Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

I'm starting this because I enjoyed Three Day Road so much. We'll see if they stand up to comparison. Read the first chapter last night - it's going to be good.

OK - I have a few chapters under my belt and so far - brilliant. I'm finding this one benefits from my full attention rather than something I can read as part of an evening of multitasking. The story so far - it's 1910 and a young Englishman, Stephen Wraysford, arrives in France to stay with the Azaire family. He's there to learn about the textile industry but becomes embroiled in a torrid affair.
The attention to small details of the era evoke a sense of suburban/rural France at the time. Descriptive and detailed but not longwinded. Can't wait to get back to it.
PS I've just had a friend round for dinner who noticed what I was reading and mentioned something about this book. He's given me the courage to say it - it's a very well written description of the physical side of the affair...
Update: I finished reading this while, would you believe, I was on holiday in France. If you have any interest in The Great War or life in the trenches - and let's face it - too many of us lost at least one relative in this - you have probably read this book already. If not, buy it.

On the negative side. The introduction of Elizabeth, Wraysford's granddaughter, neatly ties up the loose ends but drags the novel down. Single, successful, biological clock ticking, having an affair with a married man - she's a complete cliche and an irritating one at that.

The characters are vague - so much of the book is at pains to explain what makes them tick yet I wasn't always completely sure I understood them. This is only an observation, not a criticism. As a portrayal  of men living through an extraordinary experience and through extraordinary times - that the characters were slightly out of focus worked very well in my opinion.

If only he'd left Elizabeth a bit more out of focus.