Strange Meeting by Susan Hill


Release Date: 2010
Publishers: Penguin Books Ltd.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 177
My Rating: 5/5

'He was afraid to go to sleep. For three weeks, he had been afraid of going to sleep...'


Young officer John Hilliard returns to his battalion in France following a period of sick leave in England. Despite having trouble adjusting to all the new faces, the stiff and reserved Hilliard forms a friendship with David Barton, an open and cheerful new recruit who has still to be bloodied in battle. As the pair approach the front line, friendship deepens. But each knows that soon they will be separated...


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Although I had to study and analyse this book I did end up really enjoying the plot line.  I have to admit if I were not studying this I would never have picked it up and thought "hmm I might like this novel". This book is totally different from the usual novels I read but overall I really enjoyed the fact that it was a different read. The author Susan Hill is most famously known for her novel 'The Woman In Black' which was adapted to the big screen and starred Daniel Radcliffe and it goes to show how authors can differ in their works, a horror and a war novel (slightly horror - depending on how you think about it). This story follows the life of John Hilliard a young soldier in World War 1, from an injury, going back to France and meeting David Barton, the man to change his life. I absolutely loved the characters created in this novel and the experiences in which they go through and witness are truly horrifying; I mean would you want to be a soldier in WW1? 'Strange Meeting' is separated into three chapter and Hill's novel contains many emotions in which the readers will share with the characters especially Chapter 3 (the ending) which is just a whole other level of emotions flying everywhere.

If you like War novels that is not necessarily about the War, more about how soldiers are affected by it then this is the book for you. I really did enjoy it and I will pick it up every now and again to re-read it.

Enjoy x

Author's Wesbite: Susan Hill
GoodReads:  Strange Meeting 

Available in most book stores and online now.



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