Everyone Brave is Forgiven

By: Chris Cleave

Narrated by: Luke Thompson

The instant New York Times bestseller from Chris Cleave—the unforgettable novel about three lives entangled during World War II, told “with dazzling prose, sharp English wit, and compassion…a powerful portrait of war’s effects on those who fight and those left behind” (People, Book of the Week).

London, 1939. The day war is declared, Mary North leaves finishing school unfinished, goes straight to the War Office, and signs up. Tom Shaw decides to ignore the war—until he learns his roommate Alistair Heath has unexpectedly enlisted. Then 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 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. The three are drawn into a tragic love triangle and—as war escalates and bombs begin falling—further into a grim world of survival and desperation.

Set in London during the years of 1939–1942, when citizens had slim hope of survival, much less victory; and on the strategic island of Malta, which was daily devastated by the Axis barrage, Everyone Brave is Forgiven features little-known history and a perfect wartime love story inspired by the real-life love letters between Chris Cleave’s grandparents. This dazzling novel dares us to understand that, against the great theater of world events, it is the intimate losses, the small battles, the daily human triumphs that change us most.

Well written enjoyable

I was born in London, just after this period - meant a great deal to me. Wonderful perspective of the writer!

Heart-wrenching and beautiful...

...Witty and not afraid to look human nature straight in the eye. It made me laugh out loud in the beginning, and left me in tears during the second half. an emotional rollercoaster of a book, full of gorgeous prose and absolutely human characters. Beautiful.

Wonderfully nuanced telling of the blitz.

I loved the writing style. It was poetic in description and so delicate and forceful at the same time. I truly marveled at the piquant humor of the Brits in the face of such horror and desolation. The characters were so well fleshed out. I felt like I knew them all. A very highly recommended book. I'm going to miss Alastair and Mary and Hilda.

A book I yearned to get back to everyday.

I loved Little Bee and had to listen to another of Cleave's books. He did not disappoint.

Great Story

You could really connect with the characters and the narrator was great. I would recommend this story.