When We Were Divided

by Liz Flanagan

Genres: Fiction

Unknown Binding

About the author

Liz writes for children and young adults. She teaches creative writing, and lives in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, with her husband and two daughters. She used to be Centre Director at the Ted Hughes Arvon Centre, and previously worked in children's book publishing.

Reviews

[Silver Star · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful, heart wrenching story of what civil war does to a family & community.

Set in Heptonstall, West Yorkshire, the novel tells the story of two sisters who are divided by their husband’s loyalties in the English civil war. As the war sweeps through their community, Jane and Isobel have to take on different roles within the war. As old resentments erupt & loyalties are frayed, they are each tested and pushed to their limits. Told from each sister’s POV and from a soldier who befriends Jane’s son, you get a rounded, non partisan view of the conflict. Told from within one community, this novel also reads like a micro-history of the English civil war.
I loved everything about this story. The immersive and evocative historical detail just transports you to 17th century Yorkshire. The author has clearly done extensive research and blends it beautifully to paint a vivid picture of a rural community divided by war & religion. The love, anguish & grief between the sisters was heartbreaking at points and I cried so many times I kept putting it down for a breather. As a mum and sister, this moved me so much. The portrayal of difficult family dynamics and how unresolved resentment and grief can fracture relationships was raw.
Although told within a political context, I loved how the author kept it a social story of the impact of war, people’s weariness of it and ultimately how women always have to pick up the awful pieces cast by angry and ambitious men.
Isobel was possibly my favourite character and I loved the journey she went on from meek, isolated wife to community supporter, nurse and spy. She brought to life the changing role that women went through during this era and how much agency they could wield. Loved the forbidden romance and exploration of gender throughout too.
The ending was subtle and beautiful and made me hug my kindle to my chest.

A fantastic piece of historical fiction with themes of grief, community, gender, impact of war, redemption and forgiveness.

No notes. Thank you to the author, publisher & NetGalley for this ARC.

[Sofia Robleda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeously written and meticulously researched, you will need a box of tissues by your side.

[Helen O · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though well written and with believable and interesting characters, the first 70% of this book is relentlessly bleak and depressing. Everyone leads lives of hardship and pain, both emotional and physical. The latter 30% gets more interesting and complex (though still peppered with horrors), with shifts and changes in attitudes and lives, but I’m not sure many would plough through more than two thirds of a book to find it. I’m sure the author has researched the time well, and that it’s historically accurate, but the story would have benefited from a greater interspersing of connection and achievement. I’ve lived in Yorkshire, and know all the areas included. It does have a certain harshness about it, its history is peppered with difficult times. But it is also stunningly beautiful, the people down to earth with a good sense of community. I can’t help feeling that the focus on anguish and distress has made this story less, not more engaging. It’s certainly not bedtime reading, and I would advise against reading it if you’re sensitive, depressed or anxious. Both ‘sides’ are destructive and all suffer. Both think they’re right but neither are. The author acknowledges this herself. In some ways it reminds me of how things are now. Maybe for that reason alone it’s too much. Usually fiction (which this is, despite describing a period of time that took place) takes the opposite stance of the time. When things are good dark stories abound, and when it’s tough they’re often more uplifting. The characters kept me reading, but it was a struggle I’d rather not have had to endure. Though written hauntingly and with skill, the endless anguish was just too much.

[Nessa’s Book Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

When We Were Divided is one of those stories that quietly gets under your skin and then refuses to leave.

Liz Flanagan has crafted a beautiful, tender, and deeply human historical fiction.. the kind that feels both sweeping and intimate at once.

Set in Yorkshire in 1643, against the backdrop of civil war and plague, this book follows three characters whose lives gradually weave together in the most heartbreaking and hopeful ways. Sisters Jane and Isabel are pulled apart not only by war, but by grief, secrets, and the very different paths they’re forced to walk.
And then there’s Kit, starving, desperate, and reinventing himself in a world where survival often means becoming someone else entirely. His storyline absolutely broke me.

I loved how this book explores family bonds, political conflict, forbidden love, and the quiet bravery of ordinary people trying to live through extraordinary times.

The atmosphere is rich, the emotions raw, and the writing beautifully measured never overly dramatic, but piercing in just the right places.

A beautiful and haunting read that will stay with me for a long time.

[Sue H H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an absolute delight - both engaging and heartrending. The English Civil War is a historical period of which I know very little but Liz's gorgeously descriptive writing is so vivid, immersive and yet relatable that I was able to visualise every detail without once feeling that I was being educated. Every sentence is a joy - well crafted and word perfect. If you enjoy Hilary Mantel but wish her writing was more accessible, you will adore this.

Thank you so much to Liz Flanagan and Fox and Ink Books for the early read.

[Sally Boocock · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read many books about the civil war but was intrigued to read this one. Telling the story of two sisters who are on opposite sides . Well their husbands are, one for the king and one for parliament. It's a story of war, family, community, gender and love. It has some interesting characters and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know them. All in all a good book.

[Lara A · Rating 2 out of 5]

A soppy slab of historical fiction. I haven't read many books set during the Civil War, but frankly, the machinations of war get sidelined from around two-thirds in, as the characters start making cow eyes at each other while telling the reader their every feeling before reciting them aloud. If you found yourself on holiday, needing a book and there was nothing else to read, this would do, but there really are better books to spend your time with.

Edited to remove a star, because it makes me scowl whenever I think of it.

Thank you, Netgalley, for the free copy.