What do you think?
Rate this book
Dulce et Decorum Est
This title is part of the 2010 Advent Calendar: Naughty or Nice
The First World War cast a long shadow, and in the winter of 1920, it's still at its darkest. When solicitor's clerk George Johnson moves into new digs, he's instantly attracted to friendly fellow lodger Matthew Connaught, who lost an arm in the Great War. As the two become inseparable, George begins to wonder whether it's just friendship that Matthew feels for him or something more. And if it's something more... can George risk a revelation of his shameful past?
The First World War cast a long shadow, and in the winter of 1920, it's still at its darkest. When solicitor's clerk George Johnson moves into new digs, he's instantly attracted to friendly fellow lodger Matthew Connaught, who lost an arm in the Great War. As the two become inseparable, George begins to wonder whether it's just friendship that Matthew feels for him or something more. And if it's something more... can George risk a revelation of his shameful past?
74 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2010
3 people are currently reading
142 people want to read
About the author
J.L. Merrow
145 books1,324 followersJL Merrow is that rare beast, an English person who refuses to drink tea. She read Natural Sciences at Cambridge, where she learned many things, chief amongst which was that she never wanted to see the inside of a lab ever again. Her one regret is that she never mastered the ability of punting one-handed whilst holding a glass of champagne.
She writes across genres, with a preference for contemporary gay romance and the paranormal, and is frequently accused of humour. Her novella Muscling Through was a 2013 EPIC Award finalist, and her novel Slam! won the 2013 Rainbow Award for Best LGBT Romantic Comedy. Her novel Relief Valve is a finalist in the 2015 EPIC Awards.
JL Merrow is a member of the UK GLBTQ Fiction Meet organising team.
Find JL Merrow online at: www.jlmerrow.com, on Twitter as @jlmerrow, and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/jl.merrow
She writes across genres, with a preference for contemporary gay romance and the paranormal, and is frequently accused of humour. Her novella Muscling Through was a 2013 EPIC Award finalist, and her novel Slam! won the 2013 Rainbow Award for Best LGBT Romantic Comedy. Her novel Relief Valve is a finalist in the 2015 EPIC Awards.
JL Merrow is a member of the UK GLBTQ Fiction Meet organising team.
Find JL Merrow online at: www.jlmerrow.com, on Twitter as @jlmerrow, and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/jl.merrow
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
December 26, 2015
if you don't like it, give it here.
been reading a lot of horrible writing, lately, and it's been wearing on me so much i've been playing Diablo III all night and Cleaning All The Things and refining a lemony iced tea recipe to avoid being bludgeoned to death by crappy words.
every single book i've picked-up over the last week or so has been aggressively stupid, or appallingly inelegant, or just plain wretched.
you can therefore imagine my delight upon discovering this holiday short from ms. merrow.
halfway through, i'm all smiles—with the shmoopy sighs and even an aw, bless.
and how pathetic is that? my bad-writez PTSD is so bad, i'm just grateful when there's no gallimaufry of foolishness like a fluttering poop-chute or a ten page discussion about nothing.
so the bar was pretty low, is what i'm saying.
but—never fear—this one's not graded on a curve.
it's wonderful.
what a pleasure! even with a slightly dissonant choice of simile concerning a bit of jism in the, uh, climax.
i maintain it is a mistake to compare the ol' aqua vitae to oysters on the half-shell, whereas my sister thinks i'm too persnickety by half.
but what do i know?
i think semen tastes delicious.
been reading a lot of horrible writing, lately, and it's been wearing on me so much i've been playing Diablo III all night and Cleaning All The Things and refining a lemony iced tea recipe to avoid being bludgeoned to death by crappy words.
every single book i've picked-up over the last week or so has been aggressively stupid, or appallingly inelegant, or just plain wretched.
you can therefore imagine my delight upon discovering this holiday short from ms. merrow.
halfway through, i'm all smiles—with the shmoopy sighs and even an aw, bless.
and how pathetic is that? my bad-writez PTSD is so bad, i'm just grateful when there's no gallimaufry of foolishness like a fluttering poop-chute or a ten page discussion about nothing.
so the bar was pretty low, is what i'm saying.
but—never fear—this one's not graded on a curve.
it's wonderful.
what a pleasure! even with a slightly dissonant choice of simile concerning a bit of jism in the, uh, climax.
i maintain it is a mistake to compare the ol' aqua vitae to oysters on the half-shell, whereas my sister thinks i'm too persnickety by half.
but what do i know?
i think semen tastes delicious.
