May 2016
EVERYONE BRAVE IS FORGIVEN by Chris Cleave is based on the story of his grandfather’s service on Malta, as well as his grandmother’s life in the UK during the same time period.
Three characters --- Mary North, Tom Shaw and Alistair Heath --- bring the story to life here. Mary has volunteered to teach a small group of kids who have been left behind in the evacuation of the children, something I had not been aware of. The infirmed, those mentally handicapped and the non-whites typically were rejected by the families in the countryside who boarded the evacuees, or they were not sent at all. Tom is the school administrator who does not wish to join the war effort, preferring to stay behind and help those who were not wanted. Mary and Tom quickly become enamored with each other.
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