Everyone Brave Is Forgiven by Chris Cleave
About the Book
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 marvellous 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.
This is a powerful novel, combining both humour and heartbreak, in a perfect love story.
About the Author
Chris Cleave's debut novel, Incendiary, was an international bestseller. His prize-winning second novel, The Other Hand, has found phenomenal success both in the UK and abroad, hitting number one on the New York Times bestseller list. His third book, Gold, confirmed his status as one of our most powerful, important and psychologically insightful novelists.
Chris lives in London with his wife and three children.
Q&A
When I write I like to…
…remember what a big life a reader is bringing to the book, and give them space to live within its pages. I have more and more affection for my readers as I grow up with them: when I write I just want to give them a place to escape completely, where they can be themselves for a bit.
The book that inspired me to write must have been…
…one that my wonderful mother left hidden for me. She understood that the authors who change us most are the ones we discover for ourselves. The only thing that could ruin Nabokov or Woolf for your adolescent self would be your parents’ recommendation. So Mum filled the house with great books and acted as if they’d somehow blown in by mistake.
My specialty in the kitchen is…
…teriyaki. My 6-yr-old and I have been delighted to discover that as a team we can teriyaki pretty much anything: chicken, fish, M&Ms…if you have faith, sugar and a little soy sauce, then you too can teriyaki anything. This should be a motivational poster.
One of my favorite writers is…
…Zola, because he is always on the side of the powerless and he doesn’t equate poverty with ugliness.
One thing people don't know about me is…
…best kept private.
The thing I love most about words is…
…that every one of them holds our deep history, having been formed and eroded and polished by the tongues of a thousand generations, so that when we speak or write we cannot help but do so with the voice of all humanity.
