Bamboo Road by Ann Bennett
Bamboo Road by Ann Bennett
Hello All!
Today is my stop on the Bamboo Road blog tour and I am here today with five of my favourite things about this book!
First though, here’s what the book is all about!
About the Book
Thailand 1942: Sirinya and her family are members of the Thai underground, who risk their lives to resist the World War Two Japanese occupation and to and help British prisoners of war building the Thai-Burma railway. The events of those years have repercussions for decades to come. The book tells Sirinya s wartime story and how in the 1970s she returns to Kanchanaburi after a long absence abroad, to settle old scores from the war years.
Bamboo Road is volume three in a Southeast Asian WWII trilogy that includes Bamboo Heart and Bamboo Island (the books may be read in any order).
Goodreads. Amazon. Monsoon Books.
My Favourite Things
The Narrative
There are times when you pick up a book and you really struggle to get into the rhythm of the narrative. Maybe you just don’t personally gel with the narrative voice of the author and it just isn’t right for you. But sometimes the writing style of a book can really let a book down. Fortunately that is not the case for Bamboo Road. After reading just the first sentence I was swept straight into the story and every time I picked the book back up the same thing happened. The narrative flowed easily off the page and into my head making it a wonderfully easy read – just what I love!
The Storyline
Unique. That is one of the best words I could come up with to describe the brilliant story that is hidden within the pages of this book. Ann has created a very addictive and incredibly moving story set both during the war and in the 1970s. It flashes between the two time zones succinctly and everything about the story-line was truly marvelous. I was pulled easily in and found myself dying to know how it would all end.
The Location
I’m not going to lie, I absolutely love books that are set in “exotic” locations. (i.e. not London or the US!) Travelling is something that for the time being at least, I am incapable of doing and so with books I am able to go to the places I can only dream of visiting. With this book, Ann has written a novel wherein the descriptions are vivid and vibrant and you can truly see the locations she’s describing. I absolutely loved the setting and scenery in this book and felt it really complimented the story.
The Characters
In every single book I read, one of the most important aspects for me are the characters. I don’t necessarily have to connect with the characters but I do have to feel like they’re real and that they’re going on a journey through the book. This definitely happened in Bamboo Road. Sirinya is a very interesting character to read about. At the beginning of the book you find out that she has lost her husband and also that she is holding a grudge. Her world is full of emotions but I feel that Ann did a brilliant job with her journey in the book.
The Emotion
What is a book without emotion? And in this book, there is quite a bit of it! Before I even got very far into the book I found myself full of emotions, gripping the pages quickly to see where and how it would all end. Ann has created a book that is full of vibrant characters who really bring out the emotion in the reader. I thought this was a very lovely thing about the book and definitely made it that much more entertaining to read. *wipes eyes*
About the Author
Ann Bennett was born and raised in a small village in Northamptonshire, UK. She read Law at Cambridge and qualified and practised as a solicitor. During a career break, to have children, she started to write. Her father had been a prisoner of war on the Thailand– Burma Railway and the idea for a Southeast Asian WWII trilogy came from researching his wartime experiences. The research took her back to Asia, a place she loves and has returned to many times. She lives in Surrey with her husband and three sons and works in London as a lawyer.Website. Blog. Twitter. Facebook.
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