Yvonne‘ALL FALL DOWN‘ by JENNY OLDFIELD
Dark Days – September 1939
The wireless kept up its steady hum in the corner of the living room as Sadie sat in a shaft of sunlight on a perfect September morning. In her mind’s eye she could see the slick crooner huddled over the microphone, oozing syrupy words to his lady love ….. The wireless whined and whistled.
A thin voice came wavering over the air waves, deadly serious. Germany had considered the British request to withdraw from Poland, but the Prime Minister confirmed the worst. “I have to tell you that no such undertaking has been received and that consequently this country is at war with Germany.”….
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I know that in these times of instant communication, we are all used to hearing about death and war in just about every corner of the world and like to think that in many ways we are immune to the news reports of new uprisings.
I just wonder what our true reaction would be if we were to hear tomorrow that our own country was at war with another, at risk of invasion and that almost every man and woman below a certain age, would be needed to fight, should traditional warfare still be an option!
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My favorite part of this opener is the description of Sadie imagining the singer from the radio. While I grew up watching my share of TV, I came from a “radio family” and have a great affection for the place the “wireless” held in a household. I still listen to satellite radio in my car, but in many ways it’s just not the same.
I’m currently reading Cold Moon by Alexandra Sokoloff. Here’s the first line from the prologue:
“The moon is high, spilling icy light through the pine branches.”
Hi Kelly,
We still had radio only during my very young childhood and even when we did get a TV, programmes were only available for a certain amount of hours, at various times during the day.
Our wireless was on almost 24/7 as my mum loved her music. Both my mum and dad were into country and western music and I can always remember my dad switching to the sports channel when he got home from work in the evening, to listen to either football or boxing.
News reports were also listened to avidly, although it is difficult to imagine now, that that was our only contact with the world outside our own shores 🙂
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I love watching the sky at night, so although the trees around our house are not pines, I can visualise your opening lines beautifully.
I did go back and check out the premise for this book, just to refresh my memory about what you were reading and I loved this line from the synopsis …
“Roarke will have to go on the hunt…and every woman he meets, even those closest to him, may prove deadly.”
Enjoy the book and have a good weekend 🙂
Hi,
Sounds interesting. Enjoy your book.
Have a great day!
Hi Sherrie,
Thanks for deciding to visit Fiction Books today. I enjoy ‘meeting’ new people, so your visits will always be welcome and your comments always appreciated 🙂
‘All Fall Down’ is the third installment of a saga featuring the residents of Paradise Court, part of London’s East End. As the books span the time from World War l to World War ll and the intervening years, many of the characters are changed from book to book, thus enabling them to work well as stand alone stories.
‘Happy Reading’ and have a good weekend 🙂
I grew up in the day of TV with 24 hour programming – 7 days a week and while my parents did listen to and still occasionally listen to the radio (certain talk shows and sports) – I’ve always thought of the radio more for entertainment than news – though I understand what Sadie felt as she listened because of how quickly technology moves now – what you used yesterday might not be used tomorrow the same way. This sounds like a book I would enjoy reading – love reading historical novels about WW2 – Will have to check it out. Here’s My Friday Post
Hi Maria,
I used to read this genre of story extensively, however, of late, I find that I much prefer a good murder/mystery or thriller and only reach for contemporary or historical fiction on rare occasions.
When I think of just how much change there has been in the 50+ years I have been around, I can have complete sympathy with my 80s and 90s parents and in-laws, when they complain of confusion with modern technology.
Radio was always the ‘window on the world’ and I can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for the families left at home, to receive such limited and often inaccurate news about their loved ones out on the battlefield! They often waited months or even years to receive news about the death or capture, when in this day and age, we would expect to know within hours or days!
Thanks for visiting this week and have a lovely weekend 🙂
“wireless” means something completely different today. I wonder how many under the age of 25 will realise a wireless was a radio and not a way in which to connect technology! 🙂
Not my kind of book, but one I think Mum would enjoy.
Hi Nikki,
What a great observation about the radio / wireless scenario – I hadn’t even given it a thought!
I must admit that in conversation even I use radio, rather than wireless – although there are times when I still have the horrendous chore of tuning the car radio and I can then see my father using the over-sized tuning knob on the front of our microwave sized wireless set; or remember my younger brother setting off for town with his mates, with a ghetto blaster the size of computer tower balanced on his shoulder!
Sorry, I do hope that memories don’t put me in the camp of elderly material, as in a few short years, your own memories will be viewed in much the same way 🙂
Thanks for visiting and I hope that you are well now 🙂