"She was falling in love. Not happily and compliantly, but in a seriously uncontrolled, dangerous and totally hopeless way. Like a Hurricane crashing."

Josie is in her final term of school when news comes of the evacuation of British Troops from Dunkirk. Until then the war hadn't seemed like something that could directly affect her life. But now the papers are full of talk of invasion and her mother wants her to leave London. For her safety, she says, though Josie suspects it's to stop her dating a soldier. She thinks she'll hate the countryside, but then she meets the Patterson brothers, Jumbo and Chris. One warm-hearted but crippled by a motorcycle accident, the other a dashing fighter pilot in the RAF. Josie is drawn helplessly into a tangled web of romance. And as the battle for Britain begins, the clashes in the blue Essex skies echo the conflict in her love-torn heart.

Review: The detailed picture K M Peyton paints of life in wartime Britain is wonderfully realistic. While the theme of the book is romance, the descriptions alone should appeal to a wider audience than that of the teenage girls I suspect will be the main readers of this story. Abandoning a half hearted romance in London for life with Auntie Betty, Uncle Bert and the dull yet flappable cousin Maureen in Essex, Josie’s spirits lift when she meets Jumbo. Skipping merrily from one affair straight into the next, she loves Jumbo dearly and enjoys his company. But when she meets older brother Chris, Josie knows that only now has she truly discovered what love really is. Yet it brings nothing but pain and happiness and not only to Josie.

This is a beautifully written, extremely readable story and very educational from an historical perspective. I felt it was similar in style to the novels set in wartime by Michelle Magorian. Anyone who has experienced any sort of romantic feelings or fantasies will be able to relate to Josie’s dilemmas and heartache, yet the book is not all “doom and gloom.” A cunning twist at the end is exciting, but I found the ending disappointing and felt that I was left hanging, the story not quite finished. The fluency and ease with which K M Peyton writes kept the pages turning earlier on, but then only served to heighten the sense of incompletion I had upon finishing the book. A good read for anyone interested in wartime life.

2007-12-13