What do you think?
Rate this book
Devastation Road: A Novel
A deeply compelling and poignant story about the tragic lessons of war and the endurance of memory.
In the last months of World War II, a man wakes in a field in a country he does not know. Injured and with only flashes of memory coming back to him, he pulls himself to his feet and starts to walk, setting out on an extraordinary journey in search of his home, his past, and himself.
His name is Owen. A war he has only a vague recollection of joining is in its dying days, and as he tries to get back to England, he becomes caught up in the flood of rootless people pouring through Europe. Among them is a teenage boy, and together they form an unlikely alliance as they cross battle-worn Germany.
When they meet a troubled young woman, tempers flare and scars are revealed as Owen gathers up the shattered pieces of his life. No one is as he remembers, not even himself. How can he truly return home when he hardly recalls what home is?
In the last months of World War II, a man wakes in a field in a country he does not know. Injured and with only flashes of memory coming back to him, he pulls himself to his feet and starts to walk, setting out on an extraordinary journey in search of his home, his past, and himself.
His name is Owen. A war he has only a vague recollection of joining is in its dying days, and as he tries to get back to England, he becomes caught up in the flood of rootless people pouring through Europe. Among them is a teenage boy, and together they form an unlikely alliance as they cross battle-worn Germany.
When they meet a troubled young woman, tempers flare and scars are revealed as Owen gathers up the shattered pieces of his life. No one is as he remembers, not even himself. How can he truly return home when he hardly recalls what home is?
384 pages, Hardcover
First published July 30, 2015
18 people are currently reading
1007 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
August 25, 2017
Europe is burning, the war has officially ended, the camps emptied, masses of people have no home, so they walk and walk.A young man wakes up in field, wet and shivering, his head hurting, he has little memory except his name, Owen. He see a young man was Hing him, a Czech it turns out, named Janek, with little English. Some memories, brief glimpses return in flashes, an airplane, he thinks he must have been a pilot, he is pretty sure he is English, and feels as if he has forgotten something. They join the masses walking, the disposed Germans, the Russians, those whose homes have been burned out, carrying the few things they have left. They meet a young girl with a baby, she says she is a Polish Jew, and she joins them in their walk. Eventually they reach a displaced person camp, a massive place with so many people, mass confusion. Owen wants only to return home, Janek is looking for his lost brother and the young woman, somewhere to belong.
I have read so many books about WWII, the Holocaust, but not many dealing with what happened at wars end. In the authors afterword, he notes that 11.5 million people were displaced in Europe, 7.7 million of them were in Germany, where this story takes place. The writing is stark, amplifying the desolation both of the people and the burning landscape. Our characters have kept some information to themselves, things that will come to the surface once they get to the camp. In Owens case, his memories returns in bits and pieces, but his full story is revealed by books end.
In some ways this book reminded me of The Road, except for the masses of people this could be a post apocalyptic setting. Also the Syrian refugees and their desperation, their walk to find a place of safety. History repeating itself, again and again. Over and over.
I have read so many books about WWII, the Holocaust, but not many dealing with what happened at wars end. In the authors afterword, he notes that 11.5 million people were displaced in Europe, 7.7 million of them were in Germany, where this story takes place. The writing is stark, amplifying the desolation both of the people and the burning landscape. Our characters have kept some information to themselves, things that will come to the surface once they get to the camp. In Owens case, his memories returns in bits and pieces, but his full story is revealed by books end.
In some ways this book reminded me of The Road, except for the masses of people this could be a post apocalyptic setting. Also the Syrian refugees and their desperation, their walk to find a place of safety. History repeating itself, again and again. Over and over.
July 3, 2017
Deeply moving, incredibly insightful, and hauntingly tragic!
This story is set in Europe near the end of WWII and follows one Englishman as he sets out on a journey to uncover the memories that seem buried just beyond his reach and the country he knows he calls home.
It is, ultimately, a story about war, loss, family, friendship, injustice, guilt, grief, love, courage, and survival.
The writing is direct and precise. The prose is stunningly vivid. The characters are strong, damaged, lonely, and real. And the plot is a heartrending tale that gives us a unique view into the struggles, hardships, and horrors felt by all during this heinous time in history.
This truly is a powerful story which will resonate with you long after you finish the final page and is a good reminder of some of the stories we don't always hear but are devastating nevertheless.
Thank you to NetGalley, especially Little, Brown and Company, for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
All my reviews can be found on my blog at http://whatsbetterthanbooks.com
This story is set in Europe near the end of WWII and follows one Englishman as he sets out on a journey to uncover the memories that seem buried just beyond his reach and the country he knows he calls home.
It is, ultimately, a story about war, loss, family, friendship, injustice, guilt, grief, love, courage, and survival.
The writing is direct and precise. The prose is stunningly vivid. The characters are strong, damaged, lonely, and real. And the plot is a heartrending tale that gives us a unique view into the struggles, hardships, and horrors felt by all during this heinous time in history.
This truly is a powerful story which will resonate with you long after you finish the final page and is a good reminder of some of the stories we don't always hear but are devastating nevertheless.
Thank you to NetGalley, especially Little, Brown and Company, for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
All my reviews can be found on my blog at http://whatsbetterthanbooks.com
July 15, 2015
Devastation Road
4 stars
“And so the war had ended – not with a bang but a slow death, a last exhale to nothing….”
When Owen wakes up in a field, with a sore head, he has no idea where he is. His last memories include being at work in 1940, of his brother Max and his parents at home. In fact, it is 1945 and Owen is somewhere in Europe, separated from everything – and everyone – he knows. With no idea where he is, or where to go, Owen begins to walk. Eventually, he stumbles upon others; Janek, a young Czechoslovakian boy in search of his brother, and Irena, a girl too young to have the baby she cannot care for.
Lots of people are, in fact, walking across a fractured, damaged and scarred Europe. Refugees are everywhere and so is death – bodies piled by the road, soldiers wandering in shock and families fleeing from one war zone into the death throes of another. As Owen finds himself in an uncomfortable, yet comforting, alliance with Janek and Irena, his memories slowly begin to return. Yet, with no food, shelter or safety, and unsure of where he is – or where he is heading – Owen wonders what the others want from him and what he can offer them.
I really enjoyed Jason Hewitt’s first novel “The Dynamite Room,” and was happy to be given the chance to review this. Like, “The Dynamite Room,” this offers a different view of WWII – in this case the devastation faced by civilians as the war came to an end and people fled the approaching Russian troops. Hewitt perfectly captures the utter exhaustion of people; after years of turmoil and war, they are seemingly on an endless march across a desolate landscape. The relationship between Owen and his travelling companions, both with their own secrets, gives the novel a poignant and, sometimes tense, feeling.
I enjoyed this novel very much and look forward to reading more by Jason Hewitt. Lastly, I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
4 stars
“And so the war had ended – not with a bang but a slow death, a last exhale to nothing….”
When Owen wakes up in a field, with a sore head, he has no idea where he is. His last memories include being at work in 1940, of his brother Max and his parents at home. In fact, it is 1945 and Owen is somewhere in Europe, separated from everything – and everyone – he knows. With no idea where he is, or where to go, Owen begins to walk. Eventually, he stumbles upon others; Janek, a young Czechoslovakian boy in search of his brother, and Irena, a girl too young to have the baby she cannot care for.
Lots of people are, in fact, walking across a fractured, damaged and scarred Europe. Refugees are everywhere and so is death – bodies piled by the road, soldiers wandering in shock and families fleeing from one war zone into the death throes of another. As Owen finds himself in an uncomfortable, yet comforting, alliance with Janek and Irena, his memories slowly begin to return. Yet, with no food, shelter or safety, and unsure of where he is – or where he is heading – Owen wonders what the others want from him and what he can offer them.
I really enjoyed Jason Hewitt’s first novel “The Dynamite Room,” and was happy to be given the chance to review this. Like, “The Dynamite Room,” this offers a different view of WWII – in this case the devastation faced by civilians as the war came to an end and people fled the approaching Russian troops. Hewitt perfectly captures the utter exhaustion of people; after years of turmoil and war, they are seemingly on an endless march across a desolate landscape. The relationship between Owen and his travelling companions, both with their own secrets, gives the novel a poignant and, sometimes tense, feeling.
I enjoyed this novel very much and look forward to reading more by Jason Hewitt. Lastly, I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
June 26, 2017
Everyone who knows me knows that I am a bit of a sucker for WWII stories. But as lovers of the genre are aware, these books are a dime a dozen, and finding a true jewel amongst the bling is a bit like striking gold in the desert. For me, Devastation Road was such a book. It is set in the spring of 1945, when there were around 7 million displaced people roaming around Germany in search of missing loved ones or trying to get back home – or what remained of it. Owen, who has lost the memory of the last four years of his life, joins the crowds of battle-scarred refugees and homeless people making their way across the war-torn country. He vaguely remembers being an RAF pilot, who had been imprisoned in a camp of sorts, but has no idea where he is and how he got here. Somewhere, in the deep dark recesses of his mind, there is the memory of a brother, Max, and that of a girl, but the images are hazy and produce a flood of emotion he cannot analyse. He knows that he has to get to a place called Sagan, but his mind won’t tell him why, or what he is looking for.
