Edith's War - Andrew Smith, Author

Edith’s War – Review by Martha A. Cheves, Author of Stir, Laugh, Repeat

“You know,” said Anna. “We all think we’re so clever. I know I used to be too proud. I had a good husband, three handsome boys who speak English
and get along so good at school. Three fish and chip shops, a nice house
– I thought I have it made. And the bang, suddenly it all disappeared.
When a war happens, it shows you we don’t know nothing. War or no war,
we’re all like leaves being blown around. No matter how much we think
we’re the boss, we’re not.”

Edith’s War takes place not far from Liverpool in a town called Shrimpley. The time is the beginning of World
War II.

Shortly after their marriage, Edith Maguire’s husband Joe must leave to help fight the war. Edith, being pregnant with their
first child, leaves Liverpool to stay with her mother-in-law and
brother-in-law in Shrimpley. There she meets Anna and Gianni Baccanello,
along with their 3 sons, Paolo, Domenico and Carlo.

When Edith moved in with her in-laws she was a naive young lady. What she
experienced during the 4 years that Joe was away, changed her
completely. But more changes were in store for her when Joe comes home
and her second son is born.

Edith’s War was created with fictional characters surviving real history. It’s written in two periods
of time. One time period takes you through the trials of surviving as a
wife and mother in the 1940s during WWII while your husband is away
fighting a war that no one understands. The second time period takes
place over sixty years after WWII in the 2000s when Edith, her two sons
Will and Shamus and Edith’s secrets from the past all meet up in Italy.

Edith’s War is a love/hate book that tore me between characters. I could
understand, yet not understand the events that took place. I could
approve of, yet disapprove of the feelings felt by the characters. When
you put together the story, the circumstances and the history revealed
in Edith’s War, you can’t help but feel the feelings of each character
as they struggle to survive. As I read this book I had another book come
to mind. I know the stories are totally different but the style of
Andrew Smith’s writing reminded me of Nicholas Spark’s writing “The
Notebook.” This is a very well written book and a very engrossing read.
You can't help but love it.

2010
Axiom Publishing, Inc.
375 Pages
ISBN #978-0-9864962-0-2