A Life of the Twentieth Century by Irene Even

I firmly believe that we should never criticise others until we have a walked in their shoes. Do you recall that saying?

Born into a free and democratic Country in the twentieth Century I can not imagine what life was like as Europe was drawn into another war. I can not imagine waking up, living and going to bed scared, hungry and living all the time wondering who it is safe to trust. Neither can I imagine making decisions, that when it became clear they were the wrong ones, being forced to endure life with those poor choices, made out of desperation.

As I read this book which is a true account of the author's life, although the names have been changed and the book is written in the third person, I was often in awe of how the author managed to live with those decisions. How did she keep her emotions in check as she grieved for her parents and the loss of her free existence?

I get a sense that the book has been toned down from the horrors that she would have observed. The patience that was exhibited to her husband is overwhelming and I am quite sure he deserved none of it. The decisions to move to Canada and to go into teaching, to follow her dreams.

Having got to the end of the book I wasn't sure I could compose a coherent review. I am a reflector and felt that I needed to think about the book after I had read it. None of us can truly imagine how the author's life was. In fact we can not be sure that this book encapsulates her life entirely, only what she chose to share with the readers.

Overall I enjoyed the book, I loved how the characters evolved and I felt that they had been bought to life, so that I cared and felt a variety of emotions with them all.

To see what others thought about the book be sure to visit the other book tour participants

March 2 - Working Mommy Journal - review / giveaway
March 2 - Elizabeth McKenna Romance Author - book spotlight / giveaway
March 3 - Deal Sharing Aunt - book spotlight
March 3 - Celticlady's Reviews - book spotlight
March 3 - Girl With Camera - review / giveaway
March 4 - Keenly Kristin - review / giveaway
March 4 - Bound 4 Escape - review
March 5 - Life as Leels - review
March 5 - The Things We Read - review
March 5 - A Universe in Words - book spotlight
March 6 - A Soccer Mom's Book Blog - review / giveaway
March 6 - Green and Glassie - review / author interview / giveaway
March 9 - StoreyBook Reviews - book spotlight / giveaway
March 9 - Booknerd - review
March 10 - Readers' Muse - review
March 10 - Nighttime Reading Center - review / author interview / giveaway
March 11 - The World As I See It - review / giveaway
March 11 - View From the Birdhouse - book spotlight / author interview / giveaway
March 12 - Confessions of a Reader - author interview
March 12 - Luxury Reading - review / author interview / giveaway
March 13 - Unshelfish - review / giveaway
March 13 - Library of Clean Reads - review

​March 13 

- Historical Tapestry - review / author interview

A Life of the Twentieth Century is available from Amazon