Play Book Tag discussion

The Summer Before the War – Helen Simonson
4****

Beatrice Nash is a fiercely independent young woman who arrives in the small town of Rye to fill the post of Latin teacher. She is taken in by Agatha Kent, a formidable woman in the community, who has two charming nephews - Hugh and Daniel. The town is resistant to change (a female Latin teacher!), but change is coming - the nation is on the brink of war with Germany.

What an absolute delight! Simonson’s writing reminds me of Jane Austen's novels.

Like she did in Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand, Simonson sets her story in a small English village, whose residents would prefer that time stand still notwithstanding major outside influences. In this case it is 1914, and World War I will forever change the social structure of Britain. Women are demonstrating for suffrage, and taking on roles outside the home and “club” environment to which they’ve previously been restricted. The scions and heirs of many of the landed gentry are going off to war, and many will be killed. The tenant farmers and villagers are also going to war, and will return very different men.

While the reader knows the changes to come, the villagers of Simonson’s Rye do not. They are left reacting to changes that make them very uncomfortable. Even the most forward-thinking person has to tread carefully, negotiating small changes and even “tricking” opponents into agreement.

Against these global events, however, is the very personal story of these characters – Beatrice, Hugh, Daniel, Agatha, Snout, et al. This is where Simonson’s writing shines. She has a great gift for dialogue and for creating a social structure that draws the reader into the small dramas of life that give her work universal appeal. I fell in love with the characters - even the busy-body self-important Bettina Fothergill - and was invested in their story.