Winter of the World

Summary (from the publisher): Picking up where Fall of Giants, the first novel in the extraordinary Century Trilogy, left off, Winter of the World follows its five interrelated families—American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh—through a time of enormous social, political, and economic turmoil, beginning with the rise of the Third Reich, through the great dramas of World War II, and into the beginning of the long Cold War.

Carla von Ulrich, born of German and English parents, finds her life engulfed by the Nazi tide until daring to commit a deed of great courage and heartbreak....American brothers Woody and Chuck Dewar, each with a secret, take separate paths to momentous events, one in Washington, the other in the bloody jungles of the Pacific....English student Lloyd Williams discovers in the crucible of the Spanish Civil War that he must fight Communism just as hard as Fascism....Daisy Peshkov, a driven social climber, cares only for popularity and the fast set until war transforms her life, while her cousin Volodya carves out a position in Soviet intelligence that will affect not only this war but also the war to come.

 

Review: This is the second book in the Century Trilogy, and I enjoyed it just as much as the first novel, Fall of Giants. This novel spans from 1933 to 1949, and thus covers the first beginnings to the post-war recovery in the wake of World War II. Although it picks up where the first book concludes, it shifts to the perspective of the next generation. Individuals who were the primary characters in book one, become secondary in this novel as the focus shifts to their now adult children. Furthermore, the characters' become increasingly interconnected in this novel - half-brothers meet at long last, the child of a character from the last novel marries the child of another, and falls in love with the child of a third. The friend of one character turns out to be the daughter of the neighborhood doctor that another character interacts with frequently. Follett does an excellent job of creating an intricate web of characters, while still staying historically accurate.

 

This is yet another epic novel, large in scope and breadth. Despite the breadth of the novel, and the large number of characters, Follett does an excellent job with character development, and allowing his characters to grow and change over time. In this novel, I was particularly pleased by character Daisy Peshkov's development from a spoiled American to a working class wife and mother in Britain. Similarly, the reader sees Erik von Ulrich join the Nazis out of a childish desire to fit in in school, only to slowly realize that he's supporting the murder of innocents. Despite the large number of characters, Follett allows his characters to grow and change, and be impacted by their experiences.

 

Conveniently, Follett has placed his characters in crucial positions and locations so as to reveal events of historical significance. These include being present for the attack on Pearl Harbor, a physicist working on the atomic bomb, the blitz on London, and Russia under Stalin rule. In this way, Follett is able to give a fairly comprehensive overview of WWII, and set up the stage for the third book in the trilogy, by introducing emerging issues, such as Russia's future, and race relations in America.

 

Many in the second generation experience their first love and first relationship in this novel. It seems as if there were countless fumbling sex scenes between inexperienced youngsters. At times, it was difficult for me to remember which of the young characters was which, since all the romantic interests began to bleed together in my mind. It was particularly difficult considering the reader was on its second generation of the trilogy's characters.

 

However, I truly enjoyed this work of historical fiction. Follett does an excellent job of crafting stories of interconnected individuals within a broader historical context.

 

Stars: 4