Hewitt’s writing is poetic, atmospheric and visual. With his observations through the eyes of a dazed and confused man who has suffered a severe head injury, he manages to catch not only the despair of a whole nation ravaged by war, but also that of its many victims. Through Owen’s unlikely companions, Janek, Irena and Little Man, we hear of the many different facets of suffering, with one underlying theme running through the entire story – the desperate longing to find loved ones, to get home. Or, for those who have lost everything, to escape, to make a new life somewhere else away from all the suffering and pain, and the memories. Amnesia is a tricky plot device that doesn’t always work well, but Hewitt pulls it off textbook-perfectly. I loved the way Owen had to write down snippets of memories on a piece of paper to remember them later, when his bruised brain has lost them again. As Owen’s memory slowly returns, usually triggered by smells, sights and sounds, his past is divulged in small, vivid snapshots which appear quite disembodied at times. It is through these we slowly learn of his fate between 1941 and the present – and there are quite a few surprises in store.
I loved every bit of this emotional rollercoaster ride of a book! Usually, I am not one that cries easily, but there was one point towards the end of the book that had me sobbing out loud with emotion. Such powerful imagery! What I particularly loved was that there is no judgment, no blame, just the snapshots of people caught up in a terrible era, united by trauma, death and loss, and the powerful will to survive.
Or:
Although Hewitt conveys the sense of doom and hopelessness of a time when so many people had lost everything, there is always an underlying thread of hope the reader can hold on to, a small sign of humanity amidst the rubble.
Devastation Road is one of the most compelling, visual and thought-provoking books of WWII I have ever read, capturing the immediate aftermath of the war, when around 7 million refugees were roaming a ravaged country in search of loved ones or to find a way home. Insightful, visual and poetic, it is a wonderful exploration of human resilience in the aftermath of the worst possible trauma humankind could endure. I loved every bit about this book, and recommend it highly to all lovers of the genre.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.
*blog* *facebook* *instagram*
Hewitt’s writing is poetic, atmospheric and visual. With his observations through the eyes of a dazed and confused man who has suffered a severe head injury, he manages to catch not only the despair of a whole nation ravaged by war, but also that of its many victims. Through Owen’s unlikely companions, Janek, Irena and Little Man, we hear of the many different facets of suffering, with one underlying theme running through the entire story – the desperate longing to find loved ones, to get home. Or, for those who have lost everything, to escape, to make a new life somewhere else away from all the suffering and pain, and the memories. Amnesia is a tricky plot device that doesn’t always work well, but Hewitt pulls it off textbook-perfectly. I loved the way Owen had to write down snippets of memories on a piece of paper to remember them later, when his bruised brain has lost them again. As Owen’s memory slowly returns, usually triggered by smells, sights and sounds, his past is divulged in small, vivid snapshots which appear quite disembodied at times. It is through these we slowly learn of his fate between 1941 and the present – and there are quite a few surprises in store.
I loved every bit of this emotional rollercoaster ride of a book! Usually, I am not one that cries easily, but there was one point towards the end of the book that had me sobbing out loud with emotion. Such powerful imagery! What I particularly loved was that there is no judgment, no blame, just the snapshots of people caught up in a terrible era, united by trauma, death and loss, and the powerful will to survive.
“Do you hate the Germans?” It was, perhaps, a foolish question, and for a long time she did not answer. “Some people, they mistook the devil for God,” she said eventually. “In my opinion, it is an easy mistake to make.”
Or:
He saw it all around him. He had walked through the city’s flattened streets, picking his way around the rubble of the train station and gazing around him at the forlorn carcasses of buildings, the endless flurries of dust blowing out and swilling around his feet, and all he could think was: we did this. Max and I. Deliverymen delivering bombs. They couldn’t be held responsible, but he felt responsibility all the same.
Although Hewitt conveys the sense of doom and hopelessness of a time when so many people had lost everything, there is always an underlying thread of hope the reader can hold on to, a small sign of humanity amidst the rubble.
Devastation Road is one of the most compelling, visual and thought-provoking books of WWII I have ever read, capturing the immediate aftermath of the war, when around 7 million refugees were roaming a ravaged country in search of loved ones or to find a way home. Insightful, visual and poetic, it is a wonderful exploration of human resilience in the aftermath of the worst possible trauma humankind could endure. I loved every bit about this book, and recommend it highly to all lovers of the genre.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the free electronic copy of this novel and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.
*blog* *facebook* *instagram*
June 29, 2017
After WWII there were 11.5 million refugees in Europe. Some were on the move back to their homelands, some were leaving to start over abroad, and some were fleeing because of their political alliances.
Jason Hewitt's Devastation Road is a chilling vision of the impact of war, the human toll when millions of lives are left without food or homes, separated from loved ones, struggling to survive. It is a mystery, a love story and a revelation of war's human cost.
A British soldier finds himself lost and without memory. His clothes don't fit and he has a strange pain under the ribs. He has a button in his pocket and a torn piece of silky fabric. Snatches of images arise from his past but he can't construct them into a narrative.
He is in the company of a young Czech. As the boy leads him across a landscape of ruin they see war's legacy: utter devastation, starvation, the loss of moral codes or legal order, roads clogged with people on the move, a land where people will do anything to survive.
The soldier is moved to save a baby abandoned along the roadside. The mother follows and later joins them, saying she seeks the baby's father to give the baby to him. She is a victim of rape.
The book gains momentum. The soldier discovers he is not who he thinks he is, but also learns that the stories his companions tell are also fictions. The reader will be caught up in the story to learn the mystery behind these characters.
Hewitt has drawn upon historical events and places, bringing to light the destruction of Czechoslovakian during WWII. The camps, the resistance groups, and especially the millions displaced by war were all too real.
I love how new books about WWII are focusing on lesser-known aspects of the war. Some I have read include Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelley on Polish girls who became victims of Nazi experiments, Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleeves about both the London homefront and the embattled soldiers on Malta, War & Turpentine by Stephen Hertmans on The Rape of Belgium, and A Pledge of Silence by Florence Solomon about nurses in Manila who are taken prisoners of war.
Devastation Road reminds us of the human cost of war, any war, every war. I will not soon forget the images of a country destroyed and the suffering of millions who lost everything.
Jason Hewitt's Devastation Road is a chilling vision of the impact of war, the human toll when millions of lives are left without food or homes, separated from loved ones, struggling to survive. It is a mystery, a love story and a revelation of war's human cost.
A British soldier finds himself lost and without memory. His clothes don't fit and he has a strange pain under the ribs. He has a button in his pocket and a torn piece of silky fabric. Snatches of images arise from his past but he can't construct them into a narrative.
He is in the company of a young Czech. As the boy leads him across a landscape of ruin they see war's legacy: utter devastation, starvation, the loss of moral codes or legal order, roads clogged with people on the move, a land where people will do anything to survive.
The soldier is moved to save a baby abandoned along the roadside. The mother follows and later joins them, saying she seeks the baby's father to give the baby to him. She is a victim of rape.
The book gains momentum. The soldier discovers he is not who he thinks he is, but also learns that the stories his companions tell are also fictions. The reader will be caught up in the story to learn the mystery behind these characters.
Hewitt has drawn upon historical events and places, bringing to light the destruction of Czechoslovakian during WWII. The camps, the resistance groups, and especially the millions displaced by war were all too real.
I love how new books about WWII are focusing on lesser-known aspects of the war. Some I have read include Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelley on Polish girls who became victims of Nazi experiments, Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleeves about both the London homefront and the embattled soldiers on Malta, War & Turpentine by Stephen Hertmans on The Rape of Belgium, and A Pledge of Silence by Florence Solomon about nurses in Manila who are taken prisoners of war.
Devastation Road reminds us of the human cost of war, any war, every war. I will not soon forget the images of a country destroyed and the suffering of millions who lost everything.
July 4, 2017
This is a remarkable novel that encompasses the end of the war and the impact of that conflict over the lands that war was raged.
It gives short shift to the myth that one day we're at war, the next day, peace is declared and enjoyed by the former combatants and the displaced people caught up in the violence.
Jason Hewitt is an author fast making a name for himself and in Devastation Road he has produced a novel that lays bear the lie that collatorial damage and all acts of intensive warfare are justifiable and can be set aside in the belief that it was done for the greater good.
The author does not set out to claim anything in his novel of this nature but in taking it as his backdrop he opens the reader up, to find a reality and the truth, that his characters share, on journeys along the road to hope and redemption.
