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Everyone Brave Is Forgiven

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Everyone Brave Is Forgiven

By: Chris Cleave
Narrated by: Luke Thompson
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About this listen

The breathtaking new novel from the multiaward-winning author of The Other Hand.

When war is declared, Mary North leaves finishing school unfinished, goes straight to the War Office, and signs up.

Tom Shaw decides to give it a miss - until his flatmate, Alistair, unexpectedly enlists, and the conflict can no longer be avoided.

Young, bright and brave, Mary is certain she'd be a marvelous spy. When she is - bewilderingly - made a teacher, she instead finds herself defying prejudice to protect the children her country would rather forget.

Tom, meanwhile, finds that he will do anything for Mary. And when Mary and Alistair meet, it is love as well as war that will test them in ways they could not have imagined, entangling three lives in violence and passion, friendship and deception, inexorably shaping their hopes and dreams.

In a powerful combination of both humour and heartbreak, this dazzling novel weaves little-known history and a perfect love story through the vast sweep of the Second World War - daring us to understand that against the great theatre of world events, it is the intimate losses, the small battles, the daily human triumphs that change us most.

©2016 Chris Cleave (P)2016 Hodder & Stoughton Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction War & Military War Heartfelt Espionage Military

Editorial reviews

"A cracker." ( Stylist, 10 Exciting Books in 2016)
"His best book to date." ( Esquire, 10 best novels of 2016)
All stars
Most relevant
I simply loved this book. Beautifully evocative. I fell in love with the characters.
Treat yourself and read this book.

Stunning

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Superbly built characters. Clean, precision prose a skilful immersion of the fourth protagonist into war torn London. Best since The Dressmaker.
Thank you and congratulations Chris

Chris Richards
Canberra, Australia

Wonderful word craftsmanship!

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A good story with the right narrator. I enjoyed and am to read the book now. Got lots of knitting done.

Really enjoyed it

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A rich and thought provoking story and the narration was truly outstanding. I highly recommend.

Wonderful story, brilliantly read

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I couldn't stop listening...beautifully narrated .. I thought that the story brought a great depth of the human condition from a time where society had no words of a deep experience and left so much between the lines...the war changed so many.. as a post war ex-Londoner I found the story moving

A story of great beauty

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A wonderful story very well written. Both humorous and heartbreaking with outstanding narration by Luke Thompson.

One of the best!

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I want it to keep going.
Beautiful.
Funny

Awful
Amazing.
Story
And reader.
Thank you.

Get it. It’s beautiful.

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the story was nice enough, but this story had been tools a million times just with different names. There is not enough attention placed on giving the characters identities beyond very surface information, which means they are hard to relate to. Alister is probably the only character who had a lot of personality and is relatable. Mary, the poor little rich girl, who is so pretty she inadvertently steals all the attention from her poor friend Hilda, but has no idea she's doing it... Please... That is the biggest clue this book is written by a man.

Very predictable.

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