Lovely War

Exquisitely written WW1 love stories narrated by Aphrodite and other Greek Gods who have their own need for love and in misplaced efforts to gain it, do stupid impetuous things (one would think god’s to be above the frailties of mortals), including adultery, forgiveness, understanding, blaming, and making deals that go against the fates. All the tragedies of war, bigotry, the changes that began in the US that lead eventually lead to the abolition of segregation, rights to vote, work, education, equal housing rights. The war scenes, letters, horrible contradictions, tolarence and cover up of murders within the military are just a handful of what this novel contains. It is brilliantly written, and believable. I fell in love with the main and secondary characters, have gained a deeper understanding of was and it’s grave depravation, ability to wipe out families and towns, and the toll that the evolution of war took on multiple countries, people, and had shaped the world as we know it today. I loved this book and will listen to it again. The women are heroins although not spies as in other well written historical fictional. It was about coming of age during wartime, loss, love, and the power of the human spirit to commit and overcome great tragedy. The stories depicted, although fiction has true and factual characters and events that lend this to be such credible depiction of heart. This is a new favorite author for me. I can’t wait to read more of her work. Her writing (unlike mine) is articulate, beautiful, and made me stretch in my role as the reader and observer of mortal life – love stories in war time being depicted by Greek gods. I though, “what is happening?” and how can the perspective of Greek Gods tie together? Keep reading (or listening). The characters both mortal and Gods bring an unusual perspective to war & love. I thing I may even enjoy learning more about Greek Gods because their characters became real to me for the first time in this writing (other than Disney’s Hercules). I so loved this book; the writing, the characters, the setting, and the audio delivery, and hope you will love it too! Bravo to all those who made this audio book available. Thank you.

I wept as I listened to this story. My great uncle Leo registered for the draft in June of 1917 and in May of 1918, was in a ship bound for the war. By October of 1918, he died of wounds sustained in battle. He had given money to my grandmother for her children’s education. At that time, she didn’t have children and her own husband was fighting overseas. She held onto the money and eventually purchased a piano for her children’s musical education. That piano is in my home and Leo is buried in Arlington cemetery. Julie Berry is one of my favorite authors. I highly recommend this book – gorgeously written and performed.

Many books I’ve read about WW1 and WW2 have been focused on women OR men. This novel creates a full picture of the war’s effects on women, men, race, and nationalism. Rarely has PTS(D) been introduced as a result of service, so that was nice to see included in the broader look at war. It’s not a gory book but I would have liked a little more of a detailed account of James’s battles. Overall, if war novels are your jam and you’re not looking for something like The Nightingale or Unbroken, then this romantic version is a light and fun read/listen. The narrators are also fantastic.

This novel is a war time love story and as such falls in line with likely thousands of other war time love stories. Perhaps because the genre is common the author, Julie Berry wanted her work to standout from the crowd by framing the story of her four protagonists via narratives presented by Greek gods. The initial chapter where this construct is set up had me truly confused as I had not fully read the book details ahead of time wherein it was stated that Apollo, Aphrodite, Hades, Ares, etc would be doing so. Once the reader moves away from the introduction to Aphrodite and Ares “trial” and onto the lovers’ war tale, the novel was an engaging and light listen despite the horrors of war. I kept asking myself, however, why the utilization of Greek gods to tell the story and for them to insinuate themselves into the characters actions via godlike influences. Initially I thought that eventually it will all tie in and I’ll get this author’s conceit, appreciating her choice. That realization never materialized. The gods were distractions and I feel rather silly. The silliness was exacerbated by the voice performances of three of the leading readers: Jayne Entwistle reading as Aphrodite, Dion Graham as Apollo, and John Lee as Hades. In Entwistle’s case, her voice sounds like a prepubescent girl and not at all like the goddess of love, sensuality, and passion despite the words she’s reading. Dion Graham as Apollo and who was the main presenter of the African American soldier/musician (Aubry Edwards) read his part as if he was at the Apollo theater making Apollo sound Black and hip. Finally Hades performed by John Lee, a Brit, was so confused by his remit that when he had the job of speaking dialogue of the Aubry Edwards, instead of trying to affect a genuine African American cadence/accent, he incomprehensibly made him sound like he was white wise-guy from Brooklyn. For me, none of the voice actors were effective and I think it’s because they were confused by the set up as well. It seems as though the producer told them to adopt the attitudes of the characters the gods were presenting as opposed to the gods that they were. I’ve read several positive reviews of this book and well, you never know what people will like or dislike. At the end, Julie Berry reads quite a few interesting end notes regarding her research into the book and that section is more compelling than the entire novel. She obviously did her homework and I would be inclined to read further into her suggested reading and wish she had just stuck to a perfectly reasonable novel based on that research as opposed to incongruously insinuating Greek god narrators into the mix. And if these distracting gods just had to be there, have the voice actors be directed to narrate like the gods not the mere mortals.

The triumph of love despite war, bigotry, trauma, disability, pride, distance, and other sorrows of life is a beautiful reminder of the goodness in the world and our responsibilities to make more room for goodness, beauty, and love in our own lives.

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