July 27, 2013
3.5
A wonderful heart warming story.
Not the usual J L Merrow funny read, but a more moving story. George and Matthew make a lovely sweet couple, but it was Matthews dad that gave me the biggest lift, an absolutely wonderful man lol.
Georges secret was so very sad, all the more so for knowing some men were forced to live that kind of life. While Matthew was such a strong character, I'm so happy to see these two get together.
I do wish we could get a glimpse of the life they lived after. Maybe a great nephew can recount the story of his wonderful Uncle and companion lol.
A wonderful heart warming story.
Not the usual J L Merrow funny read, but a more moving story. George and Matthew make a lovely sweet couple, but it was Matthews dad that gave me the biggest lift, an absolutely wonderful man lol.
Georges secret was so very sad, all the more so for knowing some men were forced to live that kind of life. While Matthew was such a strong character, I'm so happy to see these two get together.
I do wish we could get a glimpse of the life they lived after. Maybe a great nephew can recount the story of his wonderful Uncle and companion lol.
August 4, 2012
This one is very hard to rate for me, because two hearts beat in my chest here. As it is it's more of a 3.5* review than one of four.
It would have been a straight 4* or 5*, if it had been simply a Christmas story, maybe a contemporary one or one situated--era-wise--in Victorian time. Maybe even after the Boer War but prior to the Great War. Then everything would have meshed well for me, including the behaviour and stance of these two young men. Nice, clean and sweet story-telling and very British characters.
As it is I have been researching WWI for the past year and part of this has been plowing through countless diaries and letters, medical records and military files, the works of the war poets as well as those of the clean and the revisionist historians, psychologists of the time and today's, and over and over again diaries.
While many men certainly preferred never talking about their experiences, in fact it was typical for Great War Veterans to be silent and not even talk to their closest relatives or wives about what happened, it's absolutely not as if that experience left them in any way unscathed. Some may not have been as self-reflecting as others, especially the artists and poets, but to treat this war the way it is treated in this book, is not just not enough for me, it also is a bit cavalier in my absolutely personal opinion.
Of course this novella was short, and it was apparently meant as a Christmas special. Writing anything in the style of Pat Barker or Marion Husband wouldn't fit that bill, but that's what I do expect of writing of that era. Not just as a backdrop, not just the mere one paragraph of mentioning SADs and shell-shock and one minor glimpse at the injury Matthew suffered. I didn't buy him, I tentatively bought George.
We are still talking about the heyday of eugenics and a phase in England during which disabled people tended to be sent to closed institutions in droves. While most of the invalided veterans showed an outwardly cheerful mien, that was as much a reaction to the expectation of those having stayed home that they "get on with it" and not make much of their losses, as it was theirs to take cover from becoming too notorious. Still, even though amputees were those having the "easiest" lot, regarding public opinion, as loss of limbs was what was regarded as a "manly injury", it can by no means be said that people looked at it and shrugged it away as our PC times see disability.
Matthew in consequence would have been seen as a cripple, and he would have experienced feeling like one. The written character doesn't mirror much of this, if at all. The restraint written here doesn't actually come over as a stiff upper lip, it comes over as an inappropriate lightness not really in line with what is described.
One of the most striking differences of the treatment of disabled, injured and killed soldiers of the Great War between Great Britain, France, Russia and Germany is the practically complete absence of visual art about the battered, defaced, mutilated, shredded and dehumanised male body. All you need to do is compare John Singer Sargent's "Gassed" to Otto Dix' "Wounded Veteran" and think about the fact that Sargent's was a commissioned painting not even meant to be generally and publicly displayed whereas Dix had public exhibitions.
I do recommend this book in spite of the criticism written here. It's not just that I love everything Merrow and am a huge fan, it's also that I much prefer such a comparatively sober storyline--regardless of the minor beef I have with it--over a lot of what current romance offers instead.
