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Dec 31, 2011shapjul rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I thought this book was a wonderful leisurely read. I had to put it down from time to time to think it over and absorb it. There are five sections, each a slice of the 20th century. Characters appear and reappear. The style/tone changes to suit the period--so the first section (pre-WW1) is much more languid and Forsteresque than the later ones. It's a consideration of the history of gay relationships in a way. The consistent center is a young poet who dies in WW1. He's in the first section but then the rest become a story of the struggle to control his narrative. It's really beautifully written and I found it quite compelling. I see that someone else says it is disjointed, but I disagree. It is slices of a century during which attitudes towards same-sex love changed quite a bit. I don't think it is really meant to be a family saga, but more a story about how history (writ small) is made and owned.