The Kissing Gates - Mackenzie Ford

The Kissing Gates - Mackenzie Ford (2008)

The premise, or so it says on the cover is "One woman. Two lovers. And a wartime secret that will change their lives for ever". So in other words, during the christmas truce of 1914, a German officer gives an English officer a photo of his peacetime girlfriend. English officer gets injured, makes contact with girl, doesn't tell her about meeting. They become involved, but you know a meeting with the German chappie is looming.

I don't know, I struggled with this book. I felt the characters were lacking in charisma, and seemed a bit weak. I also thought that it was a modern story that was made to fit into the time period. I know that even in the 1970's couples living together seemed a big scandal in the neighbourhood. It just seemed all a bit convienant to have the main characters be involved with such progressive ideas or large circumstances like the Christmas truce, relatives who die on the Titanic, be present at the Treaty, become involved in psychology, be around at the development of blood transfusions, etc.... To me it was all a bit Clan of the Cave Bear stuff, you know that one person was unlikely to be present at the dawn of domesticating animals, developing language, inventing the wheel, the sewing machine etc...

It also felt drawn out and a bit overstuffed with too many scenes and trying to fit in too many ideas. I guess I should have stopped and put it down. 1/5