So much life left over: a novel

De Bernières' (Notwithstanding, 2016) latest sweeps across continents as it provides intimate glimpses into the lives of WWI survivors who never expected to have, as the title states provocatively, so much life left over. Searching for meaning and direction after massive destruction and loss, some irrevocably drift, while others grasp for purpose. In Ceylon, war-hero Daniel and his wife, Rosie, halfheartedly attempt to prop up their doomed marriage. While Rosie concentrates on religion and the children, Daniel embarks upon a series of affairs to fill the void left by his emotionally absent wife. As the scene shifts back to London, Rosie's three sisters are forging a series of unusual paths as they brave seriously altered futures. Interweaving their individual stories, de Bernières creates a vivid tapestry of the challenges and frustrations faced by the Lost Generation.--Margaret Flanagan Copyright 2018 Booklist

England between the two world wars is revisited in this witty and heartfelt novel. Daniel Pitt, a former RFC pilot, is married to Rosie McCosh and runs a tea factory in Ceylon. His brother, Archie, a solider on the North-West Frontier (what is present-day Pakistan), is secretly in love with Rosie-just as Rosie's spinster sister, Ottilie, back at home in England, is secretly in love with Archie. Readers also meet Rosie's other sister, Christabel, a bohemian who has a special relationship with Gaskell, a barnstorming artist; Oily Wragge, the gardener on the McCosh family estate, who suffers from nightmares about his war experiences; and various and sundry mistresses of unhappily married Daniel, who bear him several illegitimate children over the years. Through a variety of points of view, de Bernières (Corelli's Mandolin) creates an impressionistic depiction of Britain recovering from one world war and slipping inexorably into another as motion pictures begin to talk, land and air records are set, and Daniel and his friends and family heroically try to adjust to changing times. The novel is light on plot, but the characters are such excellent company that it makes for an irresistible reading experience, especially for fans of Downton Abbey. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Like de Bernières's internationally best-selling Corelli's Mandolin (1994), this beautifully realized new work plows the fertile ground of historical fiction with an examination of love in the aftermath of war. In the two decades after World War II, de Bernières follows a group of young men and women who experienced the trauma of war in very different ways and find themselves struggling to move on with their lives. Some emerge with their hearts still "open to the world," but unfortunately others do not. At the center of the novel is celebrated British flying ace Daniel Pitt, whose war experience made him feel intensely alive. But his wife, Rosie, whom he marries after the war, lost her fiancé in battle and is never able to recover fully. Investigating relationships scarred by a cataclysm beyond an individual's control, de Bernières handles the emotional and psychological complexities of this subject effortlessly. VERDICT An emotionally gripping page-turner; recommended for fans of war novels, historical fiction, and literary fiction. [See Prepub Alert, 3/12/18.]-Patrick Sullivan, Manchester Community Coll., CT © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

The destinies of the four McCosh sisters and their childhood friends in the aftermath of World War I form the foundation of a multiperspective saga embracing fidelity and fertility, empire, belief, and parental love.This new hymn to a bygone British era of heroism, engineering skills, and middle-class quirks by de Bernires (Notwithstanding, 2016, etc.) opens in colonial Ceylon (renamed Sri Lanka) in 1925, where handsome war hero and flying ace Daniel Pitt has settled with his wife, Rosie, now pregnant with their second child. But this happy marriage is doomed, leaving Daniel eternally questing for love and access to his children. Back in London, Rosie's sisters, the McCoshes, are forming their futures, too. Ottilie decides to set aside an unrequited passion; Sophie marries her chaplain and opens a school; and Christabel strikes up "an unconventional friendship with a green-eyed artist who comported herself like a man." These figures are but the core characters in a sprawling cast which also includes two of Daniel's mistresses (one Ceylonese who bears him a son and one Irish), neither of whom he can marry since Rosie will never divorce him. And there's more. The McCosh family gardener, Oily Wragge (yes), offers a working-class perspective as both soldier and engineer, and Daniel ends up fathering additional illegitimate children, although that's nothing compared to the laundry list of mistresses and offspring revealed in Mr. McCosh's will. Class, punitive marriages (and wives), warthe themes are many and sometimes debatable in this economical yet ambitious narrative that stretches from the scarred setting of the interwar phase to a resumption of conflict and loss in World War II. De Bernires unsettlingly alternates a light comic tone with more serious material and also often slips into clichd, sentimental characterization. As a result, only the last of the story's heartaches penetrates deeply.A readable if off-balance slice of history in which breadth comes at the expense of depth. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

De Bernières' (Notwithstanding, 2016) latest sweeps across continents as it provides intimate glimpses into the lives of WWI survivors who never expected to have, as the title states provocatively, "so much life left over." Searching for meaning and direction after massive destruction and loss, some irrevocably drift, while others grasp for purpose. In Ceylon, war-hero Daniel and his wife, Rosie, halfheartedly attempt to prop up their doomed marriage. While Rosie concentrates on religion and the children, Daniel embarks upon a series of affairs to fill the void left by his emotionally absent wife. As the scene shifts back to London, Rosie's three sisters are forging a series of unusual paths as they brave seriously altered futures. Interweaving their individual stories, de Bernières creates a vivid tapestry of the challenges and frustrations faced by the Lost Generation. Copyright 2018 Booklist Reviews.

Best known for the award-winning Corelli's Mandolin but the author of multiple good books (my favorite: Birds Without Wings), Granta Best of Young British Novelists de Bernières limns childhood friends shattered and scattered by World War I. But their paths keep crisscrossing, with the center held by RAF flying ace Daniel and his wife, Rosie, a wartime nurse, whose marriage is foundering.

Like de Bernières's internationally best-selling Corelli's Mandolin (1994), this beautifully realized new work plows the fertile ground of historical fiction with an examination of love in the aftermath of war. In the two decades after World War II, de Bernières follows a group of young men and women who experienced the trauma of war in very different ways and find themselves struggling to move on with their lives. Some emerge with their hearts still "open to the world," but unfortunately others do not. At the center of the novel is celebrated British flying ace Daniel Pitt, whose war experience made him feel intensely alive. But his wife, Rosie, whom he marries after the war, lost her fiancé in battle and is never able to recover fully. Investigating relationships scarred by a cataclysm beyond an individual's control, de Bernières handles the emotional and psychological complexities of this subject effortlessly. VERDICT An emotionally gripping page-turner; recommended for fans of war novels, historical fiction, and literary fiction. [See Prepub Alert, 3/12/18.]—Patrick Sullivan, Manchester Community Coll., CT (c) Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

England between the two world wars is revisited in this witty and heartfelt novel. Daniel Pitt, a former RFC pilot, is married to Rosie McCosh and runs a tea factory in Ceylon. His brother, Archie, a solider on the North-West Frontier (what is present-day Pakistan), is secretly in love with Rosie—just as Rosie's spinster sister, Ottilie, back at home in England, is secretly in love with Archie. Readers also meet Rosie's other sister, Christabel, a bohemian who has a special relationship with Gaskell, a barnstorming artist; Oily Wragge, the gardener on the McCosh family estate, who suffers from nightmares about his war experiences; and various and sundry mistresses of unhappily married Daniel, who bear him several illegitimate children over the years. Through a variety of points of view, de Bernières (Corelli's Mandolin) creates an impressionistic depiction of Britain recovering from one world war and slipping inexorably into another as motion pictures begin to talk, land and air records are set, and Daniel and his friends and family heroically try to adjust to changing times. The novel is light on plot, but the characters are such excellent company that it makes for an irresistible reading experience, especially for fans of Downton Abbey. (Aug.)