Publisher's Synopsis
Summer 1940. The evacuation of Dunkirk proved that the British can rise to a challenge, but now the soldiers walk the streets of Dover, wandering through Woolworths, taking weary turns on the town's ice rink. Somehow, life must go on and people take comfort where they can. Toby Hendy, a fighter pilot, is awaiting orders when he meets Giselle, a young Frenchwoman who escaped occupied France with the English troops. Their love affair feels like a summer idyll, but can it withstand the forces of war? Meanwhile, reserve naval commander Paul Instow has been called up to fight in a war for which he feels too old. A young Dover prostitute, distracts him from his worries. But is their tender, happy relationship born out of desperation or is it something more permanent? Chronicling the lives and loves of ordinary people, Thomas conveys besieged Britain in tense, but curiously elated days.
