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From the acclaimed author of Corelli's Mandolin: a powerfully evocative and emotional novel, set in the years between the two World Wars, about a closely-knit group of British men and women struggling to cope with the world - and the selves - left to them in the wake of World War I.
They were inseparable childhood friends. Some were lost to the war. The others' lives were unimaginably upended, and now, postwar, they've scattered: to Ceylon and India, France and Germany (and, inevitably, back to Britain) - each of them trying to answer the question that fuels this sweeping novel: "If you have been embroiled in a war... what were you supposed to do with so much life unexpectedly left over?"
As the narrative unfolds in brief, dramatic chapters we follow the old friends as their paths re-cross or their ties fray, as they test loyalties and love, face survivor's grief and guilt, adjust in profound and quotidian ways to this newest modern world. And at their center: Daniel (an RAF flying ace) and Rosie (a war-time nurse), their marriage slowly revealed to be built on lies, Daniel finding solace - and, sometimes, family - with other women, Rosie drawing her religion around herself like a carapace. Here too are Rosie's sisters - a "bohemian," a minister's wife, and a spinster; Daniel's despairing brother; Rosie's "increasingly peculiar" mother and her genial, secretive father. And as peace once more gives way to war, we see it begin to reshape, yet again, the lives of these beautifully drawn women and men.
Reading Guide
"As with superlative World War I literature from Pat Barker's Regeneration trilogy to Sebastian Faulks's Birdsong to Louisa Young's My Dear I Wanted to Tell You, the horrors are vividly evoked. De Bernières is adept at describing how lives can be devastated in minutes ... Powerful ... Delightful ... [With] plenty of Dickensian social observation." - The Independent
"The author drops us right in the trenches, and he shies away from no gruesome detail. But he does it with a delicate touch, weaving a gently evocative story of the war that didn't end all wars but did wrench open the door to the modern world . . . What makes this a good war novel, though, is not its depictions of conflict but its reckoning with what comes after." - Time
"A fresh extension of de Bernières' long-standing interest in the timeless conflicts of love and loyalty ... Moving [and] poignant." - The New York Times Book Review
"Had me laughing, cringing, and ultimately feeling a little spark of hope." - Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
"A book in which readers will happily immerse themselves." - The Scotsman
"A feast of a novel." - The Times (London)
"It's in no sense an escapist novel, not one that pretends that in the end everything will turn out for the best, and that eventually the good will be rewarded for their endurance and virtue. Nevertheless it is written with such vitality, conveying such a strong sense of the pleasure the author has taken in the act of creation that it is essentially a happy novel, not only because it is well-peopled by comic and eccentric characters, but also because De Bernières extends the generosity of his judgements to even those characters who behave badly and know they are behaving badly, but nevertheless persist in their course." - The Scotsman
"So Much Life Left Over is more character-led than plot-driven, but is all the better for it. Best of all is that the unfinished business and unresolved conflict hint at a third act to come in this compelling saga." - The Australian
"Starred Review. The novel is light on plot, but the characters are such excellent company that it makes for an irresistible reading experience, especially for fans of Downton Abbey." - Publishers Weekly
This information about So Much Life Left Over was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Louis de Bernières works include A Partisan's Daughter, Birds Without Wings, Red Dog, Sunday Morning at the Centre of the World, Corelli's Mandolin (Commonwealth Writers' Prize, Best Book, 1995), The Troublesome Offspring of Cardinal Guzman, Señor Vivo and the Coca Lord (Commonwealth Writers' Prize, Best Book, Eurasia Region, 1992), The War of Don Emmanuel's Nether Parts (Commonwealth Writers' Prize, Best Book, Eurasia Region, 1991), The Dust that Falls from Dreams and So Much Life Left Over He was selected by Granta as one of the twenty Best of Young British Novelists in 1993.
Link to Louis de Bernieres's Website
Name Pronunciation
Louis de Bernieres: LOO-ey duh BAIR-nee-air
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