Alice Dickinson, una joven inglesa que acaba de pasar una dolorosa ruptura sentimental, viaja a Normandía para conocer a la abuela a la que nunca ha visto y la que tampoco tenía noticias de su existencia. Esta le dice que, a pesar de las dificultades a las que se ha enfrentado su familia, en su pasado hay una historia de amor verdadera que ella debe conocer.
Corre el verano de 1942, Kitty, cuyo encanto no deja indiferente a ningún hombre, es reclutada junto a su amiga, la pragmática Louisa, como conductora del Servicio Territorial Auxiliar en Sussex. Allí conoce a Ed, un comando de los Royal Marines, y a Larry, oficial de enlace a las órdenes de lord Mountbatten. Kitty se enamora rápidamente de Ed y de su melancólica tristeza tras ser rescatada por éste del asedio de unos vocingleros soldados. Ed también se enamora de Kitty. Al igual que Larry.
Kitty y Ed se casan, pero apenas pueden disfrutar de la luna de miel. Ed y Larry deben reunirse con sus unidades para participar en el desembarco en Dieppe, en la parte norte de Francia, ocupada por los alemanes. Ed cae prisionero mientras Larry logra escapar de esta sangrienta y fallida operación militar que les cambia la vida. Ya no será igual para ninguno de ellos.

I pulled this book off the library shelf after my mother recommended a book by the name "Motherland" not knowing the author of suggested book, I grabbed all the available titles at my local library. I am glad I read this random (not the book my mother meant) copy. The story starts out slowly, we get to know the background characters and feel unfamiliar with who they are, suddenly going into a whole 'nother story; this- a true love story mixed with all the disappointment felt disappointing at times.

Nell, makes the book more lighthearted than Kitty and that is huge. Kitty, the beautiful one, the happy one, becomes drained and not so happy. Life is like this, we fall in love with the wrong man and yet, give our hearts fully to them.

The characters became more fleshed out over time but it took a very long time, all the while you are frustrated with Larry's choice for a wife. How in the world can she be that hollow, that resigned to do as she thinks he wants? She never could be his because she never was alive enough!!!

Over all this book was good, I loved the way it ended. ( )

Mixed feelings about this one. Enjoyment, annoyance, historical interest, boredom - the characters are dreadful middle class stereotypes, and male authors can never seem to write women for women, but the factual bones of the story (Dieppe, India, Fyffes) are well written. The heavy-handed 'themes' of religion and morality really bog the whole book down, though - yeah, yeah, Catholic men expect their wives to be angels but want sex without commitment from 'independent' women, whatever. I don't think there was one female - or male, come to think - character that I really cared about. Larry the banana heir is described as having a pug nose at one point, so that strikes him out, and Kitty and Ed are equally pathetic. She is the type of beautiful, nurturing 'angel' that only men would fantasise about (a more succinct title would have been Everybody Loves Kitty), he the dashing yet depressed war hero she ends up stuck with after a wartime roll in the hay. The whole thing reminded me of Brideshead but without the style. ( )

Motherland is a novel about love, loyalty and the challenges we face both internally and externally. The setting of the novel is primarily in England both during and immediately after WWII. Nicholson has researched his setting well, seamlessly weaving his fictional characters with real life people and situations.

Larry and Ed are best friends who have joined the fight in two very different capacities. Within hours of each other, they both meet and fall in love with the same woman. Instinctually, Kitty is drawn to one man over the other and must make a life changing choice as the men are deployed for battle.

As we intimately follow these three characters in the immediately following the end of the war, we see how much of our lives are affected not only by our own inner demons but also of the unknown inner demons of those closest to us. Nicholson’s story also reminds us that not all battle wounds are visible and that even heroes don’t leave the battlefield unscathed.

At the start, I did not necessarily like Nicholson’s writing, there seemed to be more initial dialogue then I usually prefer. It didn’t take long though, for me to fall in love with the book. I loved the blend of historical fiction with a touch of romance and mystery. I’ve read up a bit on William Nicholson, and it seems that he writes in a way to connect each of his novels with each other. They are not necessarily sequels but characters or locations often make “cameo” appearances in his different novels. With that being said, my one disappointment in Motherland was that the section set in India during the partition act was so short. I found myself completely drawn in during these few chapters and craved more. I am hoping that Nicholson’s style of pulling characters and settings from past books in order to write additional novels means that he will revisit this exciting part of British and Indian history.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical and/or literary fiction. There are one or two “adult” scenes in the book but they are short and could be skipped without truly affecting the story by someone uncomfortable with this aspect of writing.

I’d like to thank Simon & Schuster for giving me the opportunity to review Motherland. I truly did enjoy this novel. ( )

Provengo de una larga lista de errores. Y de una historia de amor verdadera. Así es como se cuenta el amor, un amor que resulta épico a los ojos del lector que lo mira. La Historia, mezclada con los sinsabores de la guerra, de las consecuencias del miedo y el terror, buscando a toda costa unos brazos que rodeen nuestro cuerpo, ese cuerpo que tiembla por el frío y por los recuerdos. Una historia de amor verdadera, de aquellas que hacen recorrer una pequeña brisa alrededor del cuerpo, que remueve, que palpita con la misma sangre que bombea en nuestro corazón, que nos miente con sus palabras cuando lo realmente importante son los silencios. ( )