Lovely War
I generally try to steer clear of romances. I mean, everyone loves a good true love story. But how often do we have lives and romances that look like those fairy-tale whirlwind passionate ones? I've always felt like romance books are the biggest kind of escapism and that they are the easiest trap to fall into where you start wondering why what you have doesn't look like that. So like I said, I try not to get too caught up in reading them.
However, I do love a good historical fiction book. So I had the chance to browse the school library the week after we closed and grab a few books to check out while we are social distancing. And I was lucky enough to stumble on Lovely War by Julie Berry. After reading the description, I felt like it sounded intriguing enough to give it a read. And it was definitely worth it!
The best part of the story, in my opinion, is the frame story. During WWII, the Goddess Aphrodite is caught in the middle of an affair with Ares, by her husband Hephestus. He puts her on trial and to convince him of her plight, she begins telling him of two great love stories set in WWI in hopes that he will pardon her and understand why love and war always go together.
She weaves the tale of Hazel, a classical pianist from London, who meets James, a young man about to be shipped off to war. She then introduces us to Aubrey, a jazz pianist from Harlem, and Colette, a Belgian orphan with a horrific past. We find out how their stories intertwine and how Apollo, the God of Music, Ares, the God of War, and Hades, the God of Death all have their fingers in their lives.
I particularly love hearing this story from the perspective of the Gods who have vastly more important things to do and are immortal. Yet, they deign to hear about and affect the lives of these few individuals because of how strong and powerful human emotion is, and in the long run, how they are envious of them.
And of course, we are so invested in the love stories of the two couples and how they come to know each other and attempt to defy the circumstances of war that separate them. It is definitely easy to hope for the best outcome and cheer their hearts on as they fall in love in spite of the horrors surrounding them. What could be better than a love story in the middle of adversity?
The writing of this book is honestly just gorgeous. And I kept plucking out lines from the story that made me want to swoon and keep them forever! It just had so much beautiful language and it was fantastic at painting the romantic scenes as well as the horrific scenes of war.
I would recommend this book to those who love reading romance, historical fiction, and books set during the World Wars. You can purchase a copy here or at your local independent bookstore.
The best part of the story, in my opinion, is the frame story. During WWII, the Goddess Aphrodite is caught in the middle of an affair with Ares, by her husband Hephestus. He puts her on trial and to convince him of her plight, she begins telling him of two great love stories set in WWI in hopes that he will pardon her and understand why love and war always go together.
She weaves the tale of Hazel, a classical pianist from London, who meets James, a young man about to be shipped off to war. She then introduces us to Aubrey, a jazz pianist from Harlem, and Colette, a Belgian orphan with a horrific past. We find out how their stories intertwine and how Apollo, the God of Music, Ares, the God of War, and Hades, the God of Death all have their fingers in their lives.
I particularly love hearing this story from the perspective of the Gods who have vastly more important things to do and are immortal. Yet, they deign to hear about and affect the lives of these few individuals because of how strong and powerful human emotion is, and in the long run, how they are envious of them.
And of course, we are so invested in the love stories of the two couples and how they come to know each other and attempt to defy the circumstances of war that separate them. It is definitely easy to hope for the best outcome and cheer their hearts on as they fall in love in spite of the horrors surrounding them. What could be better than a love story in the middle of adversity?
The writing of this book is honestly just gorgeous. And I kept plucking out lines from the story that made me want to swoon and keep them forever! It just had so much beautiful language and it was fantastic at painting the romantic scenes as well as the horrific scenes of war.
I would recommend this book to those who love reading romance, historical fiction, and books set during the World Wars. You can purchase a copy here or at your local independent bookstore.
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