Fortunes of War: Fortunes of War: The Balkan Trilogy (Paperback)

from dbsovereign

From the first sentence, this book is so real because it is so detailed. How does one tell the story of a war except to have it pervade the lives of your main characters? A mismatched couple struggles to make do (and stay together) through the trials of war (WW2). First in Bucharest and then in A...

from DinadansFriend

I really like the series, and the front half of it is more thrilling than the last. The widely ranging characters, their great depth and the skilful weaving of all sub-plots are entrancing! I admit to having seen the TV Mini-series first, but the prose format allows for greater depth. I wasn't co...

from hazelk

I was quickly drawn into this trilogy by the first novel 'The Great Fortune'. Without long descriptive passages Olivia Manning brilliantly and economically conveys both the city of Bucharest in the first few months of the Second World War and its community of ex-pats. I found myself alternately a...

from yvonnebarlow

I read this in the 1980s and fell in love with the story and characters. Thoroughly engaging as a young wife tries to make her own life in a foreign land.

from hemlokgang

Reading this novel was a deeply satisfying experience. I learned about WWII actions in Romania and Greece that I had not known about. The author's take on the life of government workers living abroad during a time of war came from her own experiences, so I felt that they were authentic. The chara...