Today I am so pleased to be starting off the Blog Tour for A Soldier’s Home by George Costigan. Thank you to Kelly from Love Books Group for asking me to take part.
PUB DATE: 17th May 2018
“A magnificent, big beast of a book!” –
renowned playwright Willy Russell
The Soldier’s Home is the stunning sequel to the bestselling
debut, The Single Soldier, by actor and writer George Costigan.
‘Beautifully written.’ – Sally Wainwright
The Soldier’s Home by George Costigan
The war is over and his home was built…but a home is just a set
of empty rooms without people and love. After surviving the
devastation, secrets, lies and tragedies of a community under
German occupation, can people now rekindle their lives, and
rediscover their reasons for suriviving? As the soldier waits for
the return of his love, the world keeps moving, threatening to
leave his hopes and dreams behind….
History, secrets and painful truths collide in this astonishingly
human, warm and emotive sequel from writer George Costigan.
My Review
The Soldier’s Home is a sequel to the debut novel ‘The Single Soldier’ written by George Costigan.
The book is divided into two parts. Firstly, it is the 1940s and Simone has been sent to America by her partner to keep herself and their baby son safe from war whilst Jacques rebuilds their home in France.
The story consists of letters written by Simone to Jacques as she starts a new life abroad, working as a tutor. The letters are rambling as if she is talking absentmindedly to someone by her side, and you feel the anguish and desperation in Simone, needing news that Jacques and her loved ones are safe, yet so grateful that herself and her son have survived. The chapters aren’t dated but you get a real feel of months, then years, passing by and driving the couple further apart.
Enid’s story begins in 1988. She is an English schoolteacher and writer who decides to retire to France, to continue her writing, Her parents have now died and after years of teaching, she craves solitude. It is here that her world becomes entwined with Jacques and Simone’s love story and their past is brought to life again, decades later.
The style of writing is very unusual and it took me a while to get used to the beautiful. almost poetic writing. The pace is relaxed and you are carried along by the intricately described locations and complex emotions of the main characters. It’s so hard to comprehend that this is only the author’s second novel.
The book will appeal to hardcore romantics and lovers of historical fiction. It definitely cements the saying, ‘Home is Where the Heart Is’.
“a home is just a set
of empty rooms without people and love”
Thank you to Love Books Group and Urbane Publications for a copy of the book, which I have reviewed honestly.
About The Author
George Costigan is best known for Rita, Sue and Bob Too and
more recently Happy Valley, his acting career has included
working with Sally Wainwright, Willy Russell, Alan Clarke and
Clint Eastwood. He has directed Daniel Day-Lewis and Pete
Postlethwaite, and his writing for the stage includes several
Liverpool Everyman pub shows and ‘Trust Byron’, for which he
was nominated for Best Actor at the Edinburgh Festival. He and
partner Julia North have three sons and one grandson and live
in York.
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