Set in 1943, in a Suffolk village where there's an American bomber airforce base, this is about the crew who have to carry out the raids, and the local English villagers whose lives become entangled with theirs.

This is very much in the style of That Summer, and like that book does a good job of evoking the feel of wartime (although it takes place a couple of years later).

I did enjoy the book, but wasn't quite as taken with it as I'd expected. I think really that the time it's set is so special that any book set then has a head-start in terms of romance, and this was exploited here. I thought the characters were not particularly memorable, and the ending was a little bit too neat (in contrast to That Summer).

But nevertheless it was a good read and I'll probably try some more by the author.

Completed : 02-Jun-2012