So Much Life Left Over (Vintage International)

by Louis de Bernieres

A sweeping, heartbreaking novel following Daniel in his troubled marriage with Rosie as they navigate the unsettled time between the World Wars.

Rosie and Daniel have moved to Ceylon with their little daughter to start a new life at the dawn of the 1920s, attempting to put the trauma of the First World War behind them, and to rekindle a marriage that gets colder every day. However, even in the lush plantation hills it is hard for them to escape the ties of home and the yearning for fulfilment that threatens their marriage.

Back in England, Rosie's three sisters are dealing with different challenges in their searches for family, purpose and happiness. These are precarious times, and they find themselves using unconventional means to achieve their desires. Around them the world is changing, and when Daniel finds himself in Germany he witnesses events taking a dark and forbidding turn.

By turns humorous and tragic, gripping and touching, So Much Life Left Over follows a cast of unique and captivating characters as they navigate the extraordinary interwar years both in England and abroad.

• ISBN10: 1911215639
• ISBN13: 9781911215639
• Publish Date: 5 July 2018
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 8 April 2021
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Vintage Publishing
• Imprint: Harvill Secker
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 288
• Language: English

Reviews

[jamiereadthis]

No one does more harm than someone who’s obstinately trying to stick to a principle.

I almost didn’t make it past the first few chapters because: Rosie. Then I learned it was a sequel, but won’t be reading the first one because: Rosie. Each chapter with her made me want to pull out my hair. My least favorite type of character.

The non-Rosie parts were still only marginally successful, but had enough interesting things about the interwar years that I kept reading. It was partly for research, so had it been purely for pleasure, I might not have pressed on.