Valentine Grey by Sandi Toksvig

Valentine Grey Reviews

• 
  The Cats’ Mother

  If it were not for my book club, I never would’ve read this. I don’t actually like war stories - and this reminded me why - but I adored the heroine, and feel I learned something about a part of history I knew nothing about. Having hardly read any tree-books lately (I now find I actively prefer reading on a kindle) I needed to add something to my embarrassingly empty book club bag for our meeting tomorrow and this was a suitable size to finish in time. I’m actually going to South Africa in March so reading about the Boer War felt important, but the book is as much about the shameful way that homosexual men were treated in the late Victorian era, which is not something I’ve encountered in fiction before.
  
  Valentine Grey, niece of an Earl, grew up in India with her beloved adventurous father, but is sent to London at fifteen to be shown how to be a lady by her very proper English aunt. Then her father dies and she is trapped by the restrictions imposed on young ladies. Her only friend is her charming but feckless cousin Reggie, who she discovers is secretly in love with a handsome stage actor called Frank. When Reggie is told by his father that he must volunteer to join the war in South Africa, he is distraught, so Valentine steals his uniform and sneaks away in his place, telling only the maid. Initially thrilled by the freedoms that posing as a man give her, Valentine soon discovers that war is not the the jolly adventure she expected and that perhaps being a woman is not so bad...
  
  I had only vaguely heard of this author previously, but was impressed by the research she has done to bring this shameful period of British history to life. The book is eloquently written with traces of humour but she doesn’t shy away from describing the horrors of the battlefield and the inhumanity that results. Told from Valentine’s first person distant past perspective, and Reggie’s in third person past, this allowed us to see both sides of the drama.
  
  It’s terribly sad although Valentine does get an appropriately gratifying ending.
  She’s a great character - selfless and brave but far from perfect. While it seems hard to believe she could maintain the deception for so long, you get enough of a sense of the conditions the soldiers endure to see how it could happen. I’m glad I read it even though as with much literary fiction it’s not necessarily something I enjoy, but I feel it’s good for me to learn about something new as well as take a break from all the thrillers every now and again.
• 
  Fiona

  I wanted to enjoy this more than I did. It's certainly very well researched and well written but, for me, it felt like an educational novel for young adults, not for grown ups. Teenagers would learn so much about the idiocy and travesties of the Boer War, the position of women and gay men in England circa 1900, but surely most well educated adults know all this already? As a consequence, I got bored with it by 2/3rds of the way through and finished it only to find out how it would end and not for pleasure.
• 
  Jonathan

  A very good novel from Sandi Toksvig, centered around the Boer War, and the part played in it by the title character as she leaves London in place of her cousin Reggie, disguised as a soldier. There have been enough known real examples of women who have gone to war in such a manner that any disbelief can be dismissed quite readily.
  
  Valentine journeys to England from India where she has been raised by her father, only to receive the news that an earthquake has led to his death. So she stays with her uncle and aunt, and changes from a tomboy to a young lady, ready to be presented to the world. She meets her cousin and his actor friend Frank, who show her London life is not as dull as she believes. When in due course she discovers that Reggie and Frank are in fact lovers, and Reggie's father wants his son to enlist in the army when war breaks out in South Africa, circumstances lead Valentine to abscond with Reggie's uniform and take his place on the ship bound for the Cape.
  
  Sandi Toksvig has written a revealing, often moving and shocking account of a war that is rarely mentioned now, possibly because Britain comes out of it so badly. Her exploration of many aspects of Victorian society is similarly enlightening, and as Valentine grows as a person due to her experiences it is easy to see why she eventually takes the path she heads down by the end of the book. Overall a well written and plotted novel.
• 
  kymdotcom

  More drama than the Kardashians. Although even they couldn't compete with the dead duck and the resulting scene.
• 
  Max Fincher

  Valentine Grey is the eponymous hero/heroine of Sandi Toksvig's informative and moving novel set during the second Boer War (1898-1902) in both London and South Africa.
  
  The Boer war is depicted with a convincing realism by Toksvig. Although Toksvig seems to embody a certain kind of 'British' humour, and is described by some as a 'national treasure', she is of course Danish. I sensed that her interest in the Boer War, particularly as an example of British nationalism, was partly due to her own sense of being both part of and outside to a certain kind of upper-class British social realm, traces of which are still probably present at the BBC and in the world of the media in London. This sense of being an observant wry outsider on the margins is captured in the main character of Valentine Grey, who also crosses borders, from India to London, and principally, from female to male.
  
