I read this in record time - fantastic, it's been raved about elsewhere on Mumsnet and it really is a brilliant read. If it'd seen it in a bookshop I would have avoided it because I would have expected it to be distressing, but the focus is on personalities and events leading up to war not so much the war itself.
I loved the author's voice; i found all teh characters intriguing (not all likeable but i was interested in all of them); the storyline was very personal as well as informative.
brilliant choice swampster, thanks