The Dust That Falls From Dreams by Louis de Bernieres

Sadly, nothing ever lives up to the delight that was Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. This is an interesting book though because it was inspired by the story of de Berniere’s grandfather, who disappeared from the family. It turned out that he left an unhappy marriage because his wife was still emotionally committed to her fiancé who had died in WWI. So this is a story about a family and their relationships during WWI. There are four daughters and three families, all connected as children through a kids ‘club’ called The Pals. It traces their progress through the war and the psychological difficulties they had to navigate as a result. Primarily it is the story of Rosie, Ash and Daniel but it isintricately connected with the families as well. But it is too long and much too wordy, especially with the pages and pages of detailed description about flying biplanes in the war and what it felt like etc etc etc. There are sub plots that don’t go anywhere, like the psychic medium who I think was in there to just to add a bit of colour. And the whole thing just flops about a bit.