  The bibliography to the novel shows just how thoroughly she has researched the subject, particularly from the diaries and letters of soldiers who fought in the 'war'. I use war in quotation marks because as the novel shows the reader, the conflict, which was hyped up by the British Government, and was little more than one of the darkest expression of British imperialist policy. As the character of Valentine Grey discovers when she cross-dresses to volunteer, we are shown how the 'concentration' camp was invented by the British to hold primarily Boer women and children. Notably at the Bloemfontein camp, many ended their days starving and dying of disease and exposure due to their deliberate neglect of the British army. If ever there was an argument against the jingoism of war, the 'glorification' of serving one's country, the Boer War is a testament to it. Of course, only a decade or so later, and again thousands were losing their lives in the name of duty. Thomas Hardy's poem, 'Drummer Hodge' immortalizes how for thousands, 'his landmark is a kopje crest/That breaks the veldt around'.
  
  Valentine, an upper-class young woman, comes to live in London at her uncle's house where she meets her restless cousin Reggie, whom she discovers is gay and in love with a working-class music hall star called Frank. Longing for adventure and to escape from the conventional gender expectations placed on her, Valentine signs up to volunteer for the war, in place of Reggie who refuses to obey his uncle's commands to join up. Interspersed with the trials of Valentine's experiences (which includes the repressed homosexuality among the officer class) is the story of Frank and Reggie's developing love affair, which takes a tragic turn of events, reminiscent of what happened to Oscar Wilde. When Valentine finally returns from home, she discovers that her cousin is a broken man and also that her destiny is to be more than a respectable Edwardian housewife making sure the aspidistras are watered in the conservatory.
  
  At times, it's almost impossible not to hear Toksvig's own unique wit and voice in the narration. But this is by no means to the novel's detriment. Each of the characters has their own unique voice, particularly Frank as the music hall star "Dolly Dutch" from the realistically evoked East End of London. However, the novel's real strength for me lies in how Toksvig describes both Valentine's frustrations living as a woman who can't and doesn't want to be restricted by the expectations of conventional society (the novel is dedicated to her 'feisty' daughters). There is both humour and pathos in how Valentine describes her life of secrecy among the mostly very young and inexperienced men who bond together in horrific circumstances. An entertaining read that is both historically realistic and vividly descriptive, this is a novel that takes the reader into the heart of darkness, but also affirms the power of survival.
• 
  Samantha

  I must disagree with a previous reviewer, I'm afraid. I consider myself a reasonably well-educated adult with an 'A' Level in history, but my knowledge of the Boer War was limited to dates and a few general impressions. Wasn't on my syllabus! Anyway, I found this book interesting and entertaining. Valentine is an engaging character, pushing against the restraints of late 19th century society, as is her cousin Reggie. However, it is the war itself which becomes a character for me. The futility and misery come across strongly, along with the hideously inhumane treatment of the Boer women and children. The home front is also the scene of inhumanity; sticking blindly to conformity without question, whatever the human cost. I liked this parallel. Turning the gender roles upside down for Valentine is an interesting way to underline the inequality of that era, and gives us a unique perspective on a soldier's experience. I would be interested to read more of Sandi Toksvig's work.
• 
  Emily

  Gave up at chapter 3...
• 
  Yannicke

  After reading and absolutely loving Hitler's Canary by Sandi Toksvig, I had very high expectations for Valentine Grey. The first few chapters however, were a little disappointing. The story felt a little slow, the characters seemed a bit contrived, and I found myself waiting for something to happen.
  And happen it did. The moment Valentine cuts off her hair, takes on her male identity and goes to the South African front, the story takes off and it nevers slows down. Writing this review it hits me; the reading experience reflects just how Valentine felt - before she cut her hair and took on the identity of her cousin Reggie, her life was slow and boring and people were fake and distant.
  
  But as soon as Toksvig changes the scene and identities, her characters come alive and take the readers on a rollercoaster ride, going back and forth between the Boer war and Victorian London. Both Valentine's story (in South Africa) and that of her cousin Reggie and his lover Frank (in London) are tales of love, friendship, injustice and pain. Readers come to love the main characters and mourn for their hardship, as both Valentine and Reggie - each in their own way - lose themselves, are imprisoned and get hurt beyond measure.
  
