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Reviews
Please note that these are excerpts from reviews, as
synopses of the plots of The Muskoka Novels (sometimes containing
plot-spoliers) are not included here.
The Book Chick - Jonita Fex
Just like The Summer Before the Storm, Elusive
Dawn had me riveted from the beginning. Once again Gabriele Wills has done
an almost superhuman amount of research and has managed to combine her
knowledge into an incredibly readable book about the horrors of war. The
descriptions of the scenes and the terrible things that everyone encounters
felt very real, and since I started reading this on Remembrance Day it helped
me to relate more to the soldiers who were sent overseas so many years ago.
That's something that Canada has lost, I think. We haven't lost respect for our
Veterans, but rather we have lost true understanding of the horrors of war.
Despite the fact that some of our soldiers remain overseas fighting for our
country we remain very much unaffected by war at home. I appreciated this new
perspective.
The characters are every bit as relatable as they were
when we first met them. Victoria Wyndham remains my favourite because of her
spunk and her rebellious streak, but all of the characters that we meet, both
new additions and old, are likable, and those who are not likable, are
relatable in some way.... Even though the book is largely set overseas where
the war is taking place, I loved that some of the scenes were set back in
Muskoka with the characters who weren't fighting in the war. I particularly
enjoyed reading Phoebe's story, a troubled girl who is a sister to one of the
more central characters. I hope that her story continues in the final
installment of the series.
The fact that I enjoyed Elusive Dawn so much is a
compliment to the author, as I don't tend to gravitate towards historical
fiction all that often. The more serious sections about the war are
interspersed with lighter and more personal fare, so that we can continue to
get to know the characters that we met in the last book. Wills has written a
worthy follow-up to The Summer Before the Storm, and I eagerly
anticipate the release of the final book in the series.
Favourite Books: The Muskoka Novels by
Gabriele Wills
Highly recommended... Elusive Dawn
by
Gisela Kretzschmar, "Focus on Books"
"Monty had cleverly crafted the story to depict not only a
generation, but also a society blighted by the war." This quote from Summer
Before the Storm does very well apply to Elusive Dawn.
Both Muskoka Novels take readers on a journey through
heaven and hell and anything in between, chasing them across a rollercoaster of
actions and emotions. At the same time they are providing lots of information
about WWI and deep insights in the attitude towards life during those times.
They are historical fiction at its best.
Gabriele Wills: Die
Muskoka-Romane
by Gisela Kretzschmar, "Bücher im Blickpunkt
"
Was mich in diesem zweiten Band immer wieder fasziniert
hat, waren die Gegensätze, die das Leben dieser jungen Menschen
prägten - die meisten kamen aus einem begüterten Elternhaus, waren
über alle Maßen verwöhnt, hatten es noch nie nötig gehabt,
sich selbst ein Bad einzulassen oder gar einen benutzten Teller abzuwaschen,
und nun mussten sie sich unter primitivsten Verhältnissen einrichten, alle
nur erdenklichen Entbehrungen ertragen und Heldentaten vollbringen, auf die sie
in keiner Weise vorbereitet waren. Gleichwohl blieben sie privilegiert, denn im
Urlaub oder nach einer Verwundung kehrten sie vorübergehend in ihre eigene
Welt zurück (repräsentiert durch Verwandte und Freunde in
Großbritannien), in der Geld und Beziehungen immer noch ein
vergleichsweise luxuriöses Leben gewährten... bis sie wieder
zurück an die Front mussten, um neue Herausforderungen zu bestehen.
Indem sie diese Welten gegeneinander setzt und zeigt, wie
sie sich gegenseitig beeinflussen, schickt die Autorin ihre LeserInnen auf eine
Reise durch Himmel und Hölle, jagt sie über eine Achterbahn der
Gefühle und lässt sie an der beeindruckenden persönlichen
Entwicklung ihrer Protagonisten teilnehmen. Nicht alle überleben, aber wer
überlebt, ist von Grund auf ein anderer Mensch geworden.
Beide Bücher haben alles, was man sich von einem
guten historischen Roman nur wünschen kann: Die Handlung ist spannend und
fesselnd, die (fiktiven) Charaktere entfalten sich oft überraschend, aber
doch immer psycholgisch nachvollziehbar und hinterlassen tiefe Spuren, der
historische Rahmen ist hervorragend recherchiert und packend geschildert, und
ganz nebenbei lernt man eine Menge über den Ersten Weltkrieg und gewinnt
tiefe Einsichten in das Lebensgefühl einer ganzen Generation und ihrer
Zeit.
Second Muskoka Novel
Released!
by Kim Good
"The Muskoka Sun", Spring
2009
A sequel to Gabriele Wills' The Summer
Before the Storm, Elusive Dawn is billed as Book 2 of The Muskoka
Novels. Picking up where the first book left off, the now familiar cast of
characters are in the midst of the First World War, with only their memories of
happier times together each summer in Muskoka to keep them going.
Wills prides herself with her historical
accuracy and realistic depiction of the era in which her novels are set, and
once again she does not disappoint. In Elusive Dawn, the reader is left
with a sense of what life must have been like for the thousands of Canadians
who had little choice but to take part in a war that tore loved ones apart and
ripped both men and women from their homeland.
Bound by summers in Muskoka, the cast of
friends and relations in The Muskoka Novels endure life and death, love and
hope, throughout the war years. As both Elusive Dawn and the war draw to
a close, the reader is left with the promise that the Wyndham family legacy
will continue as the weary comrades return "home" to Muskoka for Book 3 of The
Muskoka Novels.
Good Read: Muskoka Novels sequel
Elusive Dawn fulfills expectations .The continuing fictional
saga opens a window on the life and times of Muskoka's elite in the
1900s.
by Gillian Brunette
"Huntsville Forester", Feb. 25,
2009
The only drawback to becoming immersed in
an ongoing saga is that after finishing one book there is the long, anticipated
wait for the sequel. Such was the case with Gabrielle Wills' The Summer
Before the Storm. Turning the final page of the book, I was left wondering
what was to become of the rich cast of fictitious characters who had become my
friends over the previous 500 or so pages....
A year went by before Elusive Dawn,
the second book in the Muskoka Novels, was published. Set in Muskoka, the U.S,
Britain and France, the story continues to follow the lives, loves and fortunes
of a generation challenged by the Great War.
Eagerly I took my copy to re-acquaint
myself with [the characters], who had traded Muskoka waters for the deadly
skies above France, and extravagant mansions for festering war-torn
trenches....
Wills weaves a compelling tale,
intertwining meticulously researched fact with fiction. Many of the characters'
experiences are loosely based upon those of real people and actual incidents.
Adventures with Canadian ace pilot Billy Bishop, and Max Aitken (later to
become Lord Beaverbrook), the Halifax explosion and the Great Influenza
Pandemic of 1918, for example, all serve to provide historical insight to the
horrors of the 'war to end all wars'. Elusive Dawn certainly met my
expectations, and once again I anxiously await the next installment.
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