No Highway

Our novel studied for English in Fourth Form (Year 10) in 1963 was No Highway by Nevil Shute published in 1948. In 1951 a film, No Highway in the Sky, based on the story in the book was released. I remember seeing the film on television many years later. Recent aviation crashes and Boeing's reaction to these events caused me to check my bookshelves to locate my copy of the novel to read again.

The novel is narrated by Dr Dennis Scott who is in charge of the Structural Department at the Royal Aircraft Establishment (RAE) at Farnborough. One of the projects, conducted by Mr Theodore Honey, is researching the theory that the tail of the new Reindeer aircraft that flies across the Atlantic has a fault causing the tail to fall from the plane resulting in the plane crashing. One plane had recently crashed in northern Canada though the crash report stated pilot error as the problem.

The trial conducted by Honey is planned to test the stability of the tail of a plane for the equivalent of 1440 hours flying time. Scott suggested to management that the Reindeer aircraft in service should be grounded when they have flown for 720 hours-  a suggestion that many disagree with, especially the owners of the planes and the department that prepared the report about the plane crashing in Canada. However it was agreed that an engineer from RAE should travel to Canada to inspect remaining sections of the tail for evidence of corrosion. Mr Honey is sent to carry out this task but part way through the flight discovers that the Reindeer aircraft on which he is travelling has flown 1422 hours. His attempts to persuade the pilot to turn the plane around and land in Ireland were not successful.

Much of the novel concerns the character of Mr Honey who is considered a quiet, strange little man with good technical knowledge and experience but also having a number of questionable, semi religious beliefs. Other characters in the story include Honey's twelve year old daughter, Elspeth and two women that befriend Honey on the plane trip.

Nevil Shute was an engineer and worked in the aircraft industry so throughout the book he includes a number of technical references which add authenticity to the story. It must, however, be remembered that the novel was written in the late 1940s so some of the attitudes described, particularly towards women and housekeeping, should now appear outdated in 2019. They should, however, be read as capturing and describing attitudes in recent history - 71 years ago. The story also contains references to the Cold War - Western Countries versus Russia.

This book made a lasting impression on me when I read it at school and unfortunately it foretells of a number of aircraft accidents in the then future plus the continued reluctance of some manufacturers to accept that the accident may be caused by a problem with the plane and not always be the fault of the pilot.

Biography of Nevil Shute - Australian Dictionary of Biography
No Highway reviews - Good Reads
No Highway - Wikipedia

The Light over London

The Light over London, by Julia Kelly contains the stories of two women - Louise Keene's experiences in Cornwall and London in 1941 and the attempt of Cara Hargraves in 2017 to discover the owner of a diary located when she was sorting items from a deceased estate.

Louise grew up in Haybourne in Cornwall and worked in a grocery store. Her life changed when her cousin, Kate, decided that she and Louise should go to a dance near the air force base. It was there that she met an RAF pilot, Paul Bolton, and so begins their romance, much against the wishes of her mother. When Paul is posted to another base Louise decides to join the ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service). After initial training she is posted to London where she becomes a Gunner Girl - part of a team of women and men who spend their nights looking for enemy aircraft approaching the city and then attempt to shoot them down. Louise recorded the events of this part of her life in a diary which many years later turned up among the possessions of another woman.

When Cara decided to uncover the story of the diary she discovers that her new neighbour is a history professor at the university and he offers to help her. As well as wanting to return the diary to the family of the woman who wrote it, Cara  is hoping that her investigations may encourage her grandmother to tell Cara about her experience in the ATS during the war.

The book about love, friendships, broken relationships and family secrets shows aspects of the lives  of women coping with challenges.

The Light over London is one of a number of books that have been published recently about the varied experiences of women during the Second World War. Some titles that have posts in this blog include:
The Lace Weaver by Lauren Chater
Transcription by Kate Atkinson
Maggie's Kitchen by Caroline Beecham
Eleanor's Secret by Caroline Beecham
The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan
The Good Pilot Peter Woodhouse by Alexander McCall Smith
Traitor's Girl by Christine Wells
The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff

Scrublands

In Scrublands, Chris Hammer, has contributed to the growing list of excellent crime stories set in an Australian location - usually the outback. In this case the story is set in the fictional town of Riversend on the road to Hay in New South Wales. The town is suffering from a severe drought with many of the businesses closed or only open for a few hours a week. But the drought is not the only issue to be faced by the remaining population in Riversend.

Journalist, Martin Scarsden, arrives in Riversend to write a story of how the town is coping after the massacre of five men outside a church in the town almost twelve months previously. However as he interviews people for his story he discovers that the story of the massacre written and published by a colleague may not be correct. Different people in the town have a variety of views on what happened that day and repercussions from the events are still being played out in the community.

The gripping story told in this book makes it difficult to put the book down as the the journalist uncovers what is really occurring in this region. The story also provides a commentary on media, both print and television. This book is definitely, to use a well used cliche, a good read.

The Lace Weaver

Lauren Chater, in The Lace Weaver, has written a compelling story about small communities being overpowered by war and the determination of the women as they struggle to protect their families and attempt to survive.

