The Summer Before the War

January 11, 2016
Simonson’s dense follow-up to the bestselling Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand focuses on gender, class, and social mores in the town of Rye in Sussex, England, at the dawn of World War I. Following the death of her father, who raised her to be intelligent and worldly, writer Beatrice Nash looks forward to tutoring three boys in Latin before she begins her position at school in the fall. Her advocate is the shrewd Agatha Kent, a discreet progressive who’s married to John, a senior official in the military. The childless couple love their grown nephews, Hugh Grange, who is destined to be a doctor, and Daniel Bookham, a handsome poet who hopes to move to Paris and start his own journal with a friend. As a woman, Beatrice doesn’t have much clout, nearly losing her job to nepotism and being dismissed by her favorite author, her relatives, and her dad’s publishing house. Simonson does a great job crafting the novel’s world. It’s a large book, and the plot takes its time to get going, but the story becomes engaging after Germany invades Belgium and Rye takes in refugees. Simonson’s writing is restrained but effective, especially when making quiet revelations. A heartbreaking but satisfying ending seems fitting for a story about the social constructs that unfairly limit people and their potential. Agent: Julie Barer, Barer Literary.

February 1, 2016

Schoolteacher Beatrice Nash is eager to start a new job teaching Latin in the small English seaside town of Rye in the summer of 1914. She soon has a front-row seat as local squabbles regarding such matters as whether a woman should be teaching Latin at all give way to the more pressing concerns of World War I. A group of refugees from Belgium throw the orderly lives of Rye's residents into tumult, and the town is soon asked to make even larger sacrifices as its sons depart for the front. VERDICT Simonson's episodic descriptions of life in Rye as the war looms are a good bet for those looking for a relatively gentle World War I-era historical with a touch of romance. The book falters a bit when it switches away from Rye to cover life in the trenches, and the climax there feels a bit melodramatic, but Simonson's good-hearted, likable characters make up for these weaknesses and will remind readers of those from her best-selling debut, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. [See Prepub Alert, 9/21/15.]--Mara Bandy, Champaign P.L., IL

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