  Valentine Grey is a historical as well as a very contemporary novel. On the one hand, Sandi Toksvig has managed to portray a very convincing (and well-researched) image of 19th century London and the second Boer war. In that sense, Valentine Grey had great educational value, as I did not know much about this part of history. On the other hand, even if the story takes place at the turn of the previous century, Sandi Toksvig touches upon some issues that are very contemporary: Women's- and LGTB-rights, the uselessness and destruction of war, and the ability of the powerful few to mobilize the masses for their perverse causes by empty promises fake news. Quite the accomplishment, and I guess the author's own social- and political views and causes shine through.
  
  *warning: last section contains spoiler*
  
  Given the slow and less than perfect start of the book, I considered giving it 3 stars. But then Sandi Toksvig showed just how very sensitive she is to the small details that make human relationships meaningful and deep, to the little gestures and actions that carry more emotion than the sweetest words. When Reggie, disillusioned and broken, returns home to his father - who had been distant and cold towards his effeminates on - the latter doesn't ask, doesn't judge, but gives his son a bath. Washes him as if he were a little boy and just gives him what a broken child needs; love. I cried reading this scene and at other moments Toksvig's words put a smile on my face. All that is worth an extra star to me.
• 
  Graeme Aitken

  There is a wealth of fiction set against the backdrop of WWI (Pat Barker’s Regeneration Trilogy, Sebastian Faulk’s Birdsong, Ford Madox Ford’s Parade’s End ) so it is infinitely refreshing to read something different – Valentine Grey is set against the second Boer War at the turn of the 20th century. The war isn’t as well known as other major conflicts of the last century; nor is it widely known that the British tactics included the early use of concentration camps.
  The novel focuses on three major characters against this backdrop: Valentine Grey, a free-spirited young woman, raised in India, who feels stifled when obliged to adapt to the obligations of London society lifestyle; her lively cousin, Reggie, who she eventually discovers is homosexual; and his older more experienced lover, Frank, who works as an actor.
  Reggie’s father attempts to get his rather feckless son to ‘man up’ by enlisting him to fight in the war. But Reggie is wholly unsuited to become a soldier, and is also deeply in love with Frank. He cannot face the prospect of being separated from him. Valentine sees an opportunity: she impulsively cuts off her hair, dons his uniform, and goes to the war in his stead. Despite, some close calls, her masquerade goes undetected, and at first the freedom is exhilarating. But when Valentine and her regiment finally face actual battle, and the casualties mount up, the horrors of war mark her irrevocably. Equal narrative time is devoted to Reggie and Frank back in London, and their storyline proves to be as compelling as Valentine’s. Though their idyll together proves to be all too brief, and they endure a personal hell, not dissimilar to war. This is an extremely well-written novel: the historical background in Assam (India), London, and South Africa is fascinating and portrayed with great atmosphere and detail; the strong, lively characters are very well drawn and avoid falling into clichés; and the tricky dual narrative unfolds in equally compelling strands. The novel does become increasingly grim and unsentimental, but this is wholly appropriate given the background of war and is finely judged. Valentine Grey is also one of those rare novels which will appeal to both gay men and lesbians, as well as the general reader.
  
• 
  Johanne

  Really interesting. Its about time someone related the horrors of the Boer war - it had so many hideous firsts including the first use of concentration camps. The description of the horrors that the largely volunteer army went through are eye-opening. As is is the reminder that wars are generally over power, resources and wealth; whoever actually lives there is just a background inconvenience. There are no good guys in this story - individual Boers and British are decent but neither care about the people whose land it actually is. The main focus of the book is on Valentine who ends up the the Boer War but also we get the story of Valentine's cousin Reggie (& his relationship with Frank) in whose name she goes to war. Those bits are equally well but grimly done and draw a picture of Victorian London with its music halls, opium dens, asylums, atmosphere of violence and utterly constrained lives for women of all classes. Its well written, the dialogue is generally convincing, the plot is a little dodgy at first but has to be I think, to set up the bulk of the book although women disguising themselves as male soldiers is as old as war itself. Valentine's story is written in the first person and this really brings home the horrors. Occasionally the transitions feel clunky and I wonder if that was an over heavy handed editor or just the realisation that actually this could probably have been two books. Not a feelgood read but a hugely recommended one.
• 
  Lucy Raby

  A fabulous story about a young Victorian girl who is orphaned. She has grown up in India where her father has a plantation. She comes to live with her straitlaced aunt and uncle in London. She loves her cousin Reggie who is gay when it was the love that dare not speak its name and takes his place as a volunteer in the Boer War. Incredibly well researched, (Sandi's bibliography is staggering and includes letters and diaries at the British Museum as well as history books) it deals effortlessly and seamlessly with a number of issues that are still current today - imperialism, greed, power, intolerance, gays, feminism, social and sexual equality, war, love, life and death, without seeming heavy handed and obtrusive.It is a gripping story and you really engage with Valentine and the characters she meets. The story follows her journey and that of her cousin and the vast sweep of history, when the British Empire was at the height of its power. Sandi is one of the most talented women around today and always worth a read.
• 
  CF

  A moving and touching story of life in the late Victorian period. The Boer war is raging, and Valentine, fresh from India, has the pleasure of meeting her jovial and bright cousin Reggie. Her Uncle, who is stoic but well meaning, in the heat of the patriotism from the war, makes a decision that will change their lives forever.
  
  A beautiful and tragically sad tale that is so visual, I kept thinking how well it would adapt to a BBC mini-series. I'd love to watch this. Toksvig's style is so detailed you can almost see the hills of South Africa or smell the smog of London in the late 19th century.
  
  Valentine Grey is infinitely likeable and brave, and her friends from all walks of life shape her view, making the character development deep and descriptive. I thoroughly enjoyed this. The sadness of war and outdated views are visceral, stirring all kinds of emotions from anger to pity.
  
  The twists and turns are sudden and unexpected, making it a book that is hard to put down. Very, very well written.
• 
  Erica

  Most of Valentine Grey is set in the time of the Boer War (1899-1902). Although I have read other books by Sandi Toksvig, I read this book as I have had an interest in the Boer War since finding out that my great grandfather fought in the war and was captured at Klip River. Sandi mentions in her book that she wrote Valentine Grey as she feels there is not enough coverage of the Boer War in comparison to the First and Second World Wars, and I have certainly found this to be the case when doing background research myself. Sandi has created a moving piece of fiction based on Valentine Grey's life, yet it is apparent that Sandi has done her research. And for me this was the first book, fiction or not, that includes the battle at the Klip River. A very good read and a good introduction to the events and conditions at that time.
• 
  Kit Goode

  I wanted to like this book! the premise is interesting and especially Valentine's chapters are harrowing. However it just... isn't written very well. There are pacing issues, especially with Reggie's story. I honestly think the book would have been much more strong if his chapters had been cut, and then more time given to him and Valentine catching up on her return home. The shifting between the two perspectives wasn't great, and I felt more connection between Sarel and Valentine then I did Reggie and Frank. We are told a lot of what without the why.
  
  It's fine. Because of the writing issues some of the emotional gutpunches fall short and I found myself rolling my eyes in the last 40 pages, but the fact that I got there shows you it's probably worth a read if you're looking for something easy and set in a fairly uncommon time period.
• 
  Robin

  Having read Hitler's Canary by same the author, which was brilliant, I have been very disappointed by this book.
  
  It is far too stagy and contrived and the story as it unfolds on the veldt of South Africa becomes ever more grim. I have not quite finished the book yet but there is little sign of any redemption of any of the characters so far. I might add that all the characters are slightly unbelievable and the book is continually drab and bleak and increasingly I wonder why I am reading this as it is a very depressing story.
  
  I will redress the above comments if, on completion of the book I feel so uplifted as to feel a change in rating is warranted but being within spitting distance of completion that looks unlikely.
  
  Not recommended.
• 
  Justin Neville

  Perhaps even 4.5 stars.
  Without wanting to spoil the story in any way, I will just comment on the general reading experience. It starts off very lightweight with some predictable and unsophisticated characterisations, and the seeming implausibilities in the plot start to pile up.
  
  However, if you stick with it and go with the flow, you (or at least I) soon become gripped, involved, educated, entertained and, most of all, moved. What more could you want?
  