Initially through the eyes of Owen a British Airman who wakes in a field unaware of how he got there; with some strange protector but with little memory other than what he slowly pieces together from his clothes and environment. Then through the people he meets and the dangers they face trying to make their way towards allied controlled Germany, Hewitt grafts a story that wonderfully introduces aspects of war and its aftermath we seldom see or identify with too closely.
The writing is of such a high standard that you are taken up in the story and believe in these characters and their difficult journey; the picture painted however is with a delicate brush; there is death and destruction but never over emphasised or used to shock and overwhelm you.
Indeed it is the gentle placing of these events and the 'normality'of the episodes in the reality of these broken people that hit home and challenges the reader as they share the arduous march.
As a film may move you, so the words of this talented writer stay with you in the images he weaves through rich and revealing prose.
I liked the afterword, where in his notes the author points out additional reading for truths that lie behind his fictional account. It shows he did excellent research but also hasn't grasped all the topics his narrative has touched upon. I was moved by the the sense of unwanted children alluded to after the Great War as well as the implication that soldiers may rape and fraternise with the locals. That to the victor go the spoils is also implied in terms of some of the behaviours demonstrated and the instant justice that may persist post conflict.
The irony that as an airman he has to trudge through cities proportially flattened by bombing and heavy shelling is left to bite Owen again and again but always as gentle illumination never as a sermon point or a political soundbite.
The book is terrific, moving and finally uplifting as although it has war as its canvas, the illumination and light flows through the human spirit.
Is there no-one reading this brilliant novel - just out in North America?
It gives short shift to the myth that one day we're at war, the next day, peace is declared and enjoyed by the former combatants and the displaced people caught up in the violence.
Jason Hewitt is an author fast making a name for himself and in Devastation Road he has produced a novel that lays bear the lie that collatorial damage and all acts of intensive warfare are justifiable and can be set aside in the belief that it was done for the greater good.
The author does not set out to claim anything in his novel of this nature but in taking it as his backdrop he opens the reader up, to find a reality and the truth, that his characters share, on journeys along the road to hope and redemption.
Initially through the eyes of Owen a British Airman who wakes in a field unaware of how he got there; with some strange protector but with little memory other than what he slowly pieces together from his clothes and environment. Then through the people he meets and the dangers they face trying to make their way towards allied controlled Germany, Hewitt grafts a story that wonderfully introduces aspects of war and its aftermath we seldom see or identify with too closely.
The writing is of such a high standard that you are taken up in the story and believe in these characters and their difficult journey; the picture painted however is with a delicate brush; there is death and destruction but never over emphasised or used to shock and overwhelm you.
Indeed it is the gentle placing of these events and the 'normality'of the episodes in the reality of these broken people that hit home and challenges the reader as they share the arduous march.
As a film may move you, so the words of this talented writer stay with you in the images he weaves through rich and revealing prose.
I liked the afterword, where in his notes the author points out additional reading for truths that lie behind his fictional account. It shows he did excellent research but also hasn't grasped all the topics his narrative has touched upon. I was moved by the the sense of unwanted children alluded to after the Great War as well as the implication that soldiers may rape and fraternise with the locals. That to the victor go the spoils is also implied in terms of some of the behaviours demonstrated and the instant justice that may persist post conflict.
The irony that as an airman he has to trudge through cities proportially flattened by bombing and heavy shelling is left to bite Owen again and again but always as gentle illumination never as a sermon point or a political soundbite.
The book is terrific, moving and finally uplifting as although it has war as its canvas, the illumination and light flows through the human spirit.
Is there no-one reading this brilliant novel - just out in North America?
October 25, 2015
Devastation Road is a truly brilliant read, beautifully written, emotionally resonant and utterly gripping, a novel to be inhaled rather than just read and one that will hover in the back of your mind for a long time after finishing it.
Owen is a character you will never forget. That forms the basis for the rest – this man and his slowly returning memories, on a road to discovery – the people he meets along the way, set against the aftermath of a devastating war. With true originality of substance, the author explores humanity, the vagaries of memory and the true meaning of redemption, this novel encompasses both a physical and a symbolic journey that fills the senses and captures the heart.
Jason Hewitt writes with a melodic and poetic style, visually stunning and descriptively perfect, but most of all, best of all, he tells us a story – an old school, truthful piece of storytelling genius, doing that thing that books are supposed to do – make you feel, make you consider, make you cry or laugh or get angry at the world, to believe just for a time that these characters and events are actually unfolding and taking you right along with them. These are the books I read for, this is what it is all about.
Devastation Road is, without doubt, one of the best and most impactful novels I have read to date – it is likely one I will return to, one of those books that you just know you will get more out of upon further reading, the ending of this one had me in utter pieces on the floor. Incredible piece of writing, remarkable.
Quite definitively Highly Recommended.
Owen is a character you will never forget. That forms the basis for the rest – this man and his slowly returning memories, on a road to discovery – the people he meets along the way, set against the aftermath of a devastating war. With true originality of substance, the author explores humanity, the vagaries of memory and the true meaning of redemption, this novel encompasses both a physical and a symbolic journey that fills the senses and captures the heart.
Jason Hewitt writes with a melodic and poetic style, visually stunning and descriptively perfect, but most of all, best of all, he tells us a story – an old school, truthful piece of storytelling genius, doing that thing that books are supposed to do – make you feel, make you consider, make you cry or laugh or get angry at the world, to believe just for a time that these characters and events are actually unfolding and taking you right along with them. These are the books I read for, this is what it is all about.
Devastation Road is, without doubt, one of the best and most impactful novels I have read to date – it is likely one I will return to, one of those books that you just know you will get more out of upon further reading, the ending of this one had me in utter pieces on the floor. Incredible piece of writing, remarkable.
Quite definitively Highly Recommended.
Read
February 7, 2016Novel set in post-WW2 GERMANY
Devastation Road is a great if sombre read, featuring an unlikely but intriguing trio of characters. It is set in Germany in the immediate aftermath of WW2 with millions of people from all over Europe freed from the camps and trying to make their way home. It is an enormous refugee crisis, very reminiscent of what is now going on as people flee wars in Syria and Afghanistan… except that these refugees in 1945 are trying to get back to their homes, not move to a foreign country. But the images of long lines of walkers along the railway tracks are the same…
The trio are Owen, a Brit who wakes up in a field with no memory, Janek a young Czech searching for his brother, and Irena a Pole with a young child and a story. First Owen is joined by Janek, and then Irena, as they trek through Germany – Owen on his way home, the others we are not quite sure where they are going. Owen when we first meet him has no memory – this gradually returns over the course of the book, as he begins to recall details of a love affair. His lack of memory is disorientating – and very scary. They walk for weeks before ending up in an allied camp near Celle in northern Germany. Their experiences along the route are harrowing and distressing.
Devastation Road is a book about the resilience and fortitude of the human state – how people survive against all their odds.
It is book I thoroughly recommend. It will certainly make you think about what is happening today on mainland Europe.
This review first appeared on our blog, where we also talk to the author about writing, his book and research and the refugee crisis now and then: http://www.tripfiction.com/novel-set-...
Devastation Road is a great if sombre read, featuring an unlikely but intriguing trio of characters. It is set in Germany in the immediate aftermath of WW2 with millions of people from all over Europe freed from the camps and trying to make their way home. It is an enormous refugee crisis, very reminiscent of what is now going on as people flee wars in Syria and Afghanistan… except that these refugees in 1945 are trying to get back to their homes, not move to a foreign country. But the images of long lines of walkers along the railway tracks are the same…
The trio are Owen, a Brit who wakes up in a field with no memory, Janek a young Czech searching for his brother, and Irena a Pole with a young child and a story. First Owen is joined by Janek, and then Irena, as they trek through Germany – Owen on his way home, the others we are not quite sure where they are going. Owen when we first meet him has no memory – this gradually returns over the course of the book, as he begins to recall details of a love affair. His lack of memory is disorientating – and very scary. They walk for weeks before ending up in an allied camp near Celle in northern Germany. Their experiences along the route are harrowing and distressing.
Devastation Road is a book about the resilience and fortitude of the human state – how people survive against all their odds.
It is book I thoroughly recommend. It will certainly make you think about what is happening today on mainland Europe.
This review first appeared on our blog, where we also talk to the author about writing, his book and research and the refugee crisis now and then: http://www.tripfiction.com/novel-set-...
July 8, 2017
A lyrical and cinematic story of memory, redemption and the importance of belonging
Jason Hewitt's latest book tells the tale of Owen who in Spring 1945 wakes in a field in a country he does not know injured and suffering memory loss. He sets out on a moving trek in search of his home, his past and himself.
Hewitt's style makes you feel like you are watching a film. His language and imagery express deep personal emotion in a way rarely seen in writers and his writing is rightly compared with Pat Barker and Sebastian Faulks.
A book that will stay with you as it builds to a powerful finale.
