Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #244456 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-12
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Review
"'Rich and absorbing... a five-star weepie' The Times"

Love in the time of the Spanish flu epidemic.British author James devotes her debut to an early-20th-century pandemic that is estimated to have killed 230,000 in the U.K.; 675,000 in the U.S.; and possibly between 50 and 100 million worldwide. However, her carefully researched canvas is deliberately small, charting the fortunes of a narrow group in London linked by family ties and social connections. Undertaker Henry Speake begins to fear the scale of the "plague" unfolding after reading a letter written by one of its victims, Dr. Thomas Wey, who tried to alert the authorities to the need to close the ports and rein in troop movements - World War I is drawing to its close - as a means of limiting the contagion. Wey also noted that the illness was felling a disproportionately large number of young people. Speake's job inevitably exposes the rising tide of the crisis, as does the work of widowed teacher Allen Thompson. With the children rapidly falling sick, the school is closed and Allen, now befriended by Speake, shares his anxieties while trying to tend to her deluded sister and other suffering folk. But for Allen, associating with Speake is "consorting with a tradesman," which earns disapproval on all sides. Not much happens other than the spread of disease, death and disorder. There are many scenes of grief, tragedy, poverty and helplessness, as society trembles on the brink of breakdown and doctors, vicars and other ordinary souls grapple with the practicalities of the day, while the government contributes very little.A curiosity - sharp glimpses of human nature scattered over a detailed period panorama. (Kirkus Reviews)

Guardian
A finely written and affecting novel

Metro
The novel is fascinating, as James uses small, filmic scenes to build an overall picture of fear and chaos

Customer Reviews

Interesting but not 5 star
I did find this book an eye opener and enjoyed the dual diary approach to writing. But it jumped around alot with too many endings left open. I prefer to know what happened to people rather than have to think too hard for myself!

A Very Insightful Read
Told through the eyes of the two main characters - funeral director, Henry and school teacher, Allen - 'This Time of Dying' completely takes the reader back to the those awful three weeks in 1918 when influenza spared no corner of the globe killing between (an estimated) 50-100 million people.

Wonderfully written, the reader will no doubt feel a personal loss for the dying and dead in this book - as did I. When two of the book's characters died unexpectedly towards the end, I found myself grieving for them which is the result of James' writing.

Readers may find it a bit odd that Allen is female and not male - I found it difficult to get used to at first, but overall a very detailed and eye-opening account of a tragic period in our world's history.

This Time of Dying: three weeks in 1918
The Great War is drawing to a close when the influenza epidemic of 1918 takes its hold. Set in London during a three week period, this novel conveys the horror of the war and, with the end of the war almost within reach, the emergence of the deadly influenza pandemic which killed millions around the world.

At the same time as conventional society is crumbling through the combined impacts of war and influenza, class distinctions remain important. Henry Speake, the undertaker, is the central character in this novel. His friendship with a widow, Mrs Allen Thompson, causes them both considerable social grief because of class differences.

This is not a light read but, once started, I found it very hard to put down. This is Ms James's first novel, and it is beautifully presented. Amongst the pain and suffering are some wonderful examples of humanity and the glimmerings of hope for a better future.

Highly recommended.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith