This was a terrific love story, of love unrequited, about war and bravery, about fear and honour, and it is has something of a happy ending. ( )

A long work of historical fiction set in World War I Europe. Highly acclaimed, but a little to much soap opera content for my tastes. Solid images of trench warfare, and of the contrasts between the front lines and life in areas where no fighting was in progress. ( )

Haunting story of love and war. Harrowing images of WWI and what the unimaginable horror the troops endured. ( )

Oy vey. Sebastian Faulks is the Leonard Cohen of romance novels--in the you-want-to-slit-your-wrists-after-reading-him sense. The problem is he takes you there, too effectively.

Usually I'd give him 5 stars, which is unquestionably what the quality of his writing deserves. But in this case there was so much graphic violence and (gratuitous in many cases IMHO) and horrors of war (WWI nonetheless) I skipped large passages describing brains leaking out of skulls etc...

So 5 stars for quality of writing and taking me there. 3 stars for subject matter I found too gory for my taste. ( )

BIRDSONG was a book that i found to be a little confusing in places, however the overall story was intriguing and rather moving, giving an excellent alternative perspective of the great war. Whilst it was a lengthy, and sometimes slow read, I am looking forward to studying it and exploring its themes further. ( )