Everyone Brave Is Forgiven

Reviews from our book group:

"I really enjoyed the book from start to finish and found the characters was to engage with and care about (with all of their differences). I hadn't expected it to be so funny and at the same time so hard hitting. The author writes in a direct and succinct way that is also so descriptive and detailed. The relationships are not sugar coated and in my opinion are therefore more believable. I wondered about the friendship between the two lead female characters and how love and hate are so closely aligned in some relationships... The humour between the male characters too was also a powerful tool that helped me as a reader feel really close to them in their situations and also made some of the sad and gruesome parts of the book easier to digest and bear... The issues of class, race, sexism etc., were also dealt with in a way that felt 'real' and beautifully described London and the UK at that time. All in all, this book has been my favourite read of my first year in the group!' "

"Really enjoyed the book and reading another perspective of a war book. Really interesting reading about Malta and life on the island as have visited it a couple of times and never really considered that our troops had been there! I also enjoyed this level of 'class'! For me, Mary North showed the most courage. From such a privileged background, she not only volunteered for teaching (a profession she had no experience in), she positively cared for the ethnic minority and disabled community (ahead of her time), she also had a lot of courage staying with a man she was not in love with and holding out for the man she was in love with even though the war had changed him."

"I felt that Chris Cleave had really researched the era he was writing about in depth, and that, coupled with his excellent style of writing, made me believe completely in the story he was telling. I often feel disenchanted when reading novels set in the past which have not shown such attention to the detail of the times, especially when authors have not personally lived through those times, this is certainly not the case with this novel. The author's style felt literary which I also enjoyed."

I *loved* this book - powerful, touching, and darkly funny as well as gut-wrenchingly sad.

“This novel is a brilliant depiction of life during the London Blitz and the Siege of Malta, The author’s erudite exploration of the lives of Londoners at war brings together a cast of charismatic characters spanning all walks of life. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who loves beautiful writing and touching stories.”

“I thought it was well-written, the author really caring about his characters and their stories, and basing them on serious and perceptive research. I found myself wanting to see what would happen, especially for Mary – and I wished I could have talked more with my parents about the war. Reading this made me think that probably they would have felt and experienced similar things.”

“Beautifully written wartime epic following the lives of 4 main characters. Exploring love, loss, prejudice and survival. Worth the read.”