(21st April, 2016)
Having enjoyed a couple of Chris Cleave's books in the past, I was pretty damn excited to get a copy of Everyone Brave is Forgiven and expectations were fairly high. Suffice to say, I was not at all disappointed.
Both Incendiary and Little Bee (there's another one called Gold that I have yet to read but assume is equally good) were unique, absorbing and well-written; good, solid reads that I would highly recommend. Everyone Brave is Forgiven though - it's something else altogether. Where Chris Cleave's previous books were good, this one is an absolute masterpiece.
Starting on the first day of World War II, Everyone Brave is Forgiven follows the stories of three unique Londoners. Socialite Mary leaves Finishing School to sign up for the war effort: "War was declared at eleven-fifteen and Mary North signed up at noon". Young, spirited and opinionated, Mary is assigned to work as a schoolteacher to children rejected for relocation to the countryside because of physical disability, intellectual impairment or unsuitable skin colour.
Education administrator Tom chooses not to enlist, but is distraught when his best friend Alistair signs up and leaves for war.
All three (along with a sizable cast of distinctive supporting characters) are fabulously written, three-dimensional characters and seeing wartime events through their eyes puts a whole new spin on an already well-documented story.
Chris Cleave writes beautifully. There are so many perfectly crafted sentences in Everyone Brave is Forgiven that I've ended up highlighting half of the book. It feels as if every single sentence in this book has been carefully re-written until it's perfect - there's not a dud note to be found. There are these wonderfully novel similes, like: "She hated being eighteen. The insights and indignations burned through one's good sense like hot coals through oven gloves" or "He held his rifle slightly away from his body when they marched, the way one might carry a child that had wet itself" or "You are a mousetrap of a friend, all soft cheese and hard springs".
The author also has this wonderful talent for creating beautiful little scenes, small moments in time that are so very vivid - "He scissored his skinny brown legs over the top of the gate, using the penultimate and the ultimate wrought-iron O's of LONDON ZOO as the hoops of a pommel horse, and was immediately lost to sight". The imagery throughout Everyone Brave is Forgiven is like nothing I've ever read before. It's absolutely stunning.
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| Evacuee children leaving London for the countryside, World War II |
It could be argued that we tend to look back on the Allies of World War II with slightly rose-tinted glasses - history is told by the victors, after all. It's easy to demonise the German forces and see the English as some kind of enlightened warriors for freedom and equality, but Everyone Brave is Forgiven provides a vivid reminder that all was not idyllic in British society at this time either - at least, not for everyone. One of the strongest supporting characters in the book is one of Mary's students. Presumably dyslexic and with a penchant for running away, Zachary is also "coloured". And that's the nicest word that's used about him. The casual racism demonstrated by almost every character in the book is all the more jarring because these are not awful people - this is just a time and place where black people are seen very, very differently to today and black-and-white minstrel shows are the height of hilarity. The way in which Zachary is treated because of his skin colour; well, it may not be quite like Nazi Germany, but it's heart-breaking nonetheless. Things aren't much better for the "cripples" of Mary's class: "They had wheeled him inn to the village hall where the evacuees were being chosen. He had waited all night. No one had wanted a polio boy, twelve years old and pimpled. They had not wanted him in the next village either, and finally his mother had gone out to bring him home".
This unflinching honesty recurs throughout the book - the characters are imperfect but wonderfully believable. Their motivations are often admirable, but more often pragmatic or even self-serving. The repercussions of war are seen in all their gory detail; there's no shying away from unpleasantness or pulling punches. It all feels very real.
I don't want to say too much about the storyline for fear of ruining any surprises, but Everyone Brave is Forgiven is moving, compelling and unique. Without a doubt, this is the best book I've read this year.
Apparently, Everyone Brave is Forgiven is loosely based on the stories of Chris Cleave's own grandparents. I cannot imagine a lovelier tribute than this absolutely beautiful book.
10/10
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