One of the best novels I've read this year.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
Jason Hewitt's latest book tells the tale of Owen who in Spring 1945 wakes in a field in a country he does not know injured and suffering memory loss. He sets out on a moving trek in search of his home, his past and himself.
Hewitt's style makes you feel like you are watching a film. His language and imagery express deep personal emotion in a way rarely seen in writers and his writing is rightly compared with Pat Barker and Sebastian Faulks.
A book that will stay with you as it builds to a powerful finale.
One of the best novels I've read this year.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, for review.
August 20, 2018
I will read anything by Hewitt. I loved the Dynamite Room. His writing is concise, lyrical and true. The cover of the paperback, however, is s shame. That tag line does a disservice to the literary level of the book and makes it look mass market. Poor choice.
October 12, 2017
At the end of the war in 1945 a young Czech boy saves the life of an English soldier with no name. They are joined by Polish woman with a baby as they, and thousands of other refugees head on foot for Leipzig. They have been imprisoned in concentration camps, Hewitt basing the most abhorrent of these on Belsen. They walk for weeks and end up at an allied camp at Celle in Germany. Hewitt' powerful story tells of their trek and its hardships and their gradual resettlement into a type of society that is the field hospital in Celle.
As with the many excellent books about the Second World War this is a harrowing read, but the author chooses to concentrate less on the horrors of the war and more on the relationships between the key characters, Owen, Janek and Irena, and the problems they encounter as they try to reintegrate.
As with the many excellent books about the Second World War this is a harrowing read, but the author chooses to concentrate less on the horrors of the war and more on the relationships between the key characters, Owen, Janek and Irena, and the problems they encounter as they try to reintegrate.
August 6, 2015
Devastation Road is the story of Owen, who wakes up in a field, wearing ill-fitting clothes, not knowing who or where he is. His initial thoughts are that he is somewhere in Hampshire and soon his father or brother will stumble across him lying there but it soon becomes clear that Owen is a long way from home.
As Owen begins to walk he stumbles across the wreckage of a train full of debris and bodies which only seems to fuel his hopelessness but luckily he meets a Czechoslovakian boy called Janek who gives him some food and they set out together. They soon stumble upon a young girl named Irena who is trying to give away her baby and she joins them. As they travel along they encounter refugees, soldiers and all the horrors of the war but they desperately try to stay together until they reach Liepzig where they've heard American soldiers are based.
This is a beautifully written book and the detailed descriptions are so vivid you can almost picture yourself there and whilst the atrocities of war are visible they are not revelled in. Owen's back story is dexterously revealed through snatches of memories he has throughout his journey and coupled with Janek's untranslated narrative it enabled me to feel more empathy for him as you could understand why he was so bewildered.
With kind thanks to the author Jason Hewitt for the review copy.
As Owen begins to walk he stumbles across the wreckage of a train full of debris and bodies which only seems to fuel his hopelessness but luckily he meets a Czechoslovakian boy called Janek who gives him some food and they set out together. They soon stumble upon a young girl named Irena who is trying to give away her baby and she joins them. As they travel along they encounter refugees, soldiers and all the horrors of the war but they desperately try to stay together until they reach Liepzig where they've heard American soldiers are based.
This is a beautifully written book and the detailed descriptions are so vivid you can almost picture yourself there and whilst the atrocities of war are visible they are not revelled in. Owen's back story is dexterously revealed through snatches of memories he has throughout his journey and coupled with Janek's untranslated narrative it enabled me to feel more empathy for him as you could understand why he was so bewildered.
With kind thanks to the author Jason Hewitt for the review copy.
January 13, 2020
Devastation Road by Jason Hewit
Synopsis: Owen wakes up in a field in an unknown Country, with only snippets of his memory returning. Once he's able to, he begins to walk setting out to reclaim his memories and return home. When Owen meets a young boy, he's informed it's 1945 and a war is ongoing...Owen and the boy travel the rest of the way together, meeting a troubled young woman on the way. It's obvious that everyone's hiding something, will everyones secrets come to light?
Review: Beatifully written, heart breaking and thought provoking. The story is told between Owen's present day and his flashbacks before the war. I felt the build up was too slow and predictable, it could have been a much shorter book. I had to stop reading constantly and translate sentences. It wasn't until 3/4 in, that the english translation was included, after the spoken sentence. Not my typical genre, I picked it up at a Little Free Library based on the cover, I almost DNF it however, I needed to know how it ended.
2.5/5 🌟
Synopsis: Owen wakes up in a field in an unknown Country, with only snippets of his memory returning. Once he's able to, he begins to walk setting out to reclaim his memories and return home. When Owen meets a young boy, he's informed it's 1945 and a war is ongoing...Owen and the boy travel the rest of the way together, meeting a troubled young woman on the way. It's obvious that everyone's hiding something, will everyones secrets come to light?
Review: Beatifully written, heart breaking and thought provoking. The story is told between Owen's present day and his flashbacks before the war. I felt the build up was too slow and predictable, it could have been a much shorter book. I had to stop reading constantly and translate sentences. It wasn't until 3/4 in, that the english translation was included, after the spoken sentence. Not my typical genre, I picked it up at a Little Free Library based on the cover, I almost DNF it however, I needed to know how it ended.
2.5/5 🌟
February 29, 2024
This was a re-read. I first read this many years ago and I found myself falling in love with it all again. Devastation Road is a triumph. An epic tale of a journey across Europe in the last months of World War II, following an aircraft engineer (Owen) who has woken up in a field and not being able to remember where he is or what has happened. Throughout his journey he meets a Czech boy of about 15 years old called Janek and a women with a baby, originally thought to be named Irena. A tale of fragmented memories, fragile relationships, as well as love and betrayal, you will not regret picking up this book. I personally believe that Jason Hewitt is an underrated writer in the genre of historical fiction. I wish he had written more novels after his second - 'The Dynamite Room', which is also a masterpiece.
Also, the author's note at the end is very well worth the read.
Also, the author's note at the end is very well worth the read.
July 2, 2017
Finished reading: July 1st 2017
"Strange how memories were breaking through as if he'd slipped under ice and now there were patches of it starting to melt so he could see snippets of the life he once had on the surface. Just when he thought his memory was improving, just when he thought he could retain the events of a day, something always disappeared in turn."
*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Little, Brown and Company in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***
P.S. Find more of my reviews here.
November 18, 2017
Hewitt's beautiful prose surrounds this tale of an injured RAF soldier at the tail end of World War II. Owen can't remember much of what has happened to him, but he is determined to find his way home to England and the woman he loves. Rescued by Janek, he begins a journey through the devastated countries of Europe. When a young girl, Irena, and her baby join them, the travelers struggle with inner and outer demons as they confront the horrific aftermath of the conflict. A tale that will claw at your heart, Devastation Road reminds us that war is hell on and off the battlefield.
August 25, 2017
The protagonist, known only to himself as Owen, is one among many at the end of World War II: lost, injured, confused, and at risk. As he tries to find his way back to England (he knows that much) he falls in with other dispossessed people, and gradually remembers his war. His impulse to travel eastward, not sensible, is explained as he regains his memory (or the travel spurs its recovery). His journey reveals much about the war's effects own ordinary people, and is moving.
February 7, 2018
A good author writes a story you can place yourself in. A great author writes a story you can't escape from. This a haunting, heart-breaking and unforgettable historical novel. It brings to light, not only the devastation of war itself, but what happens to the people after and how little has changed in the years since WWII in regards to the plight and struggle of refugees.
September 20, 2016
Devastation Road, by Jason Hewitt, is a harrowing yet sympathetically told story of one man’s experience of war and the terrible cost of such conflicts on all involved. It opens with the protagonist waking up in a field with no memory of who he is or how he got there. He is injured but knows not how. The clothes he is wearing do not seem to fit and he carries no means of identification. As hazy memories of home life in Hampshire flit in and out of his aching head he stands up and starts to walk. He joins the tens of thousands of other displaced persons in a Europe torn apart.
The man remembers that he is called Owen, that he worked as an aircraft designer and has a brother named Max. He comes across the bloated bodies of the dead, ransacked homes, and then a teenage boy named Janek who offers him food. Janek is a Czech and they struggle to communicate as neither speaks the other’s language. In amongst the muddle of thoughts and images that come and go, Owen decides he must travel to a place called Sagan, and it seems that Janek will help him to get there.
At Sagan they find a camp that triggers further memories, although it is all but deserted. Both Owen and Janek wish to find their brothers so they decide to head north and west. On the road they meet a girl carrying an infant she is trying to give away. Events unfold and she joins them. Irena speaks several languages so communication is easier, but she offers little about herself.
While travelling towards Leipzig the three learn that Hitler is dead and the war ended. They arrive at the city and view the destruction wrought to achieve this result. Owen wishes to return to England, but Janek and Irena demand that he help them. After all that they have been through his loyalties are torn.
