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. 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."

Author Biography

Hello and thank you for being interested in my novels. My new one, EVERYONE BRAVE IS FORGIVEN, is out in April 2016 and you can preorder it now. My previous books are LITTLE BEE, GOLD and INCENDIARY. My stories are about people at the extremes of human experience: refugees, the bereaved, the elite, the embattled. What I like about a novel is its ability to grow on you. People do grow. Situations change in an instant, but the character responds in its own time. I write as a psychologist, revealing how we change. My novels have all been award winners and bestsellers, including a New York Times #1. I thank my readers for making that happen. My side of the bargain is that I will always push myself harder, trying to make each book better than the last. I think highly of my readers, and feel that I'm writing up to them. I live in London, England, with my wife and our three children. If you have read one of my books, thank you. If you're thinking of doing so, I hope very much that you'll enjoy it.