It would have been a straight 4* or 5*, if it had been simply a Christmas story, maybe a contemporary one or one situated--era-wise--in Victorian time. Maybe even after the Boer War but prior to the Great War. Then everything would have meshed well for me, including the behaviour and stance of these two young men. Nice, clean and sweet story-telling and very British characters.
As it is I have been researching WWI for the past year and part of this has been plowing through countless diaries and letters, medical records and military files, the works of the war poets as well as those of the clean and the revisionist historians, psychologists of the time and today's, and over and over again diaries.
While many men certainly preferred never talking about their experiences, in fact it was typical for Great War Veterans to be silent and not even talk to their closest relatives or wives about what happened, it's absolutely not as if that experience left them in any way unscathed. Some may not have been as self-reflecting as others, especially the artists and poets, but to treat this war the way it is treated in this book, is not just not enough for me, it also is a bit cavalier in my absolutely personal opinion.
Of course this novella was short, and it was apparently meant as a Christmas special. Writing anything in the style of Pat Barker or Marion Husband wouldn't fit that bill, but that's what I do expect of writing of that era. Not just as a backdrop, not just the mere one paragraph of mentioning SADs and shell-shock and one minor glimpse at the injury Matthew suffered. I didn't buy him, I tentatively bought George.
We are still talking about the heyday of eugenics and a phase in England during which disabled people tended to be sent to closed institutions in droves. While most of the invalided veterans showed an outwardly cheerful mien, that was as much a reaction to the expectation of those having stayed home that they "get on with it" and not make much of their losses, as it was theirs to take cover from becoming too notorious. Still, even though amputees were those having the "easiest" lot, regarding public opinion, as loss of limbs was what was regarded as a "manly injury", it can by no means be said that people looked at it and shrugged it away as our PC times see disability.
Matthew in consequence would have been seen as a cripple, and he would have experienced feeling like one. The written character doesn't mirror much of this, if at all. The restraint written here doesn't actually come over as a stiff upper lip, it comes over as an inappropriate lightness not really in line with what is described.
One of the most striking differences of the treatment of disabled, injured and killed soldiers of the Great War between Great Britain, France, Russia and Germany is the practically complete absence of visual art about the battered, defaced, mutilated, shredded and dehumanised male body. All you need to do is compare John Singer Sargent's "Gassed" to Otto Dix' "Wounded Veteran" and think about the fact that Sargent's was a commissioned painting not even meant to be generally and publicly displayed whereas Dix had public exhibitions.
I do recommend this book in spite of the criticism written here. It's not just that I love everything Merrow and am a huge fan, it's also that I much prefer such a comparatively sober storyline--regardless of the minor beef I have with it--over a lot of what current romance offers instead.
March 15, 2016
Oh reading this was most enjoyable. George was a bit of a bore but Matthew was rather charming and ever so cheery. Slightly rushed at the end but can't be helped I suppose.
Delightfully charming historical short.
January 3, 2015
This is marvellous, and everything a Christmas novella should be.
It features a complete, well developed story arch that still leaves the reader with the option to make up a future for these characters, and the writing and dialogues are fluent and natural. The historical setting is subtly yet masterfully rendered and the characters are intriguing and irresistibly charming.
Fuck Eli Easton (with all due respect for her and other people's taste) - this is my kind of Christmas romance: a little melancholy, more than a little tender, and infinitely captivating.
It features a complete, well developed story arch that still leaves the reader with the option to make up a future for these characters, and the writing and dialogues are fluent and natural. The historical setting is subtly yet masterfully rendered and the characters are intriguing and irresistibly charming.
Fuck Eli Easton (with all due respect for her and other people's taste) - this is my kind of Christmas romance: a little melancholy, more than a little tender, and infinitely captivating.
May 26, 2014
3.4 stars
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.
(It is sweet and honorable, to die for one's country.)
- Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)
Having been accompanied by the above poem for the last year or so, whilst my son was studying it, it seemed fitting that I should now read this novella.
I expected to find those feelings of sadness, futility, waste, disillusion, injustice and anger, I feel whenever I think of the Great War, . When I think of how other depictions (such as Owen's poem above, The Wood Beyond, My Boy Jack, Black Adder - "Goodbyeee", ) of the Great War effected me, this novella did not come near. This novella is much lighter in spirit. Matthew seems hardly to be effected except for one instance whilst George spent so much time hiding from it that that was all that seeped out.
