Sleeping Through War – Review
Welcome to the book tour for ‘Sleeping Through War‘, by Jackie Carreira. This is an anniversary tour. First published 18 months ago, I had not come across this title before. But the description of the book as being a tale of ‘ordinary’ women trying to survive during difficult times attracted my attention.
So, a bit about the book …
Sleeping Through War
The year is 1968. The world is changing. Students are protesting, civil rights are being fought and died for, nuclear bombs are being tested, and war is raging in Vietnam. For three women, life must go on as normal. For them, as it is for most ‘ordinary’ people, just to survive is an act of courage.
Rose must keep her dignity and compassion as a St Lucian nurse in London. Amalia must keep hoping that her son can escape their seedy life in Lisbon. And Mrs Johnson in Washington DC must keep writing to her son in Vietnam. She has no-one else to talk to. Three different women in three different countries. They work, they bring up children, they struggle to make ends meet while the world goes around and the papers print the news. History is written by the winners – and almost all of it has been written by men. The stories of women like these go unremarked and unwritten so often that we forget how important they are.
What did I make of the book? As I began reading, I hoped to connect with the characters. This is such an essential element of any good story. I needn’t have worried. Jackie brings the characters to life through a compelling narrative, creating a depth of emotion to each of the three very different women.
Motherhood is a continuing theme through the pages, the story exploring the loving, and sometimes painful, bond which a mother has with her child. Between chapters are news items from the year (1968), which offer interesting insight to the backdrop against which the characters live. Sleeping Through War is an immersive experience. I felt the emotions, shared the aspirations, and suffered the heartache which the main characters lived through.
Here was a book which I found hard to put down. But neither did I want the story to conclude. As the final paragraph ended and I closed the book, I felt sadness that I would not follow the next steps on each woman’s respective path. I was also left with hope for each of their futures. I don’t tend to re-read books, as there are so many I would like to read. However, Sleeping Through War is one I would return to.
If you’d like to try this book, copies are available here:
Wordery ———- Waterstones ———- Amazon
About the author
Jackie Carreira is an award-winning novelist, playwright, musician, designer, and co-founder of QuirkHouse Theatre Company. A true renaissance woman, or a Jack of All Trades? The jury’s still out on that one. She grew up in Hackney, East London, but spent part of her early childhood in Lisbon’s Old Quarter. Sleeping Through War was inspired, in part, by some of the women she met when she was young. One of her favourite places to write is the coffee shops of railway stations. Her second novel, The Seventh Train (published by Matador in 2019) was born in the café at Paddington Station. Jackie now lives in Suffolk with an actor, two cats and not enough book shelves.
Online Links:–
TWITTER: https://twitter.com/JCarreiraWriter
FACEBOOK:@SleepingThroughWar
WEBSITE: jackiecarreira.co.uk