Much has been written about the Second World War. This story keeps the conflict as a backdrop exploring the personal impact on just a few of the people whose lives have been irrevocably altered, who have lost everything they owned and become separated from those they love. In the destruction and confusion it is not always clear who has survived or where they might now be. By focusing on these three individuals amongst the flood of refugees pouring through a ravaged continent it becomes possible to empathise with the reactions to this vast, man made disaster, and to better understand why so many dreadful, smaller events took place.
There is no shirking from the individual barbarisms war can create. In places it is distressing to read but the author avoids judgement, offering up all nationalities as casualties. The anger and desperation of the survivors, the cruelties but also the kindnesses are well evoked. The writing is succinct yet conveys what Owen is suffering with sensitivity. Each of the trio is damaged by their experiences, and their actions, even when horrific, are presented with compassion. Given the refugee situation in Europe today it offers much to ponder.
I was deeply moved by this book yet it is not written to tug on the heart strings. The skill of the author in bringing to life a known history in such a personal way is to be lauded. We need stories like this to ensure that our capacity to empathise is not overloaded by the sheer number and scale of the disasters still happening around the world. The people suffering are individuals, just like us. If we would expect help in their situation, we should be offering it to them.
My copy of this book was provided gratis by the publisher, Scribner.
The man remembers that he is called Owen, that he worked as an aircraft designer and has a brother named Max. He comes across the bloated bodies of the dead, ransacked homes, and then a teenage boy named Janek who offers him food. Janek is a Czech and they struggle to communicate as neither speaks the other’s language. In amongst the muddle of thoughts and images that come and go, Owen decides he must travel to a place called Sagan, and it seems that Janek will help him to get there.
At Sagan they find a camp that triggers further memories, although it is all but deserted. Both Owen and Janek wish to find their brothers so they decide to head north and west. On the road they meet a girl carrying an infant she is trying to give away. Events unfold and she joins them. Irena speaks several languages so communication is easier, but she offers little about herself.
While travelling towards Leipzig the three learn that Hitler is dead and the war ended. They arrive at the city and view the destruction wrought to achieve this result. Owen wishes to return to England, but Janek and Irena demand that he help them. After all that they have been through his loyalties are torn.
Much has been written about the Second World War. This story keeps the conflict as a backdrop exploring the personal impact on just a few of the people whose lives have been irrevocably altered, who have lost everything they owned and become separated from those they love. In the destruction and confusion it is not always clear who has survived or where they might now be. By focusing on these three individuals amongst the flood of refugees pouring through a ravaged continent it becomes possible to empathise with the reactions to this vast, man made disaster, and to better understand why so many dreadful, smaller events took place.
There is no shirking from the individual barbarisms war can create. In places it is distressing to read but the author avoids judgement, offering up all nationalities as casualties. The anger and desperation of the survivors, the cruelties but also the kindnesses are well evoked. The writing is succinct yet conveys what Owen is suffering with sensitivity. Each of the trio is damaged by their experiences, and their actions, even when horrific, are presented with compassion. Given the refugee situation in Europe today it offers much to ponder.
I was deeply moved by this book yet it is not written to tug on the heart strings. The skill of the author in bringing to life a known history in such a personal way is to be lauded. We need stories like this to ensure that our capacity to empathise is not overloaded by the sheer number and scale of the disasters still happening around the world. The people suffering are individuals, just like us. If we would expect help in their situation, we should be offering it to them.
My copy of this book was provided gratis by the publisher, Scribner.
July 23, 2015
Devastation Road - A deeply compelling and poignant story
Devastation Road by Jason Hewitt is one of the most deeply compelling and poignant stories of the year that will touch you and leaves you asking is redemption possible. The prose is so well written as you read it feels like you are watching a movie of the book, the imagery is so powerful, the characterisation so strong, you could be in the midst of Europe at the end of war.
Owen wakes up in the middle of a field in April 1945 and he thinks he is somewhere in Hampshire, when in fact he is in Czechoslovakia, and he only finds this out when Janek comes to his rescue. Owen’s memory is fractured and he has bits of memory of who he is and wants to get home. He at first gets up and begins to walk in the direction of what he thinks is home and it is when the young Czechoslovakian Janek comes across him they begin their search for home and brothers together.
As they begin their walk they find they are not the only people walking as everyone seems to be on the roads carrying their worldly possessions. As they walk they come across Irene who tries to abandon her baby and as Owen carries the child she follows at a distance. Avoiding the Russians who seem to rampaging across Czechoslovakia they try and avoid being caught up and split up.
While they are walking and resting we see the fragments of memory Owen has as he tries to work out how and why he is looking for his brother Max. We also see the back story between Owen, his brother and a woman called Connie but the picture just is not clear enough for him. It is at the end when all the memories really start to fall in to place he can truly see the full picture before he goes home.
Throughout the book we get a view of what it was like in April and May 1945 as refugees and displaced persons wandered across Europe trying to find home, if they had a home and family left. Like Owen’s mind the whole of mainland Europe is fractured and trying to find their way home, and looking for redemption at the same time.
Devastation Road will be especially poignant for those families such as mine that were fractured during the war, being from a Polish family some of this is very familiar to me. I have heard the stories of part of my family being displaced persons, others in ‘exile’ in Siberia while my Grandfather was fighting to liberate Europe.
Devastation Road describes three people’s search for redemption that takes them many miles and for Owen will take him full circle. There is a stop off point at a camp which is Bergen-Belson and some descriptions of the problems the medics were having there before Owen is finally moved to a British Military Zone.
Jason Hewitt has written an absorbing deeply compelling and poignant story that at times will touch you. He has posed a number of questions such as is redemption possible, where do we belong and who are we? This is a superb read, reminded me of Birdsong even if a different conflict, but Hewitt writes so poetically and delicately you can only enjoy this excellent book.
Devastation Road by Jason Hewitt is one of the most deeply compelling and poignant stories of the year that will touch you and leaves you asking is redemption possible. The prose is so well written as you read it feels like you are watching a movie of the book, the imagery is so powerful, the characterisation so strong, you could be in the midst of Europe at the end of war.
Owen wakes up in the middle of a field in April 1945 and he thinks he is somewhere in Hampshire, when in fact he is in Czechoslovakia, and he only finds this out when Janek comes to his rescue. Owen’s memory is fractured and he has bits of memory of who he is and wants to get home. He at first gets up and begins to walk in the direction of what he thinks is home and it is when the young Czechoslovakian Janek comes across him they begin their search for home and brothers together.
As they begin their walk they find they are not the only people walking as everyone seems to be on the roads carrying their worldly possessions. As they walk they come across Irene who tries to abandon her baby and as Owen carries the child she follows at a distance. Avoiding the Russians who seem to rampaging across Czechoslovakia they try and avoid being caught up and split up.
While they are walking and resting we see the fragments of memory Owen has as he tries to work out how and why he is looking for his brother Max. We also see the back story between Owen, his brother and a woman called Connie but the picture just is not clear enough for him. It is at the end when all the memories really start to fall in to place he can truly see the full picture before he goes home.
Throughout the book we get a view of what it was like in April and May 1945 as refugees and displaced persons wandered across Europe trying to find home, if they had a home and family left. Like Owen’s mind the whole of mainland Europe is fractured and trying to find their way home, and looking for redemption at the same time.
Devastation Road will be especially poignant for those families such as mine that were fractured during the war, being from a Polish family some of this is very familiar to me. I have heard the stories of part of my family being displaced persons, others in ‘exile’ in Siberia while my Grandfather was fighting to liberate Europe.
Devastation Road describes three people’s search for redemption that takes them many miles and for Owen will take him full circle. There is a stop off point at a camp which is Bergen-Belson and some descriptions of the problems the medics were having there before Owen is finally moved to a British Military Zone.
Jason Hewitt has written an absorbing deeply compelling and poignant story that at times will touch you. He has posed a number of questions such as is redemption possible, where do we belong and who are we? This is a superb read, reminded me of Birdsong even if a different conflict, but Hewitt writes so poetically and delicately you can only enjoy this excellent book.
January 9, 2017
‘”The war might as well still be raging for all the good the peace is doing us”’
A moving story about the catastrophic impact of war told through three different perspectives, Devastation Road is poignant, wonderfully written and a stark reminder that peace does not necessarily bring with it an end to suffering.
When Owen wakes in a field in Germany in 1945 with no memory of where or who he is, he has to make his way across the country in order to get home. Along the way, he meets Janek and Irena and this unlikely group of disparate people, each with their own unique and moving experience of the war, forge together to make their way home and rebuild their lives.
Devastation Road has an air of mystery about it as we are drip fed information about Owen when parts of his memory slowly come back to him. Hewitt’s portrayal of Owen’s memory loss is incredibly effective, giving the reader the experience of how it would really feel to lose this function, the confusion it causes and its impact which goes way beyond anything I could have imagined. The vague snippets of memories that come back to him that he can’t fully make sense of and then forgetting them again the next day, make piecing his life back together incredibly difficult.