  I've had enough of over-ambitious historical novels that fail to engage and fail to convince. This one won't be for everyone but it's one of the best reads of the year for me.
• 
  Penny

  I really enjoyed this book about Valentine Grey who went to fight in the Boer war instead of her cousin. She was a very strong brave woman, who endured the hardships, terrors and privation and suffering that wars inevitably bring. She fought alongside the men without detection (she thought!) and proved herself to be every bit as capable as them.
  It shows the absolute futility of war, but also shows us that it was the ordinary South African that paid for the British pig headedness about being this great powerful nation and wanting to conquer all in it's path.
• 
  Angie

  An insight into the 2nd Boer War and into difficulties of being a homosexual at the turn of the 20th century. These 2 aspects are brought together when Valentine, female cousin to gay Reginald, decides to take his place as a soldier enlisted for fighting in Africa. While Valentine deals with the difficulties of keeping her sexuality hidden plus the horrors she faces in fighting on the veldt, Reggie fights his own private war trying to keep his homosexual relationship hidden as well as dealing with his feelings of guilt allowing his female cousin to take his place in the army.
• 
  Sam

  At almost no point in this book, was it at all what I had expected. Overall, I enjoyed it, although there were one or two scenes which I had to read through twice. The plot twists and turns in unexpected directions almost continuously. Although Valentine is the main protagonist, the book alternates between Valentine's point of view, and Reggie's. This is not a feel-good novel, this is, in parts, a dark novel, but it's depicting a war, not glorious, but dark, dirty, unpleasant, and painful. Which it does well.
• 
  Sam

  At almost no point in this book, was it at all what I had expected. Overall, I enjoyed it, although there were one or two scenes which I had to read through twice. The plot twists and turns in unexpected directions almost continuously. Although Valentine is the main protagonist, the book alternates between Valentine's point of view, and Reggie's. This is not a feel-good novel, this is, in parts, a dark novel, but it's depicting a war, not glorious, but dark, dirty, unpleasant, and painful. Which it does well.
• 
  Trish

  A bookclub book I really quite enjoyed. I initially thought it was going to be a jolly-hockeysticks-I-dressed-up-as-a-man-and-had-a-grand-adventure type of book but it was way more than that. The depiction of the Boer War was horrific - and a period of history I knew very little about beyond Breaker Morant ... I really liked the way Toksvig explored themes of freedom, gender, sexuality, war, power while crafting a great read...
• 
  Tanis

  I didn't think I'd like this book because the first 25 pages seemed to me to be like a young adult's book but it very quickly warms up to be a real page turner with characters that I took to heart and don't do what you expect. I knew nothing about the Boer War apart from some inkling that it wasn't exactly Britain's finest moment because it's so rarely mentioned.
  
  I must buy more books by Sandi Toksvig, if her others are as good as this I'll be in for the lot of them.
• 
  Sally Power

  An interesting book which tells us more about the times Valentine lived in more than the story itself. A young Victorian orphan girl cuts her hair and signs up as a soldier in the Boer war so that her beloved homosexual cousin doesn't have to. Sometimes quite dark but also very witty in places as you would expect from Sadi Toksvig.
• 
  Nadia

  Fantastic story. Sandi Toksvig draws you in so that you feel a real affinity with and affection for the main characters. She combines a gripping story with a wealth of well researched historical information about the terrors and politics of the Boer War, attitudes towards women, servants and homosexuality in Victorian England, which is all fascinating stuff.
• 
  Teresa

  "I enjoyed the strong female lead but she's a strong woman who sounds like she could be from our time...which unfortunately is not what I want from historical fiction written so evocatively as this."
  read more:
  http://likeiamfeasting.blogspot.co.uk...
• 
  Nicole

  So much death.
  
  This was a very good read. Well-written, engaging, and easy to suspend my disbelief. Lots of difficult subject matter. Made me think. Not the happy adventure story I was expecting, but well done. Makes me want to learn more about the Boer War and South Africa.
• 
  TonyQ

  I don't normally enjoy period or war based stories but I really enjoyed this one. Everything was vividly described and the stories both funny and heart wrenching.
• 
  Sue

  I wanted to like it more than I did. some of the story was just too incredible. The historical detail and misery of war is very well written.