Book Synopsis:
Two brothers, only one survives.
As Europe is torn apart by war, two brothers fight very different battles, and both could lose everything…
While George has always been the brother to rush towards the action, fast becoming a boy-soldier when war breaks out, Joe thinks differently. Refusing to fight, Joe stays behind as a conscientious objector battling against the propaganda.
On the Western front, George soon discovers that war is not the great adventure he was led to believe. Surrounded by mud, blood and horror his mindset begins to shift as he questions everything he was once sure of.
At home in Liverpool, Joe has his own war to win. Judged and imprisoned for his cowardice, he is determined to stand by his convictions, no matter the cost.
By the end of The Great War only one brother will survive, but which?
Goodbye For Now is available now in ebook and paperback. You can purchase your copy of both here.
My Review:
Goodbye For Now is a very powerful and emotional piece of historical fiction that was an utterly fascinating read. It is also an in-depth look at the war years as it follows two brothers one at home and one fighting on the front line.
As mentioned in a previous post I haven’t read much about the first world war so I enjoyed learning more about it. I especially hadn’t read anything involving a character who is anti war and the other people’s reactions to his supposed cowardice, so Joe’s story was very interesting. It’s amazing to think this was people’s reactions to someone not wanting to fight, though perhaps understandable as the country was in the middle of a war.
The story goes back and forth between the two brothers, describing their experiences during the war. I did like reading both of the brother’s stories as they were both very likeable characters. Their experiences were very different and both men were incredibly brave in their own way. While George was perhaps more obviously brave for going to war, I really admired Joe’s bravery for standing up for what he believed in. He faces some quite fierce opposition at times and could easily have given in but doesn’t which I found very impressive.
This was a wonderfully written book, with lots of different things happening that kept my interest throughout. The dual timeline helped with this as the differences between them were fascinating to read about. Its also an incredibly emotional book as the effect that the war has on the two brothers, their families and friends is very poignant to read about. This is made even more so by the fact that we know this was a real event and that people really were affected like this.
Goodbye For Now is, unbelievably, this author’s debut novel and I will definitely be interested in reading more from him. If you like beautifully written, emotions historical fiction then you’ll love this book.
Huge thanks to HQ Stories for my copy of this book via Netgalley and to Isabel Smith for inviting me onto the blog tour.
About The Author:
Michael Hollows was born in London in 1986, and moved to Liverpool in 2010 to lecture in Audio Engineering. With a keen interest in history, music, and science, he has told stories since he was little. Goodbye for Now is his first novel, which he started as part of his MA in Writing from Liverpool John Moores University, graduating in 2015. He has also been published in SF anthologies, and is now researching towards a PhD in Creative Writing, working on his next novel. http://www.michaelhollows.com
Over The Rainbow Blog 
Great review, Joanna. Sounds really intriguing. Xx
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Thanks Zoe, it really is would definitely recommend x
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