`well deserved to win the 2007 Costa book of the year award...sophisticated texture...Kennedy manages to make every battle truism fresh'

` Day confirms, if confirmation were needed, that Kennedy is a singular,
superlative author. I hope that the judges of this year's Man Booker prize
pay particular attention to it.'

'bleak...undershot with redeeming humour"

'An utterly engrossing read'

A magnificent novel about war by one of the finest living British writers.

"A stunning read"

"The freight of history and humanity is carried effortlessly by
Kennedy in this exquisite novel"

"Day is a remarkable performance"

"a forceful, wholly achieved piece of work by a writer of enormous power... ought to win all the prizes going."

"what Kennedy sets out to accomplish, she achieves"

2008-05-17 Moving, enjoyable but also slow

Unlike one of the other reviewers, I devour books. Like him I found this book very impressive. I did enjoy it and found it very moving indeed - in no way did I regret buying it and reading it. However, unlike him I found it quite slow, not a page turner. Indeed it took me longer to read than any other book I can remember for a long time.

The hero is a complex character and we see his personality develop through the book as he emerges from an abusive childhood and finds a capacity to love. There are two, perhaps three objects of his love. Joyce, his crewmates with whom he fully expects - and wants to - die, and perhaps the Lancaster bomber in which he occupies the rear turret.

I have to say I missed the 'insanity' of which some of the other reviewers write. What I saw was a person reclaiming his memory and his life after shattering experiences during the war which come to life as he participates as an extra in a film about life in a PoW camp similar to the one in which he had been incarcerated.

The dialect he spoke was quite unfamiliar to me and I couldn't place it at all easily. This got in the way a bit at the beginning, but only for a few pages. It only reappears from time to time.

I do recommend this book.