In 1940 Russia re-invaded Estonia and incorporated the country into part of the Soviet Union. By 1941 Estonia had virtually lost its identity and its people struggled to survive. Kati, determined to help the women maintain some of the traditions of Estonia, establishes a circle of women who regularly meet to knit traditional lace shawls, sing traditional songs and provide support for each other.

Kati lives with and helps her parents on a farm outside Tartu while her brother, Jacob, attends university. Then her friend Oskar arrives at the farm warning them that they are no longer safe and should relocate to the Forest.

Meanwhile in Moscow, Lydia remembered the stories about Estonia told to her by her mother before she died when Lydia was a young girl. Lydia knew she needed to escape Moscow and, with the aid of Olga, travels to Estonia. There she discovers only turmoil but also meets Etti who takes her to her friends, including Kati.

When the Germans invade Estonia in 1941 it is hoped that they will allow the Estonians to live their own lives but it is soon obvious that one tyrannical power has been replaced by another.

This is a book about small communities, particularly women, caught up in war. Alternate chapters tell the story from the viewpoint of Kati or Lydia and eventually their individual stories become one story. The knitting of lace shawls - a traditional craft in Estonia - weaves its way throughout the stories of horror encountered by the women. Each chapter heading contains the name of a traditional pattern used to make shawls. The shawls become the stories of the women and are precious over generations. A book well worth reading.

Book review: The Lace Weaver - Backstory

Estonia profile - Timeline - BBC

All the tears in China

In the ninth book in the Rowland Sinclair series by Sulari Gentill, Rowland is ordered to go to Shanghai by his brother to take part in discussions about selling surplus wool. His brother warns him not to make a final decision on the matter. Rowland suggests that he is not the best person to undertake such a project but his brother insists as he has family matters at home to attend to.

Shanghai in the the mid 1930s is not the safest place to visit as Rowland and his friends, Edwina, Clyde and Milton discover. It is soon obvious that they do not know who to trust especially when Rowland is accused of murder.

Shanghai is a cosmopolitan city with British expats, French, Germans and Japanese mingling with the Chinese. It is a city of politics - communists and non communists (both Chinese and Russian), fascists from Nazi Germany, the Japanese invasion of part of Manchuria - making it often a dangerous place to be, especially when you do not know your way around.

One of the features of the books in this series is that at the beginning of each chapter the author includes part of an actual newspaper article relating to what is happening in the chapter. These articles help explain and add atmosphere to the historical setting of each book.

There is plenty of action and suspense as Rowland's friends attempt to extricate him from the dangerous politcal situation  in which he has become involved.

Stone Book Quartet

Alan Garner wrote four short stories which have now been compiled into one book - The Stone Book Quartet. The stories, now chapters, are The Stone Book, Granny Reardun, The Aimer Gate and Tom Fobble's Day and were written between 1976 and 1978. Each story occurs in a different generation and is based on members of Alan Garner's family who lived in the area near Alderley Edge in Cheshire.

Mary's father worked with stone and had helped build and repair many buildings in the village including St Philip's Church which is where Mary finds him when she takes him his lunch. Mary tells her father that she wants to learn to read a book. Instead he shows her how to read stone and takes her to a cave where she finds a strange mark.

Robert had spent his life working with stone, choosing only the best rocks to use for building projects. At times his grandson, Joseph, helped him. But the period for building with stone was coming to an end as people decided to use bricks to build their homes.  When Joseph finished school he decided to be apprenticed to the village blacksmith but he still had to tell his grandfather the news.

Young Robert had just finished making a cart to go down the hill. His Uncle Charlie was on leave from fighting during World War I and joined a number of the men who were to spend the day reaping corn. Young Robert was with them when they found the remains of a building in the grass and he used his cart to move the blocks of rock that his grandfather needed. Young Robert's father worked at the smithy and once a week he needed to correct the time on the chapel clock. When Young Robert took his father his baggin and climbed and explored the tower, he found what he thought was his name carved in the stone. But whose name was it?

It was winter during the Second World War and William had built a sled to use to go down the hill in the snow. However Stewart Allman commandeered the sled claiming he had the right to Tom Fobble it. William then went into the village to see his grandfather who was the blacksmith and helped his grandfather at the forge before they later went to his grandfather's house.

These stories create a picture of a life long gone. The stories are fiction but Alan Garner has based the stories on events and people in his family's history. The stories show respect for good craftsmanship and pride in what was sometimes dangerous and laborious work. However there is a feeling of comradeship among the characters and often the love of music.

The version of the book I read was an e-book.

The Rosie Result

In 2013 The Rosie Project by Australian author, Graeme Simsion, was published to great acclaim. This book was followed by The Rosie Effect with the third book in the series published in February this year.

When Don and Rosie decide to return to Australia from New York their eleven year old son, Hudson, is far from pleased. Hudson has difficulty coping with change and Don recognises in his son many of the characteristics that he also has. He is therefore determined to ensure that his son learns skills, social and physical, to help him make friends and fit in at school.

Like the other books in the series this is an amusing book to read but it also looks at issues such as the possible dangers of labelling people and when are children old enough to make decisions affecting their health. This is a book about teamwork as Don enlists the assistance of family and friends to help him with Hudson. Hudson's issues also provide other characters to re-evaluate some of their beliefs and understanding of why they act the way they do. This is an enjoyable book, well worth reading. If you enjoyed the other two Rosie books you will enjoy this one.