Flatlands

Reviews / Votes

Beautifully written, and highly evocative of the remote Lincolnshire landscape, the Second World War and the two people whose loneliness brings them together for a life-changing time... Full of quiet drama and sorrow at loss, cruelty and mortality. -- Amanda Craig Compelling and beautifully intimate. A classic piece of storytelling -- Toby Litt A haunting and lyrical novel about loneliness and the compensations of the natural world, art and unlikely friendships. The characters of an unhappy evacuee from the East End and a conscientious objector will draw you in as they search for some kind of peace in the wide open landscapes of the fens and the story moves them to their own inevitable crises. -- Maggie Brookes Precise in its historical detail and admirable in its evocation of the large skies and isolation of its setting, this is a moving study of an unlikely friendship and the healing power of the natural world * Sunday Times, Best Historical Fiction * A tender portrait of wartime youth [with] an elegiac, gentle quality, evoking the Wash as "a place between somewhere and nowhere, one of the last wildernesses in England". A novel of tender quiet voices, and grace * Guardian * A story full of grace and light * Le Monde * Vivid... successfully evokes the aching beauty of the bleak, watery landscape alive with bird life... A wartime parable of friendship and connection * Kirkus * A poignant and beautifully written story of friendship amid the horror of war which vividly describes the natural world * Historical Novel Society * A compelling story... ingenious and heartfelt * Perspective Magazine * Does an excellent job of conjuring the consolations that can be found from withdrawing into nature, where the changing of the seasons and the routines of the wildlife offer their own companionship... Hubbard's Lincolnshire Fens are imagined in all their bleakness and beauty. In the process, she reveals the depths of feeling that can be found in even the flattest places * The Tablet * The writing is stunning, twisting my heart so many times in its words. The marshlands beautifully described, the character's inner lives flayed open with great sensitivity. The novel asks the great questions of life, and it affirms the healing power of nature and art-and love * The Literate Quilter * I absolutely loved this... It has whizzed its way up my favourite books of the year list... The writing is delicate, lyrical, pastoral * bookphace * An enthralling novel that vividly maps the lay of a land and expertly evokes the tension of an era * Star Tribune * Praise for Sue Hubbard's previous work: * . * Beautifully written and wholly knowledgeable... A triumph of literary and artistic understanding, a tour de force: masterly, moving * Fay Weldon * A writer of genuine talent -- Elaine Feinstein Lyrical, highly visual and beautifully observed -- John Burnside A beautifully-written meditation on love, loss and grief * Irish Independent * Beautifully-written and evocative -- Amanda Craig Hubbard deserves a place in the literary pantheon near Colm Toibin, Anne Enright, and William Trevor -- American Library Association Gently absorbing ... Wistful but never morose * Daily Mail * Gorgeous... A haunting read * Star Tribune *