The Dig: A Novel Based on True Events
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Book Overview
THE BASIS FOR THE NETFLIX FILM STARRING CAREY MULLIGAN, RALPH FIENNES, AND LILY JAMES A literary adventure that tells the story of a priceless buried treasure discovered in England on the eve of World War II
In the long, hot summer of 1939, Britain is preparing for war, but on a riverside farm in Suffolk there is excitement of another kind. Mrs. Pretty, the widowed owner of the farm, has had her hunch confirmed that the mounds on her land hold buried treasure. As the dig proceeds, it becomes clear that this is no ordinary find. This fictional recreation of the famed Sutton Hoo dig follows three months of intense activity when locals fought outsiders, professionals thwarted amateurs, and love and rivalry flourished in equal measure. As the war looms ever closer, engraved gold peeks through the soil, and each character searches for answers in the buried treasure. Their threads of love, loss, and aspiration weave a common awareness of the past as something that can never truly be left behind.
In the long, hot summer of 1939, Britain is preparing for war, but on a riverside farm in Suffolk there is excitement of another kind. Mrs. Pretty, the widowed owner of the farm, has had her hunch confirmed that the mounds on her land hold buried treasure. As the dig proceeds, it becomes clear that this is no ordinary find. This fictional recreation of the famed Sutton Hoo dig follows three months of intense activity when locals fought outsiders, professionals thwarted amateurs, and love and rivalry flourished in equal measure. As the war looms ever closer, engraved gold peeks through the soil, and each character searches for answers in the buried treasure. Their threads of love, loss, and aspiration weave a common awareness of the past as something that can never truly be left behind.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:1590517806
ISBN13:9781590517802
Release Date:April 2016
Publisher:Other Press (NY)
Length:272 Pages
Weight:0.74 lbs.
Dimensions:0.8" x 5.5" x 8.2"
Customer Reviews
1 rating
Was hoping for more.
Published by Winter , 11 months ago
There were things I did enjoy about the book, like the author’s writing style. But I was hoping for so much more detail into the archaeological digs, what was found, and what was going on around the characters. It would have been more interesting to learn more about what they were uncovering, what that meant, and why it was significant, especially with World War II going on. Everything felt sort of superficial and surface level.
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