Today’s Team Review is from Judith she blogs at http://judithbarrowblog.com/
Judith has been reading Back Home by Tom Williams
My Review:
This is a brilliant read; a fascinating story tale of mystery in the slums of Victorian London. And the research done by Tom Williams into the social, business, industrial changes of this era and the study of the environment of both city and countryside is both obvious and admirable
As this is the third of John Williamson’s story and, as I have yet to read the first two books, I appreciated the explanatory Foreword; a very useful summary for the reader a good account of the protagonist’s previous life and background that immediately brings the character to life. It made it easier for me to begin to understand his motivations and decisions.
Told in the first person point of view of the protagonist this is a man who has lived for many years in different countries and, although now rich and respected, his return to Britain becomes fraught with many dangers.
The dialogue, especially the internal dialogue of John Williamson is excellent. Although, in many circumstances, ‘showing’ any action, detailing parts of a story, is a preferable way of writing, in this novel the ‘telling ‘ is essential and adds to rounding out the character. And the dialogue and language of the other characters give a real flavour of the era and their status in society.
The sense of place is evoked succinctly through both the words of the protagonist and the descriptions; the atmosphere of despair, the bleakness of the world of these characters, the depths of poverty, conspiracies and lack of morals underpins the whole of the book. There is even an appearance of Karl Marx to add authenticity to the times.
I loved everything about Back Home and have no hesitation in recommending this book.
Buying Links:
Amazon.co.uk: http://amzn.to/1qFA3Xw
Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/1Vg0kbG
Rosie Amber 
Great to see another excellent review for a book I loved, too! 🙂
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Cheers, Terry. It is a great read.
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Great review and also interesting to read your comment about the need for the ‘telling’. I believe that it is sometimes necessary but so many do not share my opinion. Also the love the idea of the internal dialogue – often very effective.
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Just shows there is never a complete “right” or “wrong” way to write.
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Indeed, Roaie!
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It works so well in this book, Annika. I suppose it depends if the author knows he/she is ‘telling’ on purpose and not because they don’t know they’re doing it. Show don’t tell is such a good rule normally. But rules are meant to be broken and here it works wonderfully. And the internal dialogue is just brilliant.
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Couldn’t agree more, Annika. If you ‘showed’ everything, a book would be three times its normal length. You find plenty of ‘telling’ in even the most successful trad pub books.
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First person is difficult to show rather than tell, I think. Wonderful review.I’m intrigued by all the research and always find specific time periods described quite interesting. 🙂
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I think it is the incredible details of the time and places that underline the book that I loved, Tess. I’ve never written a book in first person so always admire an author who can pull it off.
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Funny, innit? I find it the most easy and automatic way to write, to be in the character’s head. I dislike that sometimes it’s necessary to do 3rd instead – all of my current WIP is in 3rd because it wouldn’t have worked in 1st, and I’m finding it really difficult.
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Thanks, Judiith! Pinned & shared. 🙂
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