Overview

As the wife of a Resistance member in German-occupied Belgium, Claire Daussois has grown used to hiding strange men in her attic. By the end of 1943, the tiny room has housed dozens of Allied airmen, soldiers and other refugees, whom Claire nurses and harbours from the perpetual threat of discovery by the Gestapo. The B-17 bomber that crash-lands outside Claire's village of Delahaut contains the man who will be both the last and the most significant of the attic's residents: US Air Force pilot Ted Brice. Ted is found severely wounded and semi-conscious by ten-year-old Jean Benoit minutes before the Germans begin their search for survivors. Knowing of Claire's connections with the Resistance, and desperate to atone for his father's shameful collaboration, Jean realises that Claire is the pilot's only hope of survival. The month that follows will stay with them both for the rest of their lives. A few weeks only, a handful of days, it is a period in which the war recedes in the face of more powerful forces - before imposing itself once more with shocking suddenness.

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'Shreve is prolific, polished, unputdownable. Above all, she delivers serious topics with a readable touch' GUARDIAN; 'An enigmatic tale of impossible love and courageous self-sacrifice' DAILY TELEGRAPH; 'Anita Shreve writes with great sensitivity ... this is a novel to admire' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Shreve's fifth novel - another bittersweet trip down memory lane (after Where or When, 1993, etc.) - tells a story of love and betrayal in wartime Belgium. The starting point is familiar: A crew of brave young Americans out on a dangerous bombing mission to destroy Nazi targets is brought down by enemy fire in occupied Belgium; two airmen die, others are captured, and the wounded hero is rescued by the local Resistance. Midwestern boy Ted Brice, who thinks he may be in love with Sheila back home, is hidden in the attic of Henri and Claire's farmhouse. A Resistance nurse binds his wounds; Claire sees to his other needs. She is a beautiful woman who reads poetry in English and married Henri because she'd known him all her life - she adored his face but did not love him. Ted's wounds heal slowly, and he's still not strong enough to leave when three German soldiers are killed by a member of the Resistance. The local Gestapo makes immediate reprisals, summarily hanging villagers in the town square; Resistance members are betrayed; and Henri must flee, leaving Claire to cope alone, which she does very well, despite an unsuccessful raid by the Gestapo and the difficulties of keeping Ted hidden. The Frenchwoman and the American embark on a passionate affair that ends only when Henri comes back for Ted, who is to be taken to France by the Resistance. The lovers are separated, betrayed to the enemy, and never meet again, but a wrap-up chapter - in which Ted and Sheila's son comes back for the 1993 inauguration of a monument memorializing his father and the rest of the plane crew - agreeably fills us in on the years in between. Lively writing, but familiar reprise of countless WW II novels, books, and movies. (Kirkus Reviews)

German-occupied Belgium is the setting within which Shreve's novel of courage, endurance and humanity unfolds. By the end of 1943 Claire Daussois, wife of a Resistance member, has hidden dozens of refugees from the Gestapo. The last and most significant of her attic's residents is US Air Force pilot Ted Brice, found severely wounded and semi-conscious by a ten-year-old boy minutes before the Germans begin their search for survivors of his crashed B-17 bomber. Vividly recreating the events, landscapes, and domestic life of war-torn Europe, Shreve has written a powerful and moving novel. (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

Formerly a journalist (Newsweek, US magazine) and non-fiction writer, Anita Shreve's first novel EDEN CLOSE, published in 1990, introduced a distinctively individual voice to literary fiction. She is the author of ten other bestselling novels, all available from Little, Brown and Abacus.

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