At The Going Down Of The Sun And In The Morning, We Will Remember Them

The River Between Us by Liz Fenwick is a powerful dual timeline novel about life, love and loss. The love found within its pages radiates outwards to encompass the reader.

The novel is set in present day and mainly in 1914 and up to 1921. As the dates suggest, this is a time of loss. A whole generation of young men were lost as cannon fodder to the battle fields of France.

Love is the main theme. There are many different sorts of love – that of a mother, of children towards their parents, of a nanny towards her charges and between couples. In 1914 some of this love was forbidden.

This links to the theme of identity. Some characters had to hide who they were for fear of judgment and/or incarceration.

1914 was a frustrating time for women. They were seeking the vote, marriage alliances were for wealth and power and not for love, love matches between the different social classes were a no-no.