All being said and done, it is a Merrow so the writing flows effortlessly and the story is engaging and I liked reading it. It is just that the expections I had from the title where not met. But they were my personal expectations.
The old Lie; Dulce et Decorum est
Pro patria mori.
(It is sweet and honorable, to die for one's country.)
- Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)
Having been accompanied by the above poem for the last year or so, whilst my son was studying it, it seemed fitting that I should now read this novella.
I expected to find those feelings of sadness, futility, waste, disillusion, injustice and anger, I feel whenever I think of the Great War, . When I think of how other depictions (such as Owen's poem above, The Wood Beyond, My Boy Jack, Black Adder - "Goodbyeee", ) of the Great War effected me, this novella did not come near. This novella is much lighter in spirit. Matthew seems hardly to be effected except for one instance whilst George spent so much time hiding from it that that was all that seeped out.
All being said and done, it is a Merrow so the writing flows effortlessly and the story is engaging and I liked reading it. It is just that the expections I had from the title where not met. But they were my personal expectations.
May 13, 2011
A seasonal story, this. I believe that it was planned to come out at Christmas to take advantage of the Christmas market and those who like to read seasonal stories. However, don’t let that put you off because it’s not offensively so with holly draped in every scene and enough sugar to bring on diabetes.
This is a very nicely written story which just happens to have a Christmas section. In truth it could have been set at any time in the year.
I’m a bit of a sucker for post war stories, because they have the capacity to evoke great hope and regeneration and so it is with this book. One character is getting away from something, and the other protagonist has every reason to shut himself away and hate the world in general. It’s a refreshing change to find that he doesn’t and is–as many young men would have had to do in 1920–simply getting on with his life. So many books concentrate on the negative aspects of WWI injuries and mental incapacity, and while there is a touch of that here, it’s not enough to weigh it down with bleakness.
Neither does it take it to the opposite extreme. It could have been extremely sappy, but it avoids that–and I think that’s managed because Merrow writes the stiff upper lip and youthful breeziness of English young men very well. They don’t slip into stereotype either, nor wallow in too much angst or emotion, and in this it is nicely balanced. There are some frankly sweet moments, but it is a seasonal story, so I’ll forgive it.
If I have one tiny quibble is that the conflict was not sufficiently conflictly to really cause a rift. By the time it raises its head, the relationship between Matthew and George was strong enough to weather it and I never felt for one minute that rejection would be any part of an issue. I didn’t worry about their relationship, and that was a minus point for me. I wanted to say “Oh, Buck up, George!” at one point, because he spent a lot of time worrying about his problem which should have turned out to be a problem. But, again, it’s a short book (about 70 pages) and too much conflict would have marred the seasonal good feeling perhaps.
Overall, this is a nice seasonal story, beautifully written with memorable characters. Highly recommended.
Merged review:
A seasonal story, this. I believe that it was planned to come out at Christmas to take advantage of the Christmas market and those who like to read seasonal stories. However, don’t let that put you off because it’s not offensively so with holly draped in every scene and enough sugar to bring on diabetes.
This is a very nicely written story which just happens to have a Christmas section. In truth it could have been set at any time in the year.
I’m a bit of a sucker for post war stories, because they have the capacity to evoke great hope and regeneration and so it is with this book. One character is getting away from something, and the other protagonist has every reason to shut himself away and hate the world in general. It’s a refreshing change to find that he doesn’t and is–as many young men would have had to do in 1920–simply getting on with his life. So many books concentrate on the negative aspects of WWI injuries and mental incapacity, and while there is a touch of that here, it’s not enough to weigh it down with bleakness.
Neither does it take it to the opposite extreme. It could have been extremely sappy, but it avoids that–and I think that’s managed because Merrow writes the stiff upper lip and youthful breeziness of English young men very well. They don’t slip into stereotype either, nor wallow in too much angst or emotion, and in this it is nicely balanced. There are some frankly sweet moments, but it is a seasonal story, so I’ll forgive it.
