The Summer Before the War

Helen Simonson pens yet another historical narrative, The Summer Before the War, set in a British seaside village during the Edwardian period. Complete with characters with names like Beatrice, Agatha and Hugh, Ms. Simonson charms the reader as these persons face the onset of WWI supplemented by all the nuances of a small town. 

While Downton Abbey dealt with the posh and privileged upperclass and those who served them well, The Summer Before the War opens the window to the lives of those more described as middle class.

Worth a read for all Anglophiles, for sure.

the delightful book cover for the British edition