In the Light of Morning
Published on 13. February 2014
Book
Hardback
352 pages
978-0-434-02274-8 (ISBN)
Description
Both a war novel of the first order and a love story of devastating power, In the Light of Morning is a magnificent new work by one of Britain's finest writers, Tim Pears, the highly acclaimed author of Disputed Land and Landed.
It is May 1944 and in Eastern Europe the Second World War is reaching a dramatic and bloody crescendo. High above the mountains of occupied Slovenia an aeroplane drops three British parachutists - brash MP Major Jack Farwell, radio operator Sid Dixon, and young academic Lieutenant Tom Freedman - sent to assist the resistance in their battle against the Axis forces.
Greeted upon arrival by a rag-tag group of Partisans, the men are led off into the countryside. It is early summer, and the mountains and forests teem with life and colour. Despite the distant crackle of gunfire, the war feels a long way off for Tom. The Partisans, too, are not what he was expecting - courageous, kind, and alluring, especially Jovan, their commander, and the hauntingly beautiful Marija. Yet after a series of daring encounters, the enemy's net begins to tighten. They find evidence of massacres, of a dark and terrible band of men pursuing them through the wilderness. As the Partisans stumble their way towards a final, tragic battle, so the relationships within the group begin to fray, with Tom finding himself forced to face up to his deepest, most secret desires.
It is May 1944 and in Eastern Europe the Second World War is reaching a dramatic and bloody crescendo. High above the mountains of occupied Slovenia an aeroplane drops three British parachutists - brash MP Major Jack Farwell, radio operator Sid Dixon, and young academic Lieutenant Tom Freedman - sent to assist the resistance in their battle against the Axis forces.
Greeted upon arrival by a rag-tag group of Partisans, the men are led off into the countryside. It is early summer, and the mountains and forests teem with life and colour. Despite the distant crackle of gunfire, the war feels a long way off for Tom. The Partisans, too, are not what he was expecting - courageous, kind, and alluring, especially Jovan, their commander, and the hauntingly beautiful Marija. Yet after a series of daring encounters, the enemy's net begins to tighten. They find evidence of massacres, of a dark and terrible band of men pursuing them through the wilderness. As the Partisans stumble their way towards a final, tragic battle, so the relationships within the group begin to fray, with Tom finding himself forced to face up to his deepest, most secret desires.
Reviews / Votes
Tim Pears has made the battle zone of family life in provincial England his own fertile fictional terrain...The novel succeeds in illuminating a pivotal moment in world history, while casting a steady light back on England...Rather like Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient, this is an intimate tale of a few individuals poised at a moment when one epoch gives way to another. -- Maya Jaggi * Guardian * [T]he characters are beautifully and economically drawn, and he is excellent on the sights and especially the smells of the landscape - the beauty even of a war-torn land. * The Times * Brilliantly nail-biting. Tim Pears tackles the horrors and ambiguity of war with his usual deft observance, in this depiction of a largely forgotten World War II slideshow in Eastern Europe. * Daily Mail * Superb ... a thought provoking, lyrical and deeply humane book * Sunday Business Post * Pears's prose, with its sensuousness and subtlety, is a fine vehicle for the intelligent, unsentimental tale he tells. * Sunday Times * [A] compelling, heartbreaking book * Sunday Herald * The author's depiction of this psychological turmoil is delicate and respectful ... a fine novel with wide appeal * Irish Examiner * I have never failed to be impressed by the quality of his writing and the inventiveness of his story lines...The book unfolds with some remarkably well-written set-pieces. Relationships are clarified, enemy (and allied) plots are uncovered and the inevitable conflict eventually occurs with a great disruption to souls and bodies. * A Common Reader *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Cornerstone
Dimensions
Height: 222 mm
Width: 144 mm
Thickness: 32 mm
Weight
531 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-434-02274-8 (9780434022748)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Tim Pears
In the Light of Morning
E-Book
02/2014
1st Edition
Cornerstone Digital
€8.99
Available for download
Person
Tim Pears was born in 1956. He grew up in Devon, and left school at sixteen. He has worked in a wide variety of jobs and is a graduate of the National Film and Television School. His first novel, In the Place of Fallen Leaves, won the Hawthornden Prize for Literature and the Ruth Hadden Memorial Award. His second novel, In a Land of Plenty, has been adapted for television and is now a major BBC television series. Tim Pears is the author of eight highly acclaimed novels including Landed, Disputed Land and A Revolution of the Sun.