Each of the three characters has their own story to tell and their own methods of survival. While not always liking the decisions they have made and the action they have taken, you cannot help but feel for them and understand their behaviour in this most extreme of times when survival becomes everything. They are all victims of the war and in many senses peace time will be just as dangerous for them.
The real beauty of this book, for me, is its exploration of the impact of war. Although historical fiction, Devastation Road has an authenticity about it showing that Hewitt has clearly researched his subject. His descriptions give a real sense of place and surrounding, with the reader being transported to Germany during this tumultuous time. Peace time has arrived and yet lives are still in turmoil and danger is not over. While our views and ideas of the end of the Second World War are often one of jubilation and celebration, this was not the reality for the majority of people. Lives and homes devastated, displacement and the uncertainty about the safety of loved ones are all explored and portrayed gently and sensitively. Hewitt accurately describes how human lives become worthless during war time making this an emotional read.
Heart-breaking, gripping and wonderfully written, Devastation Road is a gorgeous novel and a fantastic piece of historical fiction. A tale of unlikely friendships, loss and the lengths people go to in order to stay alive that will move you deeply. Highly recommended.
A huge thank you to Jason Hewitt and Scribner for my copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
A moving story about the catastrophic impact of war told through three different perspectives, Devastation Road is poignant, wonderfully written and a stark reminder that peace does not necessarily bring with it an end to suffering.
When Owen wakes in a field in Germany in 1945 with no memory of where or who he is, he has to make his way across the country in order to get home. Along the way, he meets Janek and Irena and this unlikely group of disparate people, each with their own unique and moving experience of the war, forge together to make their way home and rebuild their lives.
Devastation Road has an air of mystery about it as we are drip fed information about Owen when parts of his memory slowly come back to him. Hewitt’s portrayal of Owen’s memory loss is incredibly effective, giving the reader the experience of how it would really feel to lose this function, the confusion it causes and its impact which goes way beyond anything I could have imagined. The vague snippets of memories that come back to him that he can’t fully make sense of and then forgetting them again the next day, make piecing his life back together incredibly difficult.
Each of the three characters has their own story to tell and their own methods of survival. While not always liking the decisions they have made and the action they have taken, you cannot help but feel for them and understand their behaviour in this most extreme of times when survival becomes everything. They are all victims of the war and in many senses peace time will be just as dangerous for them.
The real beauty of this book, for me, is its exploration of the impact of war. Although historical fiction, Devastation Road has an authenticity about it showing that Hewitt has clearly researched his subject. His descriptions give a real sense of place and surrounding, with the reader being transported to Germany during this tumultuous time. Peace time has arrived and yet lives are still in turmoil and danger is not over. While our views and ideas of the end of the Second World War are often one of jubilation and celebration, this was not the reality for the majority of people. Lives and homes devastated, displacement and the uncertainty about the safety of loved ones are all explored and portrayed gently and sensitively. Hewitt accurately describes how human lives become worthless during war time making this an emotional read.
Heart-breaking, gripping and wonderfully written, Devastation Road is a gorgeous novel and a fantastic piece of historical fiction. A tale of unlikely friendships, loss and the lengths people go to in order to stay alive that will move you deeply. Highly recommended.
A huge thank you to Jason Hewitt and Scribner for my copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
November 30, 2015
What a haunting and thought provoking read this is. Like the cover, the whole book is atmospheric and seems written in monochrome, overlaid with a layer of gery dust which obscures memories.
The main protagonist, Owen finds himself in a field near a river. Confused and injured he struggles to his feet and begins walking, to where, he doesn't know, any more than where he has come from or how he got there. His memories are clouded and distant he's not even sure of his own name. It's clear war has ravaged this country but he doesn't even know what country he is in. Did he take part in the war, was he wounded in battle?
His journey brings him in contact with more devastation, fleeing refugees, one of whom, a boy named Janek, joins him despite neither speaking the same language they rub along together, company for each other in this drab and dangerous grey landscape. As he walks memories begin to surface like pieces of shrapnel beneath the skin, but as soon as he tries to grasp them they are gone and he starts to make notes to aid his memory. It's clear he is suffering from some form of amnesia but what horrors is his mind blocking that can be worse then the sights he sees on the road? When a young girl with a baby cross paths with them the dynamics of this pairs journey change.
The writing is poetic, the descriptions bleak, with an impending sense of apocalyptic doom. It's so easy to get swept up in the dreariness of the scene unfolding, yet the characters are compelling and engaging and you just long to know Owens past, what will happen to Janek and Irini and the little man with no name.
When the secrets from the past begin to unfold they're not quite what I expected nor wanted for the hapless group of travellers, some of the scenes are mind numbing and past events unpredictable.
This is a world war 2 novel that reads like a scene from a horrifying future, it's timeless but contains memories you want to leave firmly in the past, yet there are glimmers of hope and redemption and right at the end one large tear rolled down my cheek and I let out a sigh of satisfaction which only follows a damn good read.
My thanks to the author Jason Hewitt for kindly providing me with a copy of his super new book in exchange for sharing my review. It's been a pleasure.
The main protagonist, Owen finds himself in a field near a river. Confused and injured he struggles to his feet and begins walking, to where, he doesn't know, any more than where he has come from or how he got there. His memories are clouded and distant he's not even sure of his own name. It's clear war has ravaged this country but he doesn't even know what country he is in. Did he take part in the war, was he wounded in battle?
His journey brings him in contact with more devastation, fleeing refugees, one of whom, a boy named Janek, joins him despite neither speaking the same language they rub along together, company for each other in this drab and dangerous grey landscape. As he walks memories begin to surface like pieces of shrapnel beneath the skin, but as soon as he tries to grasp them they are gone and he starts to make notes to aid his memory. It's clear he is suffering from some form of amnesia but what horrors is his mind blocking that can be worse then the sights he sees on the road? When a young girl with a baby cross paths with them the dynamics of this pairs journey change.
The writing is poetic, the descriptions bleak, with an impending sense of apocalyptic doom. It's so easy to get swept up in the dreariness of the scene unfolding, yet the characters are compelling and engaging and you just long to know Owens past, what will happen to Janek and Irini and the little man with no name.
When the secrets from the past begin to unfold they're not quite what I expected nor wanted for the hapless group of travellers, some of the scenes are mind numbing and past events unpredictable.
This is a world war 2 novel that reads like a scene from a horrifying future, it's timeless but contains memories you want to leave firmly in the past, yet there are glimmers of hope and redemption and right at the end one large tear rolled down my cheek and I let out a sigh of satisfaction which only follows a damn good read.
My thanks to the author Jason Hewitt for kindly providing me with a copy of his super new book in exchange for sharing my review. It's been a pleasure.
July 24, 2018
Picked at random from the library. The cover praise made this tale of one man's flight at the end of the second world war rather compelling.
Our Man is Owen - he wakes in a field in Eastern Europe and this is the crux - he has lost his memory and can't quite work out where he is. This presented a major problem to me - the start of the book was repetitive and very slow, as a result of Owen's ground hog day experiences. It failed to pull me in and unfortunately (and despite being very well written) this remained for the rest of the book.
He joins forces with Janek, a young Czech Lad, improbably a baby and a young women. As they make their way across war torn Europe, meeting the camps, the story comes together and we learn more of Owen, how he got to where he is and the demons that he is fighting from his personal life.
A slow, haunting and complex read that never delivered the heights of say a Sebastian Faulks book which this is sometimes compared to.
Our Man is Owen - he wakes in a field in Eastern Europe and this is the crux - he has lost his memory and can't quite work out where he is. This presented a major problem to me - the start of the book was repetitive and very slow, as a result of Owen's ground hog day experiences. It failed to pull me in and unfortunately (and despite being very well written) this remained for the rest of the book.
He joins forces with Janek, a young Czech Lad, improbably a baby and a young women. As they make their way across war torn Europe, meeting the camps, the story comes together and we learn more of Owen, how he got to where he is and the demons that he is fighting from his personal life.
A slow, haunting and complex read that never delivered the heights of say a Sebastian Faulks book which this is sometimes compared to.
October 2, 2017
I am normally a fan of WWII stories but this book rather dragged for me. Owen awakens lost and clueless in a field, injured and with no memory of how or why. Joining thousands of refugees on the road to nowhere, he attempts to piece his former life together once he begins to realize that a war must have occurred and now it is over. A young woman with a baby she doesn't want and an even younger man grieving for a lost brother become Owen's traveling companions.
Once we have our main characters in place, the story follows them as questions are slowly, slowly answered. Yes, this was a terrible time with millions of personal tragedies, but literally plodding along with just one of them should have brought it to a more personal level. By the last 100 pages or so, I just longed for the outcome.
Once we have our main characters in place, the story follows them as questions are slowly, slowly answered. Yes, this was a terrible time with millions of personal tragedies, but literally plodding along with just one of them should have brought it to a more personal level. By the last 100 pages or so, I just longed for the outcome.