If I have one tiny quibble is that the conflict was not sufficiently conflictly to really cause a rift. By the time it raises its head, the relationship between Matthew and George was strong enough to weather it and I never felt for one minute that rejection would be any part of an issue. I didn’t worry about their relationship, and that was a minus point for me. I wanted to say “Oh, Buck up, George!” at one point, because he spent a lot of time worrying about his problem which should have turned out to be a problem. But, again, it’s a short book (about 70 pages) and too much conflict would have marred the seasonal good feeling perhaps.
Overall, this is a nice seasonal story, beautifully written with memorable characters. Highly recommended.
This is a very nicely written story which just happens to have a Christmas section. In truth it could have been set at any time in the year.
I’m a bit of a sucker for post war stories, because they have the capacity to evoke great hope and regeneration and so it is with this book. One character is getting away from something, and the other protagonist has every reason to shut himself away and hate the world in general. It’s a refreshing change to find that he doesn’t and is–as many young men would have had to do in 1920–simply getting on with his life. So many books concentrate on the negative aspects of WWI injuries and mental incapacity, and while there is a touch of that here, it’s not enough to weigh it down with bleakness.
Neither does it take it to the opposite extreme. It could have been extremely sappy, but it avoids that–and I think that’s managed because Merrow writes the stiff upper lip and youthful breeziness of English young men very well. They don’t slip into stereotype either, nor wallow in too much angst or emotion, and in this it is nicely balanced. There are some frankly sweet moments, but it is a seasonal story, so I’ll forgive it.
If I have one tiny quibble is that the conflict was not sufficiently conflictly to really cause a rift. By the time it raises its head, the relationship between Matthew and George was strong enough to weather it and I never felt for one minute that rejection would be any part of an issue. I didn’t worry about their relationship, and that was a minus point for me. I wanted to say “Oh, Buck up, George!” at one point, because he spent a lot of time worrying about his problem which should have turned out to be a problem. But, again, it’s a short book (about 70 pages) and too much conflict would have marred the seasonal good feeling perhaps.
Overall, this is a nice seasonal story, beautifully written with memorable characters. Highly recommended.
Merged review:
A seasonal story, this. I believe that it was planned to come out at Christmas to take advantage of the Christmas market and those who like to read seasonal stories. However, don’t let that put you off because it’s not offensively so with holly draped in every scene and enough sugar to bring on diabetes.
This is a very nicely written story which just happens to have a Christmas section. In truth it could have been set at any time in the year.
I’m a bit of a sucker for post war stories, because they have the capacity to evoke great hope and regeneration and so it is with this book. One character is getting away from something, and the other protagonist has every reason to shut himself away and hate the world in general. It’s a refreshing change to find that he doesn’t and is–as many young men would have had to do in 1920–simply getting on with his life. So many books concentrate on the negative aspects of WWI injuries and mental incapacity, and while there is a touch of that here, it’s not enough to weigh it down with bleakness.
Neither does it take it to the opposite extreme. It could have been extremely sappy, but it avoids that–and I think that’s managed because Merrow writes the stiff upper lip and youthful breeziness of English young men very well. They don’t slip into stereotype either, nor wallow in too much angst or emotion, and in this it is nicely balanced. There are some frankly sweet moments, but it is a seasonal story, so I’ll forgive it.
If I have one tiny quibble is that the conflict was not sufficiently conflictly to really cause a rift. By the time it raises its head, the relationship between Matthew and George was strong enough to weather it and I never felt for one minute that rejection would be any part of an issue. I didn’t worry about their relationship, and that was a minus point for me. I wanted to say “Oh, Buck up, George!” at one point, because he spent a lot of time worrying about his problem which should have turned out to be a problem. But, again, it’s a short book (about 70 pages) and too much conflict would have marred the seasonal good feeling perhaps.
Overall, this is a nice seasonal story, beautifully written with memorable characters. Highly recommended.
December 9, 2010
I really liked this historical romance, set in London just after WWI. The language, way of thinking and environment are so well described, it was a little like traveling back in time.
Matthew and George both drew me immediately. Matthew because of his bravery in how he dealt with an arm lost in the war. George because of some deep dark secret which is hinted at but only revealed at the very end.
The pace of the story is slow and leisurely, just like life was in those days. This was a very nice and touching read.
