Everyone Brave Is Forgiven by Chris Cleave

 

This novel is set in London and Malta in the World War II years of 1939-1942.  It covers the life of several characters and describes their wartime lives.  Mary North is the daughter of wealthy, society parents and has never wanted for anything.  When war is declared she leaves her finishing school and volunteers at the War Office where she is assigned to be a teacher.  Tom and Alistair are best friends.  Tom works for the Education Office while Alastair is an art restorer and works at the Tate.  Alastair volunteers for the service and is quickly sent abroad while Tom stays behind to handle the educational needs of the children of London.

Mary has no background in teaching but quickly falls in love with the job and especially one student, Zachary, who is a black child.  He and the others are sent to the country but the prejudice there returns him to London.  Mary teaches him and other children not sent away such as those with disabilities and seems to be making progress.  She and Tom have fallen in love and are talking about marriage.  London is under the reality of daily bombings from the Germans and more and more people are affected.

When Tom and Mary meet with Alastair on leave from France before he is sent to Malta, Mary brings her best friend, Hilda, hoping she and Alastair will hit it off.  That is before she meets Alastair who when they meet, she falls in love with and he with her although each knows it is impossible because of their love for Tom.  Alastair goes away to Malta which was one of the worst postings in the war.  It was strafed and bombed daily for months and the soldiers were soon living in a fort on starvation rations.  

I generally stay away from World War II novels as I think the genre is overdone but I took a chance on this one as Chris Cleave is such a good author.  It was a marvelous book with sympathetic characters and scenes that brought home the reality of war better than most novels of its kind.  Mary starts as a spoiled child who quickly grows up and realizes that the world is changing around her.  Tom and Alastair are examples of the brave English men who just got on with it without complaint even when outnumbered and outsupplied.  The descriptions bring home the reality of war more than any book I've read of this time period and the sacrifices made by every characters makes one realize how lucky the United States has been not to have war fought on its land with the exception of the Civil War.  Being in the midst of war is much different from sending soldiers away and the gritty reality of bombings, loss of houses and relatives and friends and the daily sacrifices of everyone involved is breathtaking.  This book is recommended for readers of historical and literary fiction.