A Son of War - Brossura

A stunning piece of work ... One hopes that it will prove to be just the second instalment in what's set to be a potentially classic series. (Observer)

So heart-rendingly good that it has the reader clamouring for more. The evocation of time and place is immaculate - it was a masterstroke to start the story in the infamously cold winter of 1947. But it is the charcaterisation that sets the book above other tales of childhood. The growing boy, loved, if not always treasured, by parents who find themselves pulling in different directions, is a genuine figure of pathos. (Sally Cousins, Sunday Telegraph)

So heart-rendingly good that it has the reader clamouring for more. The evocation of time and place is immaculate ... But it is the charcaterisation that sets the book above other tales of childhood. (Sally Cousins, Sunday Telegraph)

A finely drawn picture of a changing postwar England and a moving portrait of a family trying to come to terms with itself. There are echoes of Lawrence here, both in subject matter and tone, but Bragg doesn't suffer by the comparison. It's a stunning piece of work, beautifully written with a style that's both simple and emotionally intense. One hopes that it will prove to be just the second instalment in what's set to be a potentially classic series. (Observer)

Bragg depicts northern working-class life with a documented clarity softened by tenderness and compassion for his characters. His portrayal of Ellen and of Joe's childhood joys and confusions, adolescent fears and awareness of his station in life, are acutely drawn. And in Sam he has created a character of quiet dignity and infuriating stubbornness. It is a story of a now vanished world told with deep affection by a master of his craft ... a work of real integrity ... Joe's meeting with his idol Denis Compton at a test match is a timeless account of childhood wish-fulfilment, and the occasional flashes of girlish excitement that illuminate his mother's life of self-denial are heartwarming. (Sunday Times)

A story of a now vanished world told with deep affection by a master of his craft. (Sunday Times)

Alive with autobiographical energies and characters of flesh-and-blood immediacy ... deeply humane and acutely truthful (Peter Kemp, Sunday Times)

[A] perceptive, sparely-written novel ... The trace of memory, Bragg shows us, is an enduring inheritance for each and every one of us. (Lisa Jardine, The Times)

Full of a simple poetry that is deeply evocative ... with a depth of affection that is genuinely moving. A Son of War is even better than The Soldier's Return. (Carol Birch, Independent)

Shot through with blazing integrity and authenticity (Val Hennessy, Daily Mail)

A superb sequel to the prize-winning and bestselling THE SOLDIER'S RETURN