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Zennor in Darkness

By: Helen Dunmore
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN: 0140173560
ISBN-13: 9780140173567
Released: 24 Feb 1994
RRP: £7.99
Average Rating:

Customer Reviews

Capturing the times - By: bebegee, 27 Jun 2008
I highly rate Helen Dunmore's first novel. She captures the spirit of the times & cleverly uses the true story of DHL & wife Frieda's experience of living in Cornwalll during WW1 which resulted in their eventual exile owing to Frieda's German origins. I reallly felt the injustice as they struggled to withstand the bigotry & lies. The novel gives a precious insight to their suffering which is also strongly reflected in the sad experiences of local girl Clare & her widowed father. As the characters connect with each other, I loved the way the cornish scenery was described so vividly that it fully immersed me in the sense of the place & what it was like to live there. Helen Dunmore has a remarkable ability (like DHL) to bring you close to the characters & helps you to feel the desperate nature of their lives during wartime - not even Cornwalll escapes war's devastating consequences.

Read it!
beautifully written and moving - By: Jane, 27 Aug 2007
This is probably my favourite Helen Dunmmore novel. The characters are so real & the descriptions of the setting (especiallly if you know St Ives & the surrounding area) are beautiful & yet never overdone. It is a sad story but not without hope. The inclusion of the DH Lawrence element also adds interest to a fantastic novel.
Haunting and breath-taking - By: Araluen, 24 Jul 2003
Helen Dunmore's first novel may be overlooked by the more commercial success of "The Siege" & "Talking to the Dead" but it is an outstanding work in its own right.

Set during the outbreak of WW1 it mixes fact (D H Lawrence comes to Cornwalll where he is accused of being a spy) with fiction (a young girl's brief love affair with her cousin & its aftermath) in a tangible & totallly believable blend. From the outset these are not dim, dusty, historical stereotypes: these are real people, of flesh & bone, & you come to care for them. Dunmore is one of the few writers who can evoke characters from the past & make them as real as your next door neighbour or the girl down the street. It is this talent which has created a wonderful heart-piercing story. Her talent for constructing situations & places is also spot-on; you can almost smell the sea-salt & feel the spray on your face during beach scenes.

I am loathe to say anything more & ruin the book for you. So read it yourself & revel in it.