Matthew and George both drew me immediately. Matthew because of his bravery in how he dealt with an arm lost in the war. George because of some deep dark secret which is hinted at but only revealed at the very end.
The pace of the story is slow and leisurely, just like life was in those days. This was a very nice and touching read.
August 20, 2012
This is a pleasant read, but too short for me to get really invested in.
March 29, 2011
It’s not a long or complex story. Post WWI, George has recently moved to London to take a position in a solicitor’s office and is in search of a room rather than living in a hotel. He meets Matthew, who encourages him to accept the room at Mrs. MacDonald’s, and largely because of Matthew’s appeal, George does. There, he finds friendship and a life, as well as budding feelings for Matthew.
The vast bulk of the story details the growing friendship between the two, but with it being told from George’s 3rd person perspective, it’s one-sided for much of the tale. It feels more like a buddy story than a romance, actually, primarily due to the tight reins George puts on his feelings and the period setting where homophobia is rampant. That doesn’t lessen the effectiveness of their relationship. It’s warm and comforting, growing in such a realistic manner it was easy to become engaged with both men. Matthew’s chatterbox tendency is a wonderful foil for George’s reticence, and though the romance angle is underplayed for the first two-thirds of the story, that doesn’t lessen the impact of their characterizations. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting these two and could easily see them inhabiting a much larger story.
But this is a novella, specifically a Christmas novella, which automatically demands different expectations. The ending is set at Matthew’s family’s house at Christmas, an event George has been invited to since by his own admission he has no one. It’s very rosy, populated with gregarious, nice people, much like Matthew. That many concentrated in a single spot tends to make them seem too good to be true, which drags down some of the verisimilitude that prevailed throughout the first half of the tale. The length also forces the romantic resolution to come too easily and too abruptly for my tastes. These men, outside of this holiday setting, had earned my respect and appreciation for being more complex than what the resolution gave them, and ultimately, I was a little disappointed that it wound up so tidily. It’s a minor quibble in the grand scheme of things, and I like to believe that given more words, the author would have found a way of bringing them together that didn’t feel quite so pat.
The vast bulk of the story details the growing friendship between the two, but with it being told from George’s 3rd person perspective, it’s one-sided for much of the tale. It feels more like a buddy story than a romance, actually, primarily due to the tight reins George puts on his feelings and the period setting where homophobia is rampant. That doesn’t lessen the effectiveness of their relationship. It’s warm and comforting, growing in such a realistic manner it was easy to become engaged with both men. Matthew’s chatterbox tendency is a wonderful foil for George’s reticence, and though the romance angle is underplayed for the first two-thirds of the story, that doesn’t lessen the impact of their characterizations. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting these two and could easily see them inhabiting a much larger story.
But this is a novella, specifically a Christmas novella, which automatically demands different expectations. The ending is set at Matthew’s family’s house at Christmas, an event George has been invited to since by his own admission he has no one. It’s very rosy, populated with gregarious, nice people, much like Matthew. That many concentrated in a single spot tends to make them seem too good to be true, which drags down some of the verisimilitude that prevailed throughout the first half of the tale. The length also forces the romantic resolution to come too easily and too abruptly for my tastes. These men, outside of this holiday setting, had earned my respect and appreciation for being more complex than what the resolution gave them, and ultimately, I was a little disappointed that it wound up so tidily. It’s a minor quibble in the grand scheme of things, and I like to believe that given more words, the author would have found a way of bringing them together that didn’t feel quite so pat.
October 27, 2011
A wonderfully written Christmas romance! I was hooked from the moment I started reading and didn't want to stop until I got to the end. The author creates a richly detailed view of England in the 1920s that really drew me in, and her characters are interesting and unique. It's fairly short, and really could have been a bit longer, my biggest quibble being how quickly things got resolved at the end. But I highly recommend it as a cozy holiday read!
February 11, 2013
I enjoyed this J.L. Merrow story. At about 90 pages, it was long enough to have some plot and growth to it but short enough to be an easy read.
It's set after WWI when two men meet in a boarding house. Both characters were appealing and the 'secret' revealed at the end was interesting and very in period. In prefer J.L. humorous contemporary stories as a rule, but this was a very nice historical.
It's set after WWI when two men meet in a boarding house. Both characters were appealing and the 'secret' revealed at the end was interesting and very in period. In prefer J.L. humorous contemporary stories as a rule, but this was a very nice historical.
December 22, 2011
When a short story is done right it is sheer joy and pleasure to read. This little treasure is a fine example of that. George, with his air of mystery, and warm, sweet Matthew meet and slowly become friends at a time when social interaction was much more formalized and yet their story manages to remain emotional and intimate. Absolutely wonderful!
December 19, 2010
The setting is London in 1920s, two young men are dealing with different traumas caused by World War One. I love stories about soldiers coming back and learning to live in the world after war and healing from what war did to them and finding that it helps to deal when sonebody else is at your side. Whistling in the Dark by Tamara Allen is one of my favourites and deals with similar theme, however this novella also deals with the trauma of the young man who did not go to war and it is no less poignant and touching. I really enjoy this author's writing style. There is no explicit sex scenes here for those readers who care.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 11, 2013
Matthew is the most affable character I've read in a long time - a perfect foil to the secretive, paranoid George. Where Matthew is open and guileless, George is forever worried his past will come back to haunt him. I like seeing these two opposites together, but my gripe is this: because Matthew is so easy to get along with, so sincere, there's no conflict. I would have liked to have seen George's big secret exploited for a little more emotional turmoil before this reconciliation.
June 10, 2013
The worst thing about ebooks is not getting a feeling for the length of a story beforehand, you download one not realising you have been sold what could have been a novel but which the writer couldn't be bothered to complete.
A vapid tale set immediately post WW1, of sulky (but with a Dark Secret which is so obvious I don't know why the author even bothered) George and the irritatingly cheerful (positively Polly Anna-ish) one-armed Matthew. Gay love, not daring to speak its name but happy-ever-after- anyway.
A vapid tale set immediately post WW1, of sulky (but with a Dark Secret which is so obvious I don't know why the author even bothered) George and the irritatingly cheerful (positively Polly Anna-ish) one-armed Matthew. Gay love, not daring to speak its name but happy-ever-after- anyway.
June 21, 2011
I thoroughly enjoyed this short story - it's a time period I particularly enjoy and both protags were very sympathetic and likeable. This is a warm, gentle, engaging christmas story, but not without depth. Our journey to finding out about George and his background was well paced and very interesting. My only complaint is that Matthew's family seems a little too good to be true, but this *is* a feel-good Christams story so too much angst would be out of place. Well worth reading!
February 2, 2011
This was a sweet one. I really liked both of the characters.
Honestly, three stars is a really high rating for me for a novella. I like drawn out drama and angst, which a novella just can't do. This (along with Pricks and Pragmatism) is about as good as it gets for me in terms of novellas.
Honestly, three stars is a really high rating for me for a novella. I like drawn out drama and angst, which a novella just can't do. This (along with Pricks and Pragmatism) is about as good as it gets for me in terms of novellas.
December 31, 2014
On re-reading in 2014, I'm changing the rating to five stars. Interesting how I liked this story so much more this year!
Original Review:
3.5 stars rounding to 4.0 because of my Christmas spirit! I like the subject matter the author tackles here, although the ending is abrupt. Nice characters I'd like to know more of.
Original Review:
3.5 stars rounding to 4.0 because of my Christmas spirit! I like the subject matter the author tackles here, although the ending is abrupt. Nice characters I'd like to know more of.
December 13, 2010
What I liked best about this story is that it had an actual plot - it wasn't just two guys meeting and hopping in bed together. The story made sense, took its time, and had a satisfactory resolution.
May 24, 2014
I don't think I got the title right, but this story is incredibly sweet and lovely. there's not a word wasted, even when you get to the 80% of the reading and you start considering there won't be a love story because not all stories end up right... I loved every single second of it.
December 21, 2015
I dont read alot historical ones when i do it comes in the package so i read them. set in the post WW1 1920s George moves in town works in an solicitor’s office and moves in an hotel. Meet matthew who lives there as well they get to know each other .
February 13, 2011
Good, but too short. I really would've liked more.
November 8, 2013
Two likable characters--one with a war injury, the other trying to hide his past. England a few years after the Great War. The Christmas holiday season. Lots to love about this short read.
December 12, 2013
A bit sad. 2.5 really
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews