can tell that he is all three of those professions,because he absolutely breaths life into each and every one of his characters as if you are watching a great play or film. I've read his second book Devastation Road and it is equally as engaging and heartbreaking...The Dynamite Room is one of the best books I've read this year.
October 17, 2017
This book was hard to get into at first, I feel like the author really polished his skill as the book progressed.
I do have to say, I did not see the twist coming right away and once you got past the first few chapters I really wanted to know what going to happen to them.
I do have to say, I did not see the twist coming right away and once you got past the first few chapters I really wanted to know what going to happen to them.
March 14, 2019
Suspenseful story about an 11-year-old English girl and a German soldier. 4.5 stars.
August 12, 2022
This book was okay. The writing was okay and the paced of plot was fine also the atmosphere was pretty good. I think people who like book thief by Markus Zusak would like this book. The cover of the book was okay and I would liked the characters to been flash out bit more.
August 4, 2014
It is summer of 1940 & a German invasion of England is imminent. Lydia, the 11 y/o daughter of a naval officer, had been evacuated to Wales, but she manages to travel alone by railway back to her family’s house on the East Anglian coast. She finds the neighbourhood & the house deserted, except that living in the house is a German soldier wearing a British army uniform.
Mainstream historical fiction takes the past as it happened - new characters & incidents can figure in the story but the major outcomes stay the same (the Spanish Armada is defeated or President Kennedy is assassinated, for example). There is also a not-quite-respectable (because odious to ‘serious fiction’ snobs by association with sci-fi altho’ some pretty major authors - Kingsley Amis, Philip Roth - have tried their hand @ it) variety sometimes called ‘counterfactuals’ where things turn out different, like the Germans successfully launching a cross-channel invasion. Lydia, doesn’t find out whether she’s a character in mainstream or a counterfactual fiction till near the end of the story, tho’ I expect most alert readers will figure it out long before.
One weakness in WWII novels it that it far too easy to signal your reader whether or not to find a German sympathetic - if he’s a believing Nazi he’s a bad ‘un. We find out pretty quickly that our German, Lance-Corporal Heiden, is a goodie; the Norwegian campaign has left him thoroughly disillusioned with the war. (The enigmatic title of the book, BTW, refers to a storage site for explosives in Norway that’s part of Heiden’s backstory.) To deepen his disgust with Naziism, his fiancée Eva unwittingly & fatallly became involved in the euthanasia programme. (I felt that was rather dragged in by the hair, but @ least Jason Herwitt did not avail himself to that favourite anti-Nazi detour that authors fall back on so often - having characters find out they’re part Jewish.) So it becomes pretty clear that whatever led Heiden to join the German version of the special forces, it wasn’t to help Germany win the war.
I found Lydia a brave & attractive character & as the story unfolded went from fearing for her to hoping that a most unlikely friendship with Heiden would result. Liked her sensitivity to the paranormal too. I shall not tell whether Hewitt gives us a happy or sad ending but I thought things turn out appropriately given characters & setting. I very much wanted this one to get to five stars & Hewitt’s excessive reliance on coincidences wasn’t a problem (when good authors - such as Sophocles or Tana French - avoid calling too much attention to them, we take them in stride). But Heiden failed to achieve quite enough stature to make me care what happened to him; there’s always a whiff of a pathetic odour about him. But this is definitely a worthwhile read.
Mainstream historical fiction takes the past as it happened - new characters & incidents can figure in the story but the major outcomes stay the same (the Spanish Armada is defeated or President Kennedy is assassinated, for example). There is also a not-quite-respectable (because odious to ‘serious fiction’ snobs by association with sci-fi altho’ some pretty major authors - Kingsley Amis, Philip Roth - have tried their hand @ it) variety sometimes called ‘counterfactuals’ where things turn out different, like the Germans successfully launching a cross-channel invasion. Lydia, doesn’t find out whether she’s a character in mainstream or a counterfactual fiction till near the end of the story, tho’ I expect most alert readers will figure it out long before.
One weakness in WWII novels it that it far too easy to signal your reader whether or not to find a German sympathetic - if he’s a believing Nazi he’s a bad ‘un. We find out pretty quickly that our German, Lance-Corporal Heiden, is a goodie; the Norwegian campaign has left him thoroughly disillusioned with the war. (The enigmatic title of the book, BTW, refers to a storage site for explosives in Norway that’s part of Heiden’s backstory.) To deepen his disgust with Naziism, his fiancée Eva unwittingly & fatallly became involved in the euthanasia programme. (I felt that was rather dragged in by the hair, but @ least Jason Herwitt did not avail himself to that favourite anti-Nazi detour that authors fall back on so often - having characters find out they’re part Jewish.) So it becomes pretty clear that whatever led Heiden to join the German version of the special forces, it wasn’t to help Germany win the war.
I found Lydia a brave & attractive character & as the story unfolded went from fearing for her to hoping that a most unlikely friendship with Heiden would result. Liked her sensitivity to the paranormal too. I shall not tell whether Hewitt gives us a happy or sad ending but I thought things turn out appropriately given characters & setting. I very much wanted this one to get to five stars & Hewitt’s excessive reliance on coincidences wasn’t a problem (when good authors - such as Sophocles or Tana French - avoid calling too much attention to them, we take them in stride). But Heiden failed to achieve quite enough stature to make me care what happened to him; there’s always a whiff of a pathetic odour about him. But this is definitely a worthwhile read.
May 4, 2014
Jason Hewitt's 'The Dynamite Room' is certainly a fresh take on the Second World War novel: where it does feature 'action' it is seen from the German perspective, the rest of the novel is played out over a few summer days between a lone German soldier and an English girl in an Edwardian house in Suffolk. It's a page-turner too - I raced through its 375 pages in just a couple of days. The sense of heat with which Hewitt imbues each page is palpable, and his experience as a playwright is evident in his ear for dialogue and character development, his best (and tensest) scenes occurring in single stage set-like rooms.
But the novel isn't without problems: the breakneck pace doesn't always serve his story well - there are times when it needed to be slowed down to give more of a feeling of the length of time characters were trapped together (the soldier and the girl in the house; the Germans and the British in the titular dynamite store). And Hewitt seems to be one of those people that, if he knows a secret, will be coy about it briefly but can't resist telling all within about five minutes: so many times through the course of the novel he'll start a passage with an image that throws the reader into confusion, but rather than maintain the disorientation he explains everything within a page or two; all his revelations (and this is a novel that turns on revelations) are telegraphed in advance so that nothing comes as a surprise.
Two people, who ought to be enemies, trapped together in a big dark house in a deserted village in the heat of high summer, the man seeming to know everything about the girl whilst she knows next to nothing about him: it sounds like the recipe for a story replete with gothic menace, but while the story certainly has atmosphere, I felt Hewitt had squandered some of its potential.
But the novel isn't without problems: the breakneck pace doesn't always serve his story well - there are times when it needed to be slowed down to give more of a feeling of the length of time characters were trapped together (the soldier and the girl in the house; the Germans and the British in the titular dynamite store). And Hewitt seems to be one of those people that, if he knows a secret, will be coy about it briefly but can't resist telling all within about five minutes: so many times through the course of the novel he'll start a passage with an image that throws the reader into confusion, but rather than maintain the disorientation he explains everything within a page or two; all his revelations (and this is a novel that turns on revelations) are telegraphed in advance so that nothing comes as a surprise.
Two people, who ought to be enemies, trapped together in a big dark house in a deserted village in the heat of high summer, the man seeming to know everything about the girl whilst she knows next to nothing about him: it sounds like the recipe for a story replete with gothic menace, but while the story certainly has atmosphere, I felt Hewitt had squandered some of its potential.
April 22, 2014
I really liked this. Surely then I should give it four stars? But I have to admit to giving it lots of allowances because it is a debut. It is a very good debut, and I certainly want to read whatever Hewitt writes next, but it's debut-ness was obvious - something about it not quite rich enough; something about it that wouldn't make me want to read it again - and I think all four stars I might want to read again (five stars I will, or already have read again).
The structure was good - double point of view and many flashbacks that fell easily into place. The revelation as to how Heiden was in the house could have been handled better - it didn't come as enough of a revelation for me. But the tension between Heiden and Lydia was really well written, and the slow pace, which perfectly matched the temperature of the days they spend together, was terrific.
The structure was good - double point of view and many flashbacks that fell easily into place. The revelation as to how Heiden was in the house could have been handled better - it didn't come as enough of a revelation for me. But the tension between Heiden and Lydia was really well written, and the slow pace, which perfectly matched the temperature of the days they spend together, was terrific.
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