Review of Of All Faiths & None

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Aliko11
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Review of Of All Faiths & None

Post by Aliko11 »

[Following is a volunteer review of "Of All Faiths & None" by Andrew Tweeddale.]
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3 out of 5 stars
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Of All Faiths & None by Andrew Tweeddale is a fiction-based novel revolving around the story of two families: the Lutyens and Drewe's. The author begins the book by first introducing the Lutyens where we get to see the head of the family by the name of Edwin Lutyens, his wife Emily Lutyens, and their children Mary, Elisabeth, Robert, and Celia. Edwin is an architect by profession and is contracted by a wealthy man called sir Julius Drewe to construct and design a castle for him. We also get to see the two families are related by blood where Emily Lutyens is the second cousin to Frances, the wife to Sir Julius Drewe. The castle was to be constructed on a plot of land in Dartmoor.

Later in the book, we get to see the other characters in the story like Peter Hall who was an engineer, and Rose who worked as a nurse. Also, we get to see the children of Sir Julis: Adrian, Christian, and Basil. Peter at this time was working as an apprentice engineer for the firm Babtie, Shaw, and Morton company which had been contracted to carry out the engineering calculations required to construct the castle. It was also during this particular time that war broke out between Germany and Britain and troops were being enlisted to join the war at the front lines.

There are a few positive aspects I came across during my course of reading the book, one I enjoyed the way the author used accurate historical information specifically in the description of the war, what started it, and the years in which the war was fought. One detail that fascinated me the most is the author's description of the use of chlorine gas by the German forces in the trenches in a bid to end the stalemate. This in turn increased the credibility of the story making it seem true, despite it being a work of fiction. Also, it made the story interesting as I enjoyed reading the historical facts revolving around the war, specifically about how life was in the trenches. Finally, I liked the way the author depicted some characters in the book, a perfect example is Celia and Rose who worked tirelessly and for long hours as nurses to help the soldiers injured during the war. I found the book exceptionally well-edited.

However, I would also like to point out some negative aspects I found in the book. First I did not like the way the author used complex vocabulary in the book as this made it difficult to understand the story and also created an unnecessary distraction as I spent quite a lot of time looking up the complex words. Also, I did not enjoy the way the author used a difficult accent with some of the characters like Frasier, which I found quite difficult to understand whatever he was saying. Finally, I did not like the plot, specifically where I felt some of the characters were not properly introduced in the book.

In conclusion, I rate the book 3 out of 5 stars. I have deducted two stars due to the negative aspects stated above, One with the use of complex vocabulary by the author, a difficult accent used by some of the characters, and the plot where I felt some of the characters were not properly introduced in the book. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys drama and thriller-based stories.

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Of All Faiths & None
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