Unicorn Publishing
Paperback & eBook; 356 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction, World War II
Synopsis
Occasionally panoramic, more often intimate, in Clouds of Love and War author Rachel Billington balances a detailed and highly researched picture of the life of a Second World War Spitfire pilot with the travails and ambitions of a young woman too often on her own. The result is both a gripping story of war and a sensitive story of love, a love that struggles to survive.
Eddie and Eva meet on the eve of
the Second World War. Eddie only wants to be a flyer, to find escape in the clouds from his own complicated family. However, the Battle of Britain makes a pilot's life a dangerous way to flee reality.
Eva has her own passionate longing: to become a painter. When Eva's Jewish mother disappears to Germany, she is left alone with her elderly father. Both Eddie and Eva come of age at a time that teaches them that happiness is always fleeting, but there are things worth living - or dying - for.
Through the connecting stories of these young people and their wider families, and against a background of southern county airfields, London, Oxford, Dorset and France, Rachel Billington brings the world of war time England, now eighty years in the past, back to life.
My Thoughts
Twenty-year-old Eddie and eighteen-year-old Eva meet a few months before the out break of World War II in Oxford. Both have unusual family dynamics, where their parents lead separate lives.
Eva has a German mother who visits Germany on a regular basis to help Jews escape to England. Schooled at home, at first by her mother and then by her father, Eva leads a solitary existence with no friends, and only the company of a live-in German refugee/servant and her elderly father. She finds solace in her painting. Her desire is to attend the Rushkin School of Art, but her father won't allow it.
Eddie, on the other hand, is studying at Oxford University. His mother is a novelist and comes from a wealthy, landed family, while his father, who lives apart from his mother, is a journalist and supporter of the Labor Party. Eddie has a passion for flying and loves the time he spends among the clouds. His ambition is to join the RAF. Like many young men of the time, Eddie is excited and determined to do his bit when war comes and isn't dissuaded by his father's bad experiences in the previous war or his politics.
At first Eddie appears very self-centred and Eva is not quite sure whether he likes her as much as she likes him. Her quiet acceptance that perhaps she's not a very interesting person is sad, but Eva is very astute when it comes to Eddie's moods and displays a maturity far beyond her years. All she wants is for Eddie to "see" her.
With everything that is happening in Eddie's life: the stress of flying, the loss of friends and the reality of war, the only constant is Eva, who demands nothing of him. Finally, he acknowledges that she is the girl for him.
This is a wonderful coming of age story that takes you into the lives of two young people whose world has been thrown into chaos and the way they cope with the support of each other, family and friends. The development of their romance unfolds slowly and gently, and is very satisfying. Also, the flying sequences are so well written that you share the pleasure, and also the drama, of Eddie's love of flying and his relationship with the Spitfire.
Clouds of Love and War is an engrossing read that captures your emotions and leaves Eddie and Eva in your thoughts long after the final page.
Available from Amazon
About the Author
Rachel Billington has written twenty three novels, one novella, several books for children, and three non-fiction books.
She has also written and continues to write journalism for newspapers both in the UK and the US, including a three year stint as a columnist for The Sunday Telegraph.
Rachel Billington has written two plays for television, Don’t be Silly’ and ‘Life after Death’, both in the BBC Play for To-day series, and several radio plays, as well as contributing to film scripts.
For further information, visit Rachel’s website.
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I like the title of this book! It sounds like a good read too.
ReplyDeleteIt was lovely, but also sad.
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