My Dear I Wanted To Tell You by Louisa Young

Title: My Dear I Wanted To Tell You

Author: Louisa Young

Published: May 2011

While Riley Purefoy and Peter Locke fight for their country, their survival and their sanity in the trenches of Flanders, Nadine Waveney, Julia Locke and Rose Locke do what they can at home. Beautiful, obsessive Julia and gentle, eccentric Peter are married: each day Julia goes through rituals to prepare for her beloved husband’s return. Nadine and Riley, only eighteen when the war starts, and with problems of their own already, want above all to make promises - but how can they when the future is not in their hands? And Rose? Well, what did happen to the traditionally brought-up women who lost all hope of marriage, because all the young men were dead?

Rating: 3 Stars

I had read several five star reviews of this book before opening my own copy, and I think this caused me to raise my expectations of the book. For me it felt as though I was trudging through the pages looking for the ending; I certainly didn't feel gripped as other reviewers promised I would. 

I didn't really take to any of the characters except Rose, and to be honest I would have liked to have seen more of her. To me she seemed to be the most real, the most human out of all of the main characters. Julia came across as somewhat vapid and shallow, and I just couldn't get to grips with the men. 

Therefore given how much I disliked this book I was somewhat surprised to find myself crying in the middle. Riley's accident and the immediate consequences for him and Nadine had me in tears, and it was certainly a job trying to explain to the other half why I was crying over a book that I didn't even enjoy that much. If I had to explain it then I guess that I was putting myself in Nadine's shoes and reacting accordingly. 

However this book also has a few positives. Firstly it shows the more human side of the war, and how normal everyday people are affected. We follow two families or partnerships over the four years of the war, and every single person has trials that they have to face. Secondly there wasn't a load of gore in the trench scenes, instead these scenes were very disjointed with only the key moments being picked out. This, I assume, would be true to real life. Whilst the trenches were undoubtedly a horrible place not every moment will be remembered in perfect harmony. Instead only particular moments will jump out. 

Would I recommend this book? That's actually a really hard question for once. Usually I'm able to give a straight yes or no, but I can't quite make up my mind with this one. So I'd say give it a try but don't expect to be bowled over.