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Everyone Brave is Forgiven Chris Cleave 9781501124372 Books

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Everyone Brave is Forgiven Chris Cleave 9781501124372 Books

I loved Little Bee and thought Incendiary, Cleave's first novel, was fascinating. So I wish I could give this a better review, but I was disappointed throughout. As others noted, it starts very slowly, but unlike others, I never truly got hooked, although I did finish it. The problem for me wasn't the pace, but rather the characters. None of them seemed real or three-dimensional, and virtually all, with the exception of Zachary and sometimes, Alistair, were incredibly irritating: narcissistic, self-absorbed, self-righteous and glib. In fact, that glibness and famed British stiff upper lip repartee got tedious pretty quickly. Mary, in particular, was a piece of work. What I suppose is meant to be youthful idealism came across as selfishness for the most part. Her commitment to Zachary was the one grace note in the book and in her character, but even here, she failed to see or draw the line between helping and harming. As for the plot, it plodded rather than soared. The best writing I've seen on the London blitz recently comes from the marvelous Kate Atkinson (Life After Life and its sequel). Here, either the deaths piled up incredibly or, on the other hand, the characters evaded death incredibly (Alistair surviving the plane crash and near drowning, as well as several air raids on Malta). Perhaps most disappointing, after my memories of Little Bee, was the writing. Yes, there were some lovely passages and sentences that stopped you cold with their crispness and beauty, but too much of the book was pedantic and almost academic in feel.


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Everyone Brave is Forgiven Chris Cleave 9781501124372 Books Reviews

Chris Cleave, "you had me at Little Bee" and it would be a tall order to live up to that story in my opinion, but you've captured me again with Everyone Brave is Forgiven. I must confess I looked up thirty-four words on my trek through this tale, which only added to my personal list of "cool" words and phrases. This is not a typical war story as it focuses on those who found a way to survive, not those who died a hero. The book addresses big weighty themes such as racism, class snobbery, social injustice, friendship, betrayal, and love with flashes of British wit that makes the reader (at least this reader) smile in the midst of suffering and heartache. At the end of the magical storytelling we are left to define bravery and forgiveness within the context of the book and within the context of our own lives. Mr. Cleave, your grandfather would have been very proud of you.
Here is Britain’s World War II as viewed through the perspective of five young people. Their varied and often cruel experiences stand in for the evil and disruption of the war that comes to upend all their lives. The action unfolds month by month from September 1939, when Britain enters the war, through June 1942. The larger events that come to dominate their lives are the London Blitz, the evacuation of British children from London to the countryside, the Nazi Blitzkrieg advance into northern France, the devastation of Allied shipping by Germany’s U-boats, and the siege of Malta, where British forces are trapped under siege from the German and Italian air forces.

Mary North rushes to volunteer for war service less than an hour after war is declared on Germany. She is 18, the daughter of a Conservative Member of Parliament who is angling for a place in the Cabinet. Expecting a glamorous role in intelligence, Mary is assigned instead as a schoolteacher for a classroom of children about to be evacuated to the countryside. She takes on the job with enthusiasm, quickly developing an unorthodox approach to teaching that engages the children.

One of Mary’s pupils, Zachary Lee, proves especially rebellious. He’s 11, an African-American whose father plays the leading role in a London minstrel show. Mary soon learns Zachary is severely dyslexic, though the term isn’t yet in use. She develops a special relationship with him in the face of the racist abuse he suffers every day. Determined to help nonetheless, she sets out to teach him to read and write despite his disability.

Tom Shaw, 23, decides to give the war a pass. He holds an administrative role in the ministry of education. When Mary is fired from her teaching job because she has befriended her students rather than acted in the dictatorial manner expected of her, she finds her way to Tom to demand another class to teach. It’s not long before they fall into bed together.

Meanwhile, Mary’s best friend, Hilda Appleby, wants only to find a husband. She is much less pretty than Mary and is constantly complaining that Mary steals the men she’s set her eyes on. This issue takes center stage when Tom and Mary bring Hilda together with Tom’s flatmate, Alistair Heath. Hilda falls for him, but Alistair has eyes only for Mary. Hilda’s jealousy strains her friendship with Mary.

All these relationships sound utterly conventional and uninteresting when described in shorthand, as I’ve done above. But there’s nothing conventional about the circumstances, which soon twist and warp their young lives. The Blitz and the Siege of Malta loom especially large, and none of their lives is ever the same. And there’s nothing the least bit tedious about the story as Chris Cleave tells it. His narrative style is captivating. The dialogue sparkles brightly, brimming over with wit. Especially in the early chapters I found myself laughing out loud as I came to fall in love with these finely drawn characters.

This is the history of World War II through a microscope, beautifully rendered.

About the author

Everyone Brave Is Forgiven is the fourth of Chris Cleave‘s novels. His first, Incendiary, was published in 20 countries and won major awards. My review is here. He is also the author of Little Bee, which appeared on US bestseller lists for months. Cleave is a columnist for the Guardian newspaper.
I loved Little Bee and thought Incendiary, Cleave's first novel, was fascinating. So I wish I could give this a better review, but I was disappointed throughout. As others noted, it starts very slowly, but unlike others, I never truly got hooked, although I did finish it. The problem for me wasn't the pace, but rather the characters. None of them seemed real or three-dimensional, and virtually all, with the exception of Zachary and sometimes, Alistair, were incredibly irritating narcissistic, self-absorbed, self-righteous and glib. In fact, that glibness and famed British stiff upper lip repartee got tedious pretty quickly. Mary, in particular, was a piece of work. What I suppose is meant to be youthful idealism came across as selfishness for the most part. Her commitment to Zachary was the one grace note in the book and in her character, but even here, she failed to see or draw the line between helping and harming. As for the plot, it plodded rather than soared. The best writing I've seen on the London blitz recently comes from the marvelous Kate Atkinson (Life After Life and its sequel). Here, either the deaths piled up incredibly or, on the other hand, the characters evaded death incredibly (Alistair surviving the plane crash and near drowning, as well as several air raids on Malta). Perhaps most disappointing, after my memories of Little Bee, was the writing. Yes, there were some lovely passages and sentences that stopped you cold with their crispness and beauty, but too much of the book was pedantic and almost academic in feel.