The Summer Before the War

This is a really charming novel by Helen Simonson, the author of Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. It takes place in a small town in rural England called Rye, in the summer leading up to WWI (so all you Downton Abbey fans should like it).

The town has just hired Beatrice Nash to be the Latin teacher at the school. Beatrice is a well-educated young lady with wit and charm who was left too independent by her well-traveled and independent late father, so some of the townspeople find her a bit shocking, although most of the more sensible ones find her charming.

Beatrice's benefactor is the grand dame Agatha Kent, who loves her two nephews Hugh and Daniel like the sons she never had. Hugh is studying to be a surgeon and hopeful of marrying his professor's daughter, while Daniel is a poet who has a special friend of his own. The town is also populated with lots of other interesting people, including gypsies, and we also have a whole truckload of Belgian refugees thrown into the mix.

At any rate, it's a really well-written and well-told story. I laughed and cried, which is what the best books make me do.


The Summer Before the War