[amazon_link id=”B004IYIT0C” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]Title : 22 Britannia Read

Author : Amanda Hodgkinson

Publisher : Pamela Dorman Books (Viking)

Genre : Historical

Pages : 321 (Hardcover)

Rating : 4/5

Source : Publisher ARC

Silvana and Janusz are a young newly married Polish couple. When Silvana becomes pregnant, they move to Warsaw, anticipating a happy future for themselves. World War II intervenes however. Janusz enlists, and Silvana must go to her family for the time-period. The two separate and meet after many years, after the war when Janusz has procured a home for them in England. Silvana and Aurek come to this small white washed cottage to start their new lives. Janusz and Silvana both hope that together they will be able to rebuild their home and provide a safe haven for their child. However, battle scarred, they are no longer a unit; Janusz has a secret love whom he attempts to hide, and Silvana can think of only protecting the half-wild Aurek from the harshness of the world. They seem like strangers to each other. Still lost in their own fears, Silvana and Janusz start to drift apart . .

This book deals the aftermath of the war for one small family. And because it is so well-written, the inherent sadness sinks in. The war has ended, but there is scarcity and poverty and despair and grief. Hodgkinson minutely portrays the horrors of war as they affect Silvana and her baby. She and Aurek learn to fend for themselves and forage in the forest, hiding from soldiers. It is the basic instinct for survival, but it is brutal, and for mother and child, forges a bond that can never be broken.

Now that they are safe, Aurek still cannot abandon his feral nature, and rely on a family’s security. He still forages for food – takes food and hides it in nooks and corners of the house. For Silvana it is a primal need to ensure the protection of her child and hide her secret, even at the cost of her relationship with Janusz. Janusz on the other hand hides letters from his French llover.

As you start the book, you know that this will be a heart-rending, sad read. It is then comforting that the author tells it so well, and writes movingly and with so much dignity. Her writing is simple yet impresses on you the strong bond between Silvana and Aurek. Janusz too is much affected by the war, but it the mother-son story which has all my attention. It is not easy to tell a desperately sad tale without making it seem pitiful, but Ms. Hodgkinson does it with such grace that Silvana, Aurek and Janusz all have our ears and our empathy.

This was a beautiful book. It is told from the viewpoints from the three main characters, and does justice to each of them. Some portions are hard to read because they describe the brutality of war on a small child, so careful if you tear up easily. Highly recommended.