The Evening Chorus

A Novel

By: Helen Humphreys

Narrated by: Morag Sims

"The Evening Chorus serenades people brutally marked by war, yet enduring to live - and relish - the tiny pleasures of another day. With her trademark prose - exquisitely limpid - Humphreys convinces us of the birdlike strength of the powerless." (Emma Donoghue)

Downed during his first mission, James Hunter is taken captive as a German POW. To bide the time, he studies a nest of redstarts at the edge of camp. Some prisoners plot escape; some are shot. And then, one day, James is called to the kommandant's office.

Meanwhile, back home, James' new wife, Rose, is on her own, free in a way she has never known. Then, James' sister, Enid, loses everything during the Blitz and must seek shelter with Rose. In a cottage near Ashdown forest, the two women jealously guard secrets but form a surprising friendship. Each of these characters will find unexpected freedom amid war's privations and discover confinements that come with peace.

The Evening Chorus is a beautiful, astonishing examination of love, loss, escape, and the ways in which the intrusions of the natural world can save us.

©2015 Helen Humphreys (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“ The Evening Chorus sparkles.” (Jo Baker)

“A poised, lyrical novel about the griefs of war, written with poetic intensity of observation.” (Helen Dunmore)

“This riveting novel is a song. Listen.” (Richard Bausch)

Very moving

There have been a flood of WWII stories in the past few years, and, to be candid, I have a bit burned out on WWII as the subject or backdrop of a book. Somehow, this lovely story overcame my fatigue of these. The characters were finely drawn, the prose is eloquent and although the story is sad, it also contains hope for the future of the four primary characters. Wonderful narration !
❤️d it !