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1 BeavertonLiterature- A to Z


Resistance
by Owen Sheers

Resistance Cover

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Powells.com Staff Pick

A great read that combines the plot of a thriller (Normandy invasion fails; Hitler successfully invades England) with the subtle language of poetry. You are propelled through this story by characters that make you care about a time that never was and a history that never happened.
Recommended by Miriam, Powells.com

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

1944. After the fall of Russia and the failed D-Day landings, a German counterattack lands on British soil. Within a month, half of Britain is occupied. The seat of British government has fled to Worcester, Churchill to Canada. A network of British resistance cells is all that is left to defy the German army.

Against this backdrop, Resistance opens with Sarah Lewis, a twenty-six-year-old farmer's wife, waking to find her husband, Tom, has disappeared. She is not alone, as all the other women in the Welsh border valley of Olchon wake to find their husbands gone. With this sudden and unexplained absence, the women regroup as an isolated, all-female community and wait, hoping for news.

Later, a German patrol arrives in the valley, the purpose of their mission a mystery. When a severe winter forces the two groups together, a fragile mutual dependency develops. Sarah begins a faltering acquaintance with the patrol's commanding officer, Albrecht Wolfram, and it is to her that he reveals the purpose of the patrol. But as the pressure of the war beyond presses in on this isolated community, this fragile state of harmony is increasingly threatened.

Imbued with immense imaginative breadth and confidence, Owen Sheers's debut novel unfolds with the pace and intensity of a thriller. A hymn to the glorious landscape of the Welsh border territories and a portrait of a community under siege, Resistance is a first novel of grace and power.

Review:

"The D-Day landings have failed, and Russia has fallen. Within a short time, half of Britain is occupied by Germans. Churchill and members of his Cabinet follow King George to Canada.

This is what we discover in the gripping pages of 'Resistance,' a first novel by Welsh writer Owen Sheers. He bases this daring alternate history on the existence of very real resistance pockets that... Washington Post Book Review (read the entire Washington Post review)

Review:

"A remarkable work of speculative imagination. Sheers writes with an austere, bracing beauty perfectly attuned to the stark lives (and loves) of his characters. The result is that rare gift, a literary thriller whose pages we turn slowly, even regretfully, savoring every word." Peter Ho Davies

Review:

"Resistance is at once a brilliant and sometimes frightening thriller, and a mature exploration of human blur and compromise." The Guardian (London)

Review:

"Resistance [is] an impressive debut and confirms Sheers as a writer whose talent encompasses a variety of literary forms." Observer (London)

Review:

"With an eye for exquisite detail, Sheers explores unimaginable heartbreak, cowardice, and patriotism." Very Short List

Review:

"Sheers has written a suspenseful narrative set against a beautifully evoked landscape. Highly recommended." Library Journal

About the Author

Owen Sheers is the author of The Dust Diaries, two volumes of poetry, and several works for the stage, radio, and television. He grew up in Wales and now lives in London.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
caribousmom, March 9, 2008 (view all comments by caribousmom)
Resistance is a fully imagined, beautifully constructed novel about grief and survival during wartime. Sheers has won the Eric Gregory Award and the Vogue Young Writer's Award for his first poetry collection, and the lyrical language in Resistance reminds the reader of those literary roots. As the story progresses, the reader is treated to graceful descriptions of the Welsh countryside with all its colors, smells, and sights. The brutality of the environment is mixed with its beauty, creating a backdrop which is perfect for the plot. Sheers builds tension between the characters gradually, revealing their motivations with the fine touch of an artist. Sheers also exposes their fears and weaknesses which creates characters of depth who are fully realized.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780385522106
Author:
Sheers, Owen
Publisher:
Random House
Subject:
Literary
Subject:
World war, 1939-1945
Subject:
Wales
Publication Date:
February 2008
Binding:
Hardcover
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
306
Dimensions:
9.32x6.62x1.09 in. 1.31 lbs.