Author:James Holland
Joss Lambert has always been a loner, constrained by a secret from his past, until he finds friendship and solace firstly with Guy Liddell, a friend from school, and then with Guy's family, who welcome him into their farmhouse home. Joss increasingly comes to depend upon the Liddells and treats Alvesdon Farm as the one place where he feels not only appreciated but also truly happy. But in late 1930s England, the idyll cannot last.
With war looming, Joss is forced to confront the past. He escapes through flying, becoming a fighter pilot in the RAF. But with the onset of war, even the Liddells' world is crumbling. As Joss is fighting for his life in the Battle of Britain, so he begins to fall madly in love with Stella - Guy's twin - but with tragic consequences. Leaving England and the Liddells far behind, he continues to fly amid the sand and heat of North Africa's deserts, flying above the 'Desert Rats' of the 8th Army, until his hopes and dreams are seemingly shattered for good...
This beautifully written book is a work of exceptional authenticity. The descriptions of life in the late 1930s and the intensity of the air battles revive many recollections and make for compelling reading.
—— Geoffrey Wellum, former Battle of Britain pilot and author of First LightFull of wartime atmosphere. Once again I could see the vapour trails, hear the Spitfire engines and the lofty crackle of machine guns
—— Leslie Thomas, author of Waiting for the DayThe ear-popping action sequences are tremendously exciting ... the pastoral scenes reveal a deep and genuine love of the countryside and its age-old traditions. Holland leaves one in no doubt what ordinary British folk were fighting for
—— Sunday TelegraphThere can seldom have been a better, nor more detailed, evocation of exactly what it was like to fly - and die - in the clear blue skies above the English Channel in those heady days in the summer and autumn of 1940
—— Daily MailHe has joined the few who can bring history to life
—— GuardianA satisfying, old-fashioned story of one man’s struggle to overcome his past and find true love
—— Woman and HomeClearly, Holland has a deep knowledge of life in the 1930s and 40s, both civil and military, because every page oozes with authenticity ... a heartwarming homage to courage, honour, friendship and love ... Highly recommended, and five stars out fo five
—— Ben Kane, author of Spartacus: RebellionSubtle, persuasive and unsettling. A brilliantly troubling and heartening novel
—— Sunday TimesMany passages in The Plot Against America echo feelings voiced today by vulnerable Americans – immigrants and minorities as alarmed by Trump’s election as the Jews of Newark are frightened by Lindbergh’s
—— New YorkerDazzling. The most exciting novelist writing today
The novel is full of his usual furious cackling; tragedy tipping into comedy and comedy into tragedy within the space of a few sentences. The prose is beautiful
—— Mail on SundayA sensation
A polemical classic
—— EsquireBrilliant
One of the best writers of dialogue in the history of inverted commas
—— The TimesA reverberating celebration of family, community and humanity
—— Sunday Times
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