Absolutely perfect!

A fantastic, moving, powerful novel. I'd highly recommend.

In spite of war on the horizon in 1940 elderly John Howard, having had some devastating news, feels the necessity to have a quiet fishing holiday in France.Unfortunately the Nazis put an end to his holiday plans and he must make his way back home to England with all speed.A family he meets at his holiday location asks him to take their two children back to England with him for safety and after some consideration he agrees.However, travelling through France as the Germans gain ground is fraught w...

A wonderful and inspiring story, although there was no mention of how he came to write this I wondered if it had a basis of a true story. I am really starting to like Nevil Shute's writing, this was my second book and found the telling of a brave 70 year old British gentleman leading a diverse group of children out of occupied France to England quite compelling.

I have felt like a kid in a candy store lately, my books have been that good. Here’s another one that is virtually unread these days, but such a charming story and so well written. One of my favorite writers is Nevil Shute. He has a style that is easy to read and so absorbing, and absorbed is exactly what I was from the moment I opened the book and found two Londoners sipping Marsala in their “club” during a bombing raid. Of the two, one is an older man who has a tale to tell and he proceeds to ...

Each author has their own special style. How would I describe Nevil Shute's? His books have a “feel good” tone, and yet at the same time they don't shy away from difficult themes. As with fairy tales, you get scary and suspenseful tidbits, but at the conclusion you feel satisfied. Content. This novel is said to be based on a true life story. Yet nobody calls it non-fiction. There are just too many coincidences for me to accept this as being totally true to life. The story is about a seventy year...

A beautiful, heartwarming and encapsulating story about an elderly English man holidaying in France during World War II and coping with feelings of uselessness' and getting over the death in combat of his son,While he is in France, that country is invaded by the Germans and two small English children come into his custody and he takes them under his wing with the aim of getting them to Britain.He takes on the role of nurturer and protector and we get a window into France during the war and the G...

A beautiful, heartwarming and encapsulating story about an elderly English man holidaying in France during World War II and coping with feelings of uselessness' and getting over the death in combat of his son,While he is in France, that country is invaded by the Germans and two small English children come into his custody and he takes them under his wing with the aim of getting them to Britain.He takes on the role of nurturer and protector and we get a window into France during the war and the G...

4 stars. Read Oct. 2020.Another superb Nevil Shute novel. Just as good on the second read. It is 1940 in England. John Howard, a 70 years old man, recently heard of the death of his son, an RAF pilot. Grieving, he decides that a vacation in a favorite spot will do him some good and he plans a trip for the Jura region of France in the spring to coincide with the blooming of the wildflowers . I wanted to be there with him, and in a way I was, through Shute's beautiful descriptions. John has a love...

Ah, this is one of my favorite books of all! Shute is a wonderful writer. His characters are quite ordinary and believable yet they are also extraordinary and wonderfully good. He gives me faith in humanity, in the world, and in the power of just calmly going about doing what needs to be done. Most people really are like this! The narrative builds from a calm center and grows more and more compelling and urgent. His protagonist, a 70 year old British gentleman, goes fishing in the Jura in France...