Official Review: Winter of Red by Paul Rushworth-Brown

[Chipochashe]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Winter of Red" by Paul Rushworth-Brown.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Thomas Rushworth and his family are simple people trying to better their living conditions after becoming freeman. Tommy, Thomas’ son, gets kidnapped by Parliamentarian soldiers in the wake of the English civil war. He is forced to fight against his will. Thomas and John, Tommy’s maternal grandfather, set out to find Tommy and bring him home. They have a difficult journey ahead as they travel through the war-torn country in winter. Many dangers are facing Tommy and his fellow soldiers; other than the obvious danger of being killed in battle, diseases are rampant. Can Tommy be saved before death catches up with him? This is the story of Winter of Red as written by Paul Rushworth-Brown.

The book opens with Tommy thinking about Nan Margery’s death and how it affected his father and mother. The author uses the characters' thoughts to bring out the background story. He also uses vivid descriptions to paint a picture of the culture of the time. The author uses the English of those times in his narrations and the conversations. There is no foul language. The book is narrated in the third person, but always in such a way as to portray the thoughts of the character being dealt with at the time. This created a connection with the characters.

I enjoyed the steady pace of the book. The author stayed true to the culture of the time. Every moment was full of suspense. The family relationships were felt as they were well developed with all their complexities. What happens when a family is on different sides of a civil war? How much are you willing to sacrifice for your family? This was quite an emotional read. The author also brings out the damage that war does to the soldiers. The trauma that they go through is really beyond imagination.

The worst parts for me were some unnecessarily detailed descriptions of nudity. It put me off. These descriptions were not part of the erotic scenes which were not as detailed. The book also contains a lot of errors. The majority of errors involved misplaced or missing quotation marks. There were also some spelling and grammar errors. I would advise the author to have the book professionally edited.

The religious elements of the book concern the Church of England. These are not there to make any statement, but simply portray the culture of the time. The book is thus suitable for people of all religious beliefs. I enjoyed reading the book except for the few perks mentioned above. I thus rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I recommend the book to adults who enjoy historical fiction and the theme of war.

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Winter of Red
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[Amy Murdoch Coleman]

Very nice review! I'm interested in the fact that there were such detailed descriptions of nudity but no off-color language. The two tend to go hand-in-hand, so I wonder what the author's purpose and motivations might have been. Thank you for doing such a professional job!

[Sydney Nyamasoka]

Appropriately detailed review, thank you. The history is interesting but mostly to those who can closely relate to it.