February 1, 2017
There have been so many books about WWII and war in general, but Hewitt has captured the rawness of survival in his book. Such original characters you could not help but relate to. We all know about the horrors of war, but this tale of survival in the aftermath brings light to the truth that war is indeed hell. THE DYNAMITE ROOM was a favorite, showing what a talented storyteller Hewitt is; and he has indeed out-written himself with DEVASTATION ROAD. This book is just as well written as ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE, telling the tale of war's effects on civilians as well as soldiers. Very powerful. Very honest.
July 29, 2015
A no spoilers review of a brilliant read here https://lindasbookbag.wordpress.com/2...
August 15, 2016
Devastation Road IS one of THOSE books
This IS one of THOSE reviews
I received my copy of Devastation Road from Schribner and swiftly pushed it up my TBR pile. I have really been looking forward to it for many reasons but mainly after reading the following:
‘Perfect for fans of Rose Tremain and Sebastian Faulk’s Birdsong’
Birdsong is possibly one of my all time greats, so Devastation Road had a lot to live up to in my eyes!! Also, I have recently read, LOVED and reviewed The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain.
No pressure then Jason!!
Read on to see my thoughts….
‘Spring, 1945: A man wakes in a field in a country he does not know. Injured and confused, he pulls himself to his feet and starts to walk, and so sets out on an extraordinary journey in search of his home, his past and himself.
His name is Owen. A war he has only a vague memory of joining is in its dying days, and as he tries to get back to England he becomes caught up in the flood of refugees pouring through Europe. Among them is a teenage boy, Janek, and together they form an unlikely alliance as they cross battle-worn Germany.
When they meet a troubled young woman, tempers flare and scars are revealed as Owen gathers up the shattered pieces of his life.
No one is as he remembers, not even himself – how can he truly return home when he hardly recalls what home is?’
‘He lay there trying to recall a house, a room, a bed, a warm arm wrapped around him, but in the thickness of the night – in his own private darkness – there was nothing there.’
Owen Thomas wakes up in a field. He is confused, wearing strange clothes and in pain. What follows is his journey as he tries to sort out where he comes from and where he is travelling to.
At the beginning it took me a few pages to gain perspective on the angle Jason Hewitt was taking with his approach. And wow does it work!! The repetition of Owen’s actions as his memory is faltering is reminiscent of Groundhog Day and is portrayed so tenderly in the writing. I put the book down, turned to my other half with the comment ‘You are going to like this one!’
Owen initially meets up with Janek Sokol, a young Czechoslovakian boy of approximately 15 years of age. Janek has very limited English but between them, a tentative relationship blossoms. Janek is searching for his older brother Petr, a resistance/revolutionary fighter that Janek idolizes.
Owen, with only fragments of memories returning, begins a journey though a war torn Europe with Janek by his side. They pass horrendous scenes of death and destruction. They see people with the contents of their lives dragging along behind them, bodies weary with exhaustion and with terror in their faces.
One of these faces belongs to Irena.
Irena recounts her horror story to Owen. Janek, very distrustful of her, is not favourable to Irena joining them on their journey, but with gentle persuasion from Owen, she does. The three continue their journey, with eyes open and alert to the devastation around them.
As time passes, snippets of another life back home come back to Owen. He has flashbacks of being in some way involved in the war effort, of his brother Max and of a woman.
His memories of how he came to be in the field are vague and confused.
‘Two gunshots and then a third, and he woke. Before that just the sense of him being dragged through his sleep, hands at the back of his collar, somene hauling him through the dark.’
Eventually, the three somehow manage to reach a camp, that is loosely based on Belsen.
‘Janek stood, his hand to his nose and his eyes screwed up to the stench of sewage and the warm dust that filled the air’
The scenes that meet them are apocalyptic. Owen is shattered by what he sees. How did all this happen? Why can he not remember?
Soon Owen helps out in the medical facility and through Jason Hewitt’s writing it’s as though you are in the hospital ward with him. The faces, the stench, the horror….all there.
‘As he moved from bed to bed, he tried not to look at the faces cowered beneath the sheets, many of them asleep or barely conscious, others staring at him from dim and sunken eyes. His hand reached out to give them the liquid, while inside he could feel himself pulling away. What had become of this world, he thought? Was it any wonder that lone soldiers walked out into fields and put bullets through their own heads?’
While in the camp, Owen, Janek and Irena, attempt to make sense of their lives and move on toward home.
As the novels progresses, we get an opportunity to see more of the past that each his carrying. We are brought back to the individual nightmares of Owen, Janek and Irena.
These memories, while only fictional in Devastation Road are, I’m sure, very similar to the memories that are passed on through generations today.
Devastation Road DID indeed live up to my expectations. A heartbreaking journey through a land devastated by man’s inhumanity to man. A compelling, frightening read about a time in our history that should never be forgotten or never repeated.
I highly recommend Jason Hewitt’s book and would seriously suggest you buy it.
It is a novel that will not be easily forgotten. It is a novel that will sit proudly on my bookshelves and I hope yours.
Who is Jason Hewitt?
Jason Hewitt was born in Oxford and lives in London. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and English from the University of Winchester and an MA with distinction 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 where he worked primarily as a Marketing Manager in a number of professional and academic publishers.
His debut novel The Dynamite Room published in the UK & Commonwealth in 2014, in the US/Canada and in a French translation (as Le Silence des Bombes) in 2015. His second novel Devastation Road was published by Scribner in the UK and Commonwealth in 2015 (paperback 2016) and will be published in the US/Canada in 2017.
He is also a playwright and actor. His first full-length play, Claustrophobia – produced by To the Moon, in association with Theatre Bench – premiered at Edinburgh Fringe and had a London run at The Hope Theatre in 2015.
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 was recently Writer-in-Residence at Abingdon School, has given guest lectures and workshops at a number of secondary schools and universities, and provides creative writing workshops at the British Library. He is a regular speaker at literary festivals, and is a member of the Society of Authors, and the Prime Writers, as well as being Treasurer for the Historical Writers’ Association. He is also currently Associate Lecturer for the BA Publishing Media degree at Oxford Brookes University.
This IS one of THOSE reviews
I received my copy of Devastation Road from Schribner and swiftly pushed it up my TBR pile. I have really been looking forward to it for many reasons but mainly after reading the following:
‘Perfect for fans of Rose Tremain and Sebastian Faulk’s Birdsong’
Birdsong is possibly one of my all time greats, so Devastation Road had a lot to live up to in my eyes!! Also, I have recently read, LOVED and reviewed The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain.
No pressure then Jason!!
Read on to see my thoughts….
‘Spring, 1945: A man wakes in a field in a country he does not know. Injured and confused, he pulls himself to his feet and starts to walk, and so sets out on an extraordinary journey in search of his home, his past and himself.
His name is Owen. A war he has only a vague memory of joining is in its dying days, and as he tries to get back to England he becomes caught up in the flood of refugees pouring through Europe. Among them is a teenage boy, Janek, and together they form an unlikely alliance as they cross battle-worn Germany.
When they meet a troubled young woman, tempers flare and scars are revealed as Owen gathers up the shattered pieces of his life.
No one is as he remembers, not even himself – how can he truly return home when he hardly recalls what home is?’
‘He lay there trying to recall a house, a room, a bed, a warm arm wrapped around him, but in the thickness of the night – in his own private darkness – there was nothing there.’
Owen Thomas wakes up in a field. He is confused, wearing strange clothes and in pain. What follows is his journey as he tries to sort out where he comes from and where he is travelling to.
At the beginning it took me a few pages to gain perspective on the angle Jason Hewitt was taking with his approach. And wow does it work!! The repetition of Owen’s actions as his memory is faltering is reminiscent of Groundhog Day and is portrayed so tenderly in the writing. I put the book down, turned to my other half with the comment ‘You are going to like this one!’
Owen initially meets up with Janek Sokol, a young Czechoslovakian boy of approximately 15 years of age. Janek has very limited English but between them, a tentative relationship blossoms. Janek is searching for his older brother Petr, a resistance/revolutionary fighter that Janek idolizes.
Owen, with only fragments of memories returning, begins a journey though a war torn Europe with Janek by his side. They pass horrendous scenes of death and destruction. They see people with the contents of their lives dragging along behind them, bodies weary with exhaustion and with terror in their faces.
One of these faces belongs to Irena.
Irena recounts her horror story to Owen. Janek, very distrustful of her, is not favourable to Irena joining them on their journey, but with gentle persuasion from Owen, she does. The three continue their journey, with eyes open and alert to the devastation around them.
As time passes, snippets of another life back home come back to Owen. He has flashbacks of being in some way involved in the war effort, of his brother Max and of a woman.
His memories of how he came to be in the field are vague and confused.
