Review – Owen SHEERS – “Resistance”

Publ: 2007
Pensby Library
ISBN: 978 0 571 23906 1
Genre: General fiction
Pages: 285p
Found by Serendipity
Rating: ***** ***


What led you to pick up this book?
Found on the new books shelf in the library.

Describe the plot without giving anything away.
I’m not normally interested in books set in an alternative future but this proved an exception. As the Second World War comes to an end the German invasion of Britain succeeds and high in a Welsh valley the menfolk disappear from their farms. In their place come a squad of German soldiers. The interaction between the farmer’s wives and the Germans forms the basis of the novel.

What did you think of the characters?
Well drawn.

What did you think about the style?
Easy to read and exciting in a low key way.

What did you like most about the book?
The realistic nature of what might have been.

Thoughts on the book jacket / cover.
Above average

Would I recommend it?
Yes.

Totally irrelevant side note:
At the end of the book is a fascinating chapter about the background to the story and the way in which the country prepared for the possibility of a German invasion.



Owen SHEERS (b 1974) is a Welsh poet, author and playwright. He was born in Suva, Fiji, but brought up in London and Abergavenny, and educated at King Henry VIII School Abergavenny, New College, Oxford, and at the University of East Anglia. As an actor he has played Wilfred Owen on stage, and has also presented arts programmes for BBC Wales. Owen's first novel, Resistance (UK Faber, 2007/ US Nan Talese/Doubleday 2008) will be translated into eight languages. His recent collaboration with composer Rachel Portman, The Water Diviner's Tale, an oratorio for children, was premiered at the Royal Albert Hall for the BBC Proms 2007. Owen is currently a Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Fellow at the New York Public Library.