Someone Else’s Conflict by Alison Layland

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Someone Else's ConflictSomeone Else’s Conflict by Alison Layland

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Someone Else’s Conflict is contemporary read set in the English Dales. Jay Spinney is a street entertainer, a man whose past means he’s unable to settle in one place, he’s constantly on the move.

Marilyn stops in the market place to listen to the entertainer and has her purse stolen by a desperate young man. Vinko is an illegal immigrant who yearns for a place to belong. He knows his Grandparents live in the area, but will they ever accept him if he can pluck up the courage to visit them?

A huge storm blows through and causes a landslide up in the Dales where Marilyn lives alone, the electric and telephones are cut off for several days. Jay has camped in a field near by and offers to help Marilyn clear away the debris. She’s unsure of him, shouldn’t trust him, but she needs the help. They form a shaky friendship. Jay has nightmares, he shouts out in a foreign language and his past haunts him daily.

Horrors of war torn Yugoslavia stay with Jay and even though the war is over the fighting is not yet past.

This book grabbed me from the start and sucked me in, I knew very little about what happened to all the innocent people who were caught up in the war between the Croatians and Serbians. Like so many wars is pulled in people with their ideals, their beliefs, but things change, power takes over, anger and madness become the leaders and soldiers make decisions they later regret.

The reader is cleverly drip fed the storyline as it mixes with the lives of those who live today in the Dales, it worked really well. There are so many layers to Jay that get peeled away right up until the very end. Loved it.

This review is based on a free copy of the book give to me by Honno Press

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

View all my reviews on Goodreads

18 thoughts on “Someone Else’s Conflict by Alison Layland”

  1. THis sounds brilliant, right up my street. And guess what? I’d go and buy it now if I didn’t already have 40 books waiting to be read. Instead, it will be written on the to-read list, and may get bought in a few months’ time. I reckon that’s most of the difficulty writers face these days – too many books, too little time. I think I’ll let this one jump the queue, tho!!

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  3. Great review and you’ve sold me on the book. Having grown up in the beautiful Yorkshire. Dales – likely – and fascinated by the Balkan war I am definitely getting this. Many thanks for post.

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  7. A great review Rosie, and having recently read Someone Else’s Conflict I agree with everything you say! I found Alison’s novel gripping and touching in equal quantities, and I particularly liked your line about all the layers to Jay that get peeled away right up until the end. The characters in this novel stay with you long after the story concludes…

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  8. Thank you everyone for your lovely comments – and to Rosie for the great review! I totally understand about TBRs (mine is huge!) but hope you enjoy it whenever you can. 🙂

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