‘Two gunshots and then a third, and he woke. Before that just the sense of him being dragged through his sleep, hands at the back of his collar, somene hauling him through the dark.’
Eventually, the three somehow manage to reach a camp, that is loosely based on Belsen.
‘Janek stood, his hand to his nose and his eyes screwed up to the stench of sewage and the warm dust that filled the air’
The scenes that meet them are apocalyptic. Owen is shattered by what he sees. How did all this happen? Why can he not remember?
Soon Owen helps out in the medical facility and through Jason Hewitt’s writing it’s as though you are in the hospital ward with him. The faces, the stench, the horror….all there.
‘As he moved from bed to bed, he tried not to look at the faces cowered beneath the sheets, many of them asleep or barely conscious, others staring at him from dim and sunken eyes. His hand reached out to give them the liquid, while inside he could feel himself pulling away. What had become of this world, he thought? Was it any wonder that lone soldiers walked out into fields and put bullets through their own heads?’
While in the camp, Owen, Janek and Irena, attempt to make sense of their lives and move on toward home.
As the novels progresses, we get an opportunity to see more of the past that each his carrying. We are brought back to the individual nightmares of Owen, Janek and Irena.
These memories, while only fictional in Devastation Road are, I’m sure, very similar to the memories that are passed on through generations today.
Devastation Road DID indeed live up to my expectations. A heartbreaking journey through a land devastated by man’s inhumanity to man. A compelling, frightening read about a time in our history that should never be forgotten or never repeated.
I highly recommend Jason Hewitt’s book and would seriously suggest you buy it.
It is a novel that will not be easily forgotten. It is a novel that will sit proudly on my bookshelves and I hope yours.
Who is Jason Hewitt?
Jason Hewitt was born in Oxford and lives in London. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in History and English from the University of Winchester and an MA with distinction 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 where he worked primarily as a Marketing Manager in a number of professional and academic publishers.
His debut novel The Dynamite Room published in the UK & Commonwealth in 2014, in the US/Canada and in a French translation (as Le Silence des Bombes) in 2015. His second novel Devastation Road was published by Scribner in the UK and Commonwealth in 2015 (paperback 2016) and will be published in the US/Canada in 2017.
He is also a playwright and actor. His first full-length play, Claustrophobia – produced by To the Moon, in association with Theatre Bench – premiered at Edinburgh Fringe and had a London run at The Hope Theatre in 2015.
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 was recently Writer-in-Residence at Abingdon School, has given guest lectures and workshops at a number of secondary schools and universities, and provides creative writing workshops at the British Library. He is a regular speaker at literary festivals, and is a member of the Society of Authors, and the Prime Writers, as well as being Treasurer for the Historical Writers’ Association. He is also currently Associate Lecturer for the BA Publishing Media degree at Oxford Brookes University.
October 3, 2023
WWII displaced many Europeans such as Armenians, Poles, Latvians, Lithuanians, Estonians, Yugoslavs, Jews, Greeks, Russians, Ukrainians, Hungarians, Czechoslovaks and Belarusians.The Allies categorized the refugees as “displaced persons” (DPs) and assigned the responsibility for their care to the UNRRA.There were hundreds of DP facilities in Germany, Austria, Italy, and other European countries by the end of 1945.Combat operations, ethnic cleansing, and the fear of genocide uprooted millions of people from their homes over the course of the war.A majority were inmates of Nazi concentration, labour and POW camps that were freed by the Allied armies. In portions of Eastern Europe, both civilians and military personnel fled their home countries in fear of advancing Soviet armies, who were preceded by widespread reports of mass rape, pillaging, looting, and murder.As the war ended, these people found themselves facing an uncertain future. Allied military and civilian authorities faced considerable challenges resettling them. Since the reasons for displacement varied considerably, the SHAEF classified individuals into several categories:evacuees, war or political refugees, political prisoners, forced or voluntary workers, Organisation Todt workers, former forces under German command, deportees, intruded persons, extruded persons, civilian internees, ex-prisoners of war, and stateless persons.In addition, displaced persons came from every country that had been invaded and/or occupied by German forces. Many DPs couldn't go back to their nations of origin because either borders changed to place the location in new countries,and due to persecution or retribution.An unknown number of displaced persons rejected by authorities were left to find their own means of survival.All displaced persons had experienced trauma, and many had serious health conditions.They were often distrustful and apprehensive of authorities and everyone in general.The immediate concern was to provide them with shelter, nutrition and basic health care.Displaced persons often moved from camp to camp, looking for family, countrymen, or better food and accommodation.
April 18, 2018
Although this started off as a night time read it is much more than that. Taken a while to read it as wanted to absorb each sub chapter especially from about mid way through.
The real strength of the book is in the writing particularly in the way Owen's gradual memory return is handled.
It lives up in the most part to the 'blurb' praise too in being atmospheric, subtle and lyrical with diverse characters.
It also raises interesting points such as Irena's experiences to remind us of how it looked from other perspectives.
Also despite comments seen its not a blatant anti war novel. It would be more accurate to see it as making the point that such social breakdown allows humans in petty squabbles etc to act with a weakened moral code.
The ending for Owen is to my mind appropriately moving with just a little uncertainty left about closure with Max. Outcomes for Irena was unexpected and for Janek avoided a cliche ending.
That said the rating for the book is 4.5 just missing out on a 5 star as several of the key acts such as the house shooting which ultimately led to the little over the top Janek denouement particularly and Irena's final actions felt a little forced and convienent.
Owen could also have mitigated some of this if he acted just a little quicker and voiced concerns earlier......
So 4.5 rating driven by quality of the writing rather than character involvement. Whilst you are drawn to Owen there is less draw to either Janek or Irena.
I will look to read other books by this author too.........
The real strength of the book is in the writing particularly in the way Owen's gradual memory return is handled.
It lives up in the most part to the 'blurb' praise too in being atmospheric, subtle and lyrical with diverse characters.
It also raises interesting points such as Irena's experiences to remind us of how it looked from other perspectives.
Also despite comments seen its not a blatant anti war novel. It would be more accurate to see it as making the point that such social breakdown allows humans in petty squabbles etc to act with a weakened moral code.
The ending for Owen is to my mind appropriately moving with just a little uncertainty left about closure with Max. Outcomes for Irena was unexpected and for Janek avoided a cliche ending.
That said the rating for the book is 4.5 just missing out on a 5 star as several of the key acts such as the house shooting which ultimately led to the little over the top Janek denouement particularly and Irena's final actions felt a little forced and convienent.
Owen could also have mitigated some of this if he acted just a little quicker and voiced concerns earlier......
So 4.5 rating driven by quality of the writing rather than character involvement. Whilst you are drawn to Owen there is less draw to either Janek or Irena.
I will look to read other books by this author too.........
August 16, 2025
This is a brilliant, beautifully written novel. The language is poetic, the storyline tragic, yet not without poignant hope. It makes this whole novel sing - quite a work of art.
A man wakes up in a field with a head trauma and no memory of what has happened to him, not even what place or country he is in. He has been rescued by a young Czech teenager Janek, who decides to travel with him through Germany in the dying stages of the war, in Spring 1945. He tries to get back to England where he remembers he belongs and to the woman he remembers he loves. On his journey back he unconsciously visits the last place he saw his brother Max alive, wanting to know what happened to him after their plane was shot down and also wanting to apologise to him to relieve his own deep guilt.
Before long Owen and the teenager are joined on their journey by a young disturbed woman with a baby who shadows them, Irena. Both these two young people turn out to be more trouble than they are worth as the protagonist, Owen slowly pieces back together the memory of his life.
The story is quite complex and slow burning, part dreams, part forgotten memories and part present events. I had to reread the last several pages of the book to work out exactly what had happened as the book goes back and forward in Owen's life in snatches of dreams, events and memories.
I absolutely loved this intensely moving book with its characters richly drawn drawing me into their story like I was a part of it, even though it left me wanting to cry.
A man wakes up in a field with a head trauma and no memory of what has happened to him, not even what place or country he is in. He has been rescued by a young Czech teenager Janek, who decides to travel with him through Germany in the dying stages of the war, in Spring 1945. He tries to get back to England where he remembers he belongs and to the woman he remembers he loves. On his journey back he unconsciously visits the last place he saw his brother Max alive, wanting to know what happened to him after their plane was shot down and also wanting to apologise to him to relieve his own deep guilt.
Before long Owen and the teenager are joined on their journey by a young disturbed woman with a baby who shadows them, Irena. Both these two young people turn out to be more trouble than they are worth as the protagonist, Owen slowly pieces back together the memory of his life.
The story is quite complex and slow burning, part dreams, part forgotten memories and part present events. I had to reread the last several pages of the book to work out exactly what had happened as the book goes back and forward in Owen's life in snatches of dreams, events and memories.
I absolutely loved this intensely moving book with its characters richly drawn drawing me into their story like I was a part of it, even though it left me wanting to cry.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews