Summary of While the Gods were Sleeping
An elderly Belgian woman looks back on her live, particularly the years of the First World War, which she spent with her mother and brother in a village in northern France, near the Belgian border, unable to return home. She recalls the tragedies of the war, but also her struggles to break free from her bourgeois family, her envy towards her brother, who enjoyed greater freedom, and her romance with a British war photographer.
Reasons to read While the Gods were Sleeping
“While the Gods were Sleeping” is a slow-paced novel that derives its charm from its beautifully crafted sentences, depicting the devastation wrought by the Great War on the local population in northern France and Flanders. Erwin Mortier is a renowned Belgian (Flemish) novelist and poet. His best-known works are “Marcel” and “While the Gods were Sleeping” (which earned him the AKO Literature Prize in 2009).
Setting: Nord-Pas-de-Calais (France)
Book set in northern France: an unnamed French village near the Belgian border
Original title: Godenslaap
Year of publication: 2008
Nr of pages: 356
