Tag Archive | Ann Bennett

Mandarin Road by Ann Bennett

Jul8

Heartbreaking

Mandarin Road by Ann Bennett is a powerful dual timeline novel that I read in just one sitting. I could not put it down. It is a heartbreaking read.

The action is set in 1967 and 2015 mainly in Vietnam, but briefly in America too as this is where the novel opens.

We see the futility of war. The Vietnam war was particularly hated in America – it wasn’t their war. There were many protests held. It was a cruel war with atrocities on both sides. The Viet Cong were cruel to their own people. The Americans were cruel too, burning villages and shooting the Vietnamese people. It was a war that no one could win. Mothers lost sons on both sides. “He was aggressive, difficult and demanding, but he was still very young to be fighting a war, and he was somebody’s son,” it was said of a Viet Cong soldier. And of an injured American, we hear; “he was not just an enemy soldier; he was a living, breathing human being who was in trouble.”

We witness the bravery of a young girl to help an injured American. Her heart is full of compassion.

A deathbed scene in 2015 sends a daughter overseas in search of a half sister that she never knew she had.

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The Bookseller Of Kathmandu by Ann Bennett

Nov19

Ripples Of The Past

The Bookseller Of Kathmandu by Ann Bennett is a powerful dual timeline novel that I thoroughly enjoyed. It is part of the Echoes Of The Empire series but can be read as a stand-alone.

The action is set in 2018 and 1949 in Malaysia. The reader is transported back to a time of unrest and prejudice. We hear of the role of the Gurkhas in trying to stop the spread of Chinese communism. They had to guard the white estates and also break up small illegal settlements.

There was inequality between the races and the sexes. Entitled white Englishmen lorded it over everyone. They considered it their ‘right’ to do so. 

In contrast to her dastardly and bullish husband, Alice, the leading lady in 1949 had a pure heart and a good soul. She tried to help and to ease burdens where she could.

There are some hard to read scenes of domestic violence – verbal and physical. We see that the victim prefers to remain silent, fearing the judgement of others.

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Bamboo Heart: A Daughter’s Quest by Ann Bennett

Mar26

Powerful & Heart-Wrenching

The Bamboo Heart: A Daughter’s Quest by Ann Bennett is a powerful historical novel. It is based on the author’s father’s wartime experiences as a POW on the Thai Burma railway and is absolutely heart breaking.

The novel is set over two time periods – 1943 onwards in Malaya, and in London in 1986. It is linked by the young man in 1943 who became the elderly father in 1986.

The father had never spoken of his time as a POW. It is only after his death that his daughter goes on a quest to find out about her father’s lost years.

Ann Bennett pulls no punches. This is a very hard-hitting read. The Japanese (though a gentle nation now) were brutal to all those in captivity. The comprehensive detail of the sufferings makes this a very hard read. But it is a necessary read. We need to know what happened so we never forget the generation of young men who went to war, and returned changed, if they returned at all.

We witness a beautiful budding love that is brutally ripped away by war. This contrasts sharply with a selfish, young, egotistical young man in 1986.

The title Bamboo Heart “means that the heart has been permanently weakened by starvation” at some time in the past.

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The Lotus House by Ann Bennett

Dec8

Powerful& Harrowing

The Lotus House by Ann Bennett is a powerful historical novel that I just could not put down.

The story begins in 1941 at Pearl Harbor as we follow a young nurse through that devastating December day, and across the seas to the Philippines.

All too soon, the Philippines are occupied by the Imperial Japanese army. The nursing staff are in retreat once more. Eventually we see that the remainder of their war is within a prison camp. “It was hard to imagine… how a war could be raging in these idyllic… peaceful islands.”

The action alternates between the young nurse and an army captain. We see their wars are similar but different as he, too, ends up in a prisoner of war camp.

There is much bravery, grit and determination needed to survive, as well as luck. Any day your name could be written on a bullet.

We see the camaraderie and support between the nurses, the soldiers and the indigenous population of all ages.

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