Showing results by author "Chris Cleave" in Literary Fiction

When war is declared, Mary North leaves finishing school unfinished, goes straight to the War Office, and signs up. Tom Shaw decides to give it a miss - until his flatmate, Alistair, unexpectedly enlists, and the conflict can no longer be avoided. Young, bright and brave, Mary is certain she'd be a marvelous spy. When she is - bewilderingly - made a teacher, she instead finds herself defying prejudice to protect the children her country would rather forget.

We don't want to tell you too much about this book. It is a truly special story and we don't want to spoil it. Nevertheless, you need to know something, so we will just say this: It is extremely funny, but the African beach scene is horrific. The story starts there, but the book doesn't. And it's what happens afterwards that is most important. Once you have read it, you'll want to tell everyone about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens either. The magic is in how it unfolds.

Mary North ist jung, hübsch und aus guter Familie. In ihrem ganzen Leben musste sie noch nichts Schwereres heben als ein Cocktailglas. Zu Beginn des Zweiten Weltkriegs meldet sie sich impulsiv und voller Enthusiasmus in London zur Truppenunterstützung. Sie wird allerdings ganz unheroisch nur als Hilfslehrerin an einer Schule eingesetzt. Dabei lernt sie Tom kennen, der bei der Schulbehörde arbeitet. Sie fühlen sich sofort zueinander hingezogen.