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There Was a Time

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A Lincolnshire village on a glorious summer's morning in 1940, the countryside as still as a painting. In the blue sky above, the fate of the whole war will soon rest with the RAF and their desperate effort to win the Battle of Britain. If they fail, Hitler's next step will be invasion.

And as the scene comes to life before us over the next six months, this shadow of war will not disappear - the conflict will take husbands and sons away and bring in evacuees from the city and soldiers to defend the coast. There will be more money from war work but less to spend it on - legitimately, at least. Everywhere, the feeling of change is in the air.

From the pub to the church, the humblest cottage to the biggest farm, from a struggling single mother to the lady of the manor, the paperboy to a traumatised bomb disposal volunteer, this superb jewel of a novel portrays a community of people and weaves together their stories with passion, betrayal, intrigue and suspense.

There Was a Time is a triumph of the storyteller's art.

©2017 Frank White (P)2017 Hodder & Stoughton Historical Fiction Fiction War
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Wonderfull book. Superbly written and a moving read. Characters cleverly developed in a story line which grips throughout. It tells of the lives of villagers in a small rural community In Lincolnshire during Word War Two raising to a dramatic climax.

Climatic story of World War Two villagers

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Take the time, to listen to this book! I saw the author being interviewed on television, the story appealed to me so I decided to download and soon recognised the voice of narrator Jonathon Keeble who is absolutely excellent, how he managed the voices of all the characters is beyond me.

The story so well written and the description of characters and events made me feel as though I was there. Well done Frank White for such an excellent read.

Take the time!

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Just really a'day in the life' of a village during the war. Sort of ambles along with interacting stories of folks lives with all the joys alongside the hardships. I found it a pleasant distraction from my normal genre which is thrillers/mysteries. Not too taxing and an easy listen. Narration was enough to give the characters their individual voices.

An English Village during WW2

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An interesting insight into wartime life. Story was a bit weak and the book just petered out really. The narrator read very well and helped set the book in the time period. The accents however leave a lot to be desired - everyone sounds like a scouser.

Interesting but weak

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The narrator really brought this book to life with a real feeling of a certain time.

Loved it and excellent narration

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