Having previously read The Outcast, by the same author, I was looking forward to Small Wars by Sadie Jones. We are introduced to the two central characters, Hal Treherne and his wife, Clara, during they courtship. It is sweet and innocent, and we see a deep love for each other develop and grow into a solid relationship. However, most of the action in the book takes place a few years into the marriage. Now the parents of twin girls, Hal is posted to Cyprus, and his family join him shortly thereafter. The colony is not at peace, with guerrilla rebels fighting to rid themselves of the British and the Turks in a bid to be united with Greece. Now a Major, this is the first real action Hal has seen, and he is keen to "get stuck in", just like his father and grandfather had in previous conflicts. However, things start to get messy, with innocents getting caught in the crossfire and no visible enemy prepared to do battle. Indiscipline in the ranks starts to become an issue, and Hal witnesses the worst that humanity has to offer. Clara notices a change in him, and when the gentle man she has loved turns into a harsh, ill tempered and absent husband, she is not sure what to do. As the situation becomes increasingly tense both outside and inside the marriage, Hal sends Clara and the children away for their own safety, but tragedy strikes. Can Hal's sense of honour and duty be reconciled with his conscience and will their marriage survive? This is a part of history that I know nothing about, so I found the snippets of information about Cyprus during this time (1950's) really interesting. The story was bowling along nicely and I was relating to the characters and enjoying their journey, but then, for me, it ran out of steam. I cannot quite put my finger on it. Things started to move very fast and I was somehow not convinced by the change in Hal and his subsequent actions. There were a good few characters who I thought were going to be fleshed out and be built on, but this did not happen. I felt that too many of them were there just to serve a particular plot point rather than them being completely integral to the story. By no means bad enough to make me never want to read another book by this author, however, I have to admit that I was a little disappointed by the ending after what was a really promising first half.
My STAR rating: THREE.
Length: 376 print pages.
Price I paid: £0.50 from a second hand stall.
Formats available: print, unabridged audio download, ebook.
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