Early One Morning
Book cover
AuthorVirginia Baily
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreNovel
PublisherLittle, Brown and Company
Publication date
2015
ISBN9780316300391
OCLC900012212

Early One Morning is a 2015 novel by Virginia Baily.

Synopsis

In 1944 in Rome, Italy, a woman named Chiara Ravello rescues Daniele Levi, a Jewish child, before he is deported by the Nazis with his mother. In a flash-forward, Chiara lives alone in Rome in the 1970s and reflects on her life.

Critical reception

Reviewing it for The Guardian, Samantha Harvey described the novel as "incredibly sure-footed, a big, generous and absorbing piece of storytelling, fearless, witty and full of flair."[1] She added that it was "a surprisingly humorous novel, in which the characters are tenderly mocked or mock themselves".[1] In The Scotsman, Allan Massie suggested some passages "might with advantage have been shortened", but he concluded that the novel was "engrossing".[2]

However, in another review for The Guardian, Lucy Scholes suggested the conclusion was "a little flat".[3] In The Independent, Julie McDowall agreed with Scholes, writing that the "ending is tied up far too fast to be satisfying"[4] Reviewing it for The National, Clare Dight also criticized the end, arguing: "The reader’s most serious criticism will come on the last page, however, when the ink runs out before a final reckoning."[5] Meanwhile, in The Jewish Chronicle, Hephzibah Anderson regretted that Bailey did not write more about the Holocaust, and she concluded: "Baily's decision to look away from the horrors that she nonetheless exploits is a cop-out."[6]

References

  1. 1 2 Harvey, Samantha (July 31, 2015). "Early One Morning by Virginia Baily review – fearless, witty and full of flair". The Guardian. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  2. ↑ Massie, Allan (August 1, 2015). "Book reviews: Early One Morning by Virginia Baily". The Scotsman. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  3. ↑ Scholes, Lucy (August 16, 2015). "Early One Morning by Virginia Baily review – wartime drama in Rome's Jewish ghetto". The Guardian. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  4. ↑ McDowall, Julie (July 18, 2015). "Early One Morning, by Virginia Baily - book review: A fresh approach to this well-worn period". The Independent. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  5. ↑ Dight, Clare (July 16, 2015). "Book review: Virginia Baily's novel Early One Morning is a dark tale". The National. Retrieved May 3, 2016.
  6. ↑ Anderson, Hephzibah (July 23, 2015). "Review: Early One Morning". The Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved May 3, 2016.


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