NOW CLOSED: Discovering Diamonds: A Discovering Diamonds Review of: IMPACT by Rosalind Minett.

Amazon UK £9.99 Paperback

Amazon US $4.37 (e-book only)

Family Saga / Coming of Age

1940s / WWII

England

[Discovering Diamonds was provided with e-book review copies of this title in the format of two separate published books, Impact Part One and Part Two, This was slightly disconcerting for our reviewer who felt that breaking the e-book up in this manner spoilt the flow from part one to part two. However, having communicated with the author she made the decision to withdraw the two-part version and republish as one complete book. In my opinion this was a wise and sensible move. Helen]

Impact is the third book in a trilogy about a family torn apart by World War II.

The obvious first question is: should the reader have read the first two books in the trilogy (Intrusion and Infiltration) in order to fully appreciate Impact? My answer would have to be that it is not necessary, but advisable. My enjoyment of Impact was not significantly impaired by not having read the earlier volumes, but I did feel it would have helped to have had a better understanding of what lies behind the hostility between Bill and his cousin Kenneth which is the source of the central conflict in the novel, particularly as this is a good story.

At the start of Impact, Bill and his mother arrive back at their London home as Victory in Europe has been declared. The war in the Far East is still continuing. The women and children have been evacuated to the countryside in order to escape the bombing of England's capital city (the period covered in the earlier books). The men are serving in the forces.

The book follows Bill's adolescence in post-war London with its bomb sites and shortages of food and clothing, as he matures from a twelve-year-old boy helping his mother and grandparents, into a teenager about to embark on National Service. But it is his relationship with his older but weaker cousin, Kenneth, that gives unwanted shape to his life, a constant source of simmering resentment.

The style of writing changes subtly as the boys age, the early chapters using language appropriate for a twelve-year-old, such as might be found in one of Enid Blyton's juvenile mysteries featuring the Famous Five or the Secret Seven. By the time we reach part two, with both boys now in their mid-teens, the language is more mature, though still using expressions in dialogue which, whilst commonplace in that time and place, seem archaic today.

In some ways the relationship between Bill and Kenneth is reminiscent of that between Tom Brown and Flashman in Thomas Hughes's nineteenth century classic, Tom Brown's Schooldays. Bill is the quiet, hard-working, kind and athletic, rather than intellectual, character, whilst Kenneth is the academically gifted bully. The characters are so well drawn that, as with Hughes's novel, it is not impossible to feel some sympathy for both.

There are other parallels: Hughes's novel is deeply revealing of Victorian attitudes to society and class; Ms Minett's, similarly, exposes the snobbery and contempt for the labouring classes that existed among the suburban middle classes in 1940s Britain. The well drawn period details provide a believably realistic context for the development of both plot and character. Although I did spot one error regarding the radio show Round the Horn, which was in fact, first broadcast later than this novel depicts.

The story progresses steadily towards the shocking climax of Part One which drives the reader to continue reading into Part Two in order to discover the consequence for both boys.

Impact provides a reminder for my generation (I was born in 1941) of how different life was in those distant, mid-twentieth century, days. For younger readers it offers valuable insights into the hardships and sacrifices their grandparents made in order to create the many social and educational advantages they enjoy.