Whittell, Giles (2007). Spitfire Women of World War II. London: Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0-00-723535-3. Bien, el Le Corbusier es suyo si en una semana, es decir, en ciento sesenta y ocho horas, es capaz de resolver usted el único problema en dos movimientos de Nabokov que tengo en casa.” The ensemble cast - and there are plenty more who make an appearance and an impact on the story - make for an entertaining read. The plot is simple enough, following mostly Viola and Tina, but isn't really about plot. It's more a very shrewd, slightly caustic (in its honesty), deeply ironic look at early 20th century British society, still deeply classist, still obsessed with money and who has it, with vanities fair and foul. I half expected Victor's cousin Hetty, who scorns their flashy lifestyle and grand house with a snobbery equal to theirs, and reads a lot of poetry and other "deep" works, to be a sensible, even wise character: but no, she's held up as being just as foolish as anyone else. In a way, it makes for an evenly-told story. Mr George Wills Guft of Leigh Woods". Western Daily Press. 31 March 1909. p.7 . Retrieved 18 May 2015– via British Newspaper Archive. In 1909 part of the woodland was donated to the National Trust by the tobacco company owner George Alfred Wills. [18] He did this to prevent housing development on the western side of the gorge as Bristol grew in size and population. [19] In 1974 the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food bought the woodland associated with the Leigh Court estate. [20] Areas not owned by the National Trust have since been taken over by Forestry England.

I would give this book ten out of ten. It’s a history story telling you about life just after World War 2 but you also get to know all the characters because Lucy Strange expresses their feelings so well: you remember them for a long time. Nightingales are almost overexposed in poetry, but trying to describe its song, writes Lee, is like recounting a dream to a barista the next morning: it doesn’t quite work. Lee tells how Keats’s evocation of a nightingale singing outside his window on Hampstead Heath is widely disparaged, not least by DH Lawrence and John Clare. The latter, thinks Lee, gets closest to conveying the nightingale’s magic – but the musician himself delivers a fine appreciation of its song.The widowed (& nearly penniless)Viola feels she has no choice but to accept her starchy in-laws offer of a home. The Wither family (great choice of surname!) are frozen in their tyrannical father's idea of time. The rest of them are miserable! Viola, young, spendthrift and none too bright, is wondering if she made a terrible mistake leaving her friend's home in London. But then comes the Charity Ball...

Tina, and her slow, sweet romance with Saxon the astonishingly beautiful chauffeur, ended up being my favorite part of the book - and an entirely unexpected one. All of their scenes are lovely, but not overly saccharine - there's a realism to how their relationship builds, and I absolutely loved how mutual it ultimately was. Saxon attempts to be mercenary at the beginning, but kind, thoughtful, interesting Tina entirely wins him over. Gibbons declared she wanted Nightingale Wood to be Cinderella brought "right up to date" – but now it's fascinating as a period piece. Gibbons is superb on middle class life in the years immediately before the second world war, on the erosions of class division and ongoing snobbery. There's something stupid and sad and lost about her quiet genteel characters trying to pretend that life can go quietly on as ominous noises from Europe grow ever louder. There's plenty that's enraging about the stifling judgements that this society heaps on women. There are a few hilarious moments and a funny comic character in the form of a hermit who lives in the woods near the suburban Essex setting, but generally there aren't so many of the big belly laughs of Cold Comfort Farm. This satire is far subtler, relying on icicle wit and sharp observation to lambast conventional morality. The history of it makes me want to visit a house similar to the Hope House. The language is captivating and bewitching; I would love if there were a sequel. Lucy Strange has been successful in writing a piece of heart-felt literature. Las fronteras entre ficción y realidad se vuelven difusas y Kratochvil aprovecha para discutir sobre ello:The writing is SO funny. "It is difficult to make a dull garden, but Mr. Wither had succeeded." "Mrs. Wither had come in, but he took no notice of her because he had seen her before." Gibbons is also excellent at describing nature. The beauty of the scenery is felt by the reader & the characters who feel so strongly. Some of them want simple things like a dog. Another wants love & beauty. Into this gloomy house comes Viola, who is herself not very intelligent, nor does she have great depth of feeling. But, she has always had a great crush on the Withers' neighbour, Victor Spring, a very handsome and wealthy bachelor and businessman. Victor is just as flawed as everyone else - you won't find a single character in Nightingale Wood who comes across as completely sympathetic; at the very least, they're depicted as a bit of a twit. With Victor, the object of Viola's mad love, he's less than honourable with women: