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The Breaking Wave
The Breaking Wave is one of Nevil Shute’s most poignant and psychologically suspenseful novels, set in the years just after World War II.
Sidelined by a wartime injury, fighter pilot Alan Duncan reluctantly returns to his parents' remote sheep station in Australia to take the place of his brother Bill, who died a hero in the war. But his homecoming is marred by the suicide of his parents' parlormaid, of whom they were very fond. Alan soon realizes that the dead young woman is not the person she pretended to be. Upon discovering that she had served in the Royal Navy and participated along with his brother in the secret build-up to the Normandy invasion, Alan sets out to piece together the tragic events and the lonely burden of guilt that unravelled one woman’s life. In the process of finding the answer to the mystery, he realizes how much he had in common with this woman he never knew and how “a war can go on killing people long after it's all over.�
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First published January 1, 1955
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About the author
Nevil Shute
81books1,210followersNevil Shute Norway was a popular British novelist and a successful aeronautical engineer.
He used Nevil Shute as his pen name, and his full name in his engineering career, in order to protect his engineering career from any potential negative publicity in connection with his novels.
He lived in Australia for the ten years before his death.
He used Nevil Shute as his pen name, and his full name in his engineering career, in order to protect his engineering career from any potential negative publicity in connection with his novels.
He lived in Australia for the ten years before his death.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 288 reviews
January 10, 2025
"Like some infernal monster, still venomous in death, a war can go on killing people for a long time after it’s all over.�
Requiem for a Wren is a sad story of the consequences of those servicemen/women who served in WWII. War may be over, but for them, it'll never be over. The ghosts of the past haunt them, the guilt weighs them, and an unexplainable restlessness possesses them. They know that they must put the past behind them and adapt to civil life as best as they could. But this is not easy.
Disabled fighter pilot, Alan Duncan, must confront his own ghosts and fears. His brother, a marine sergeant, has died in Normandy and he wishes to learn the true details. The brother's girl, a wren officer, is lost to him without a trace, and he must find her for his brother's sake. His fear of flying and the fear of facing life challenges in his new disability are personal hurdles that he must overcome.
While the story is more or less revolved around the narrator/protagonist, a good part of it is spent on the story of the wren officer, Janet Prentice. With slow accuracy, Alan brings to life Janet, and her story wins the reader's sympathy. Her life is weighed by grief and guilt, and the resulting PTSD completely unmans her. Life afterward is nothing but just a struggle for survival, which battle she loses at the end.
Though this is somewhat a sad story, it is a hopeful one as well. Alan Duncan, though considerably changed by his war experience, comes to terms with his life and adapts as best he could. He pursues his studies which were left unfinished and comes home to settle for good on his parent's sheep farm in Australia. Although Alan doesn't find love in the quarter he seeks, there is hope for him in another quarter.
Requiem for a Wren is a good story, and in a way, a sort of a tribute to those afflicted servicemen/women who try/tried their best to adapt to a life after. But it was a slow read and tended to be a little repetitive. The character portrayal was human and realistic, and readers could sympathize with them. I did too. However, I couldn't connect with them as I hoped. Somehow, they felt distant to me. Alan, our protagonist cum narrator, though earned my sympathy, annoyed me with some of his selfish and self-centered actions. Some allowance could be made for his actions, given his position in life, but I felt that he at times, willfully crossed his limit, especially towards the fellow wren friend of Janet. All these affected my full enjoyment of the story. This is my second Shute novel, and I didn't enjoy it as much as my first.
Requiem for a Wren is a sad story of the consequences of those servicemen/women who served in WWII. War may be over, but for them, it'll never be over. The ghosts of the past haunt them, the guilt weighs them, and an unexplainable restlessness possesses them. They know that they must put the past behind them and adapt to civil life as best as they could. But this is not easy.
Disabled fighter pilot, Alan Duncan, must confront his own ghosts and fears. His brother, a marine sergeant, has died in Normandy and he wishes to learn the true details. The brother's girl, a wren officer, is lost to him without a trace, and he must find her for his brother's sake. His fear of flying and the fear of facing life challenges in his new disability are personal hurdles that he must overcome.
While the story is more or less revolved around the narrator/protagonist, a good part of it is spent on the story of the wren officer, Janet Prentice. With slow accuracy, Alan brings to life Janet, and her story wins the reader's sympathy. Her life is weighed by grief and guilt, and the resulting PTSD completely unmans her. Life afterward is nothing but just a struggle for survival, which battle she loses at the end.
Though this is somewhat a sad story, it is a hopeful one as well. Alan Duncan, though considerably changed by his war experience, comes to terms with his life and adapts as best he could. He pursues his studies which were left unfinished and comes home to settle for good on his parent's sheep farm in Australia. Although Alan doesn't find love in the quarter he seeks, there is hope for him in another quarter.
Requiem for a Wren is a good story, and in a way, a sort of a tribute to those afflicted servicemen/women who try/tried their best to adapt to a life after. But it was a slow read and tended to be a little repetitive. The character portrayal was human and realistic, and readers could sympathize with them. I did too. However, I couldn't connect with them as I hoped. Somehow, they felt distant to me. Alan, our protagonist cum narrator, though earned my sympathy, annoyed me with some of his selfish and self-centered actions. Some allowance could be made for his actions, given his position in life, but I felt that he at times, willfully crossed his limit, especially towards the fellow wren friend of Janet. All these affected my full enjoyment of the story. This is my second Shute novel, and I didn't enjoy it as much as my first.
July 27, 2020
Like some infernal monster, still venomous in death, a war can go on killing people for a long time after it’s all over.
The inimitable Nevil Shute has an impressive resume as both a writer and an aeronautical engineer. His intelligence shows in his writing, his attention to detail, his understanding of the mechanics of war, and his knowledge of wartime operations. But what makes him a great writer is his ability to tap the souls of his characters, breath life into them, and imbue them with all the heroism and weaknesses that war can reveal.
Alan and Bill Duncan are Aussie boys, raised on the sheep station of Goombargana, and sent off to fight for England in World War II. Janet Prentice is the feisty and capable Wren who falls in love with Bill. The way these three lives wrap around one another unfolds like a Shakespearean tragedy. If you make it to the last page dry-eyed, you are a stronger person than I am.
The story is about the war and, of course, the effect it has on everyone involved, but it is also about the capricious nature of chance, the tricks of fate, the small misses in life that separate misery from happiness and failure from success. I could not help thinking Shute must have seen life and love vanish from him like a wisp of smoke at sometime in his own life in order to portray so perfectly what that kind of mercuriality would feel like. Not one of the lives we see play out in this book would have been the same had there been no war, but would they have been better or easier? Those who go to war will tell you they never felt so alive as when they were so threatened with death.
I love Shute. Everything I have read of his has been better than the 5-stars I was allowed to give it. I had not intended to read this right now, having just read Pied Piper, but Bob convinced me it would be stupid to push this off so that I could read something I could not be assured would be as satisfying.
My conclusion: I am going to let my friend, Bob, pick all my books from now on.
The inimitable Nevil Shute has an impressive resume as both a writer and an aeronautical engineer. His intelligence shows in his writing, his attention to detail, his understanding of the mechanics of war, and his knowledge of wartime operations. But what makes him a great writer is his ability to tap the souls of his characters, breath life into them, and imbue them with all the heroism and weaknesses that war can reveal.
Alan and Bill Duncan are Aussie boys, raised on the sheep station of Goombargana, and sent off to fight for England in World War II. Janet Prentice is the feisty and capable Wren who falls in love with Bill. The way these three lives wrap around one another unfolds like a Shakespearean tragedy. If you make it to the last page dry-eyed, you are a stronger person than I am.
The story is about the war and, of course, the effect it has on everyone involved, but it is also about the capricious nature of chance, the tricks of fate, the small misses in life that separate misery from happiness and failure from success. I could not help thinking Shute must have seen life and love vanish from him like a wisp of smoke at sometime in his own life in order to portray so perfectly what that kind of mercuriality would feel like. Not one of the lives we see play out in this book would have been the same had there been no war, but would they have been better or easier? Those who go to war will tell you they never felt so alive as when they were so threatened with death.
I love Shute. Everything I have read of his has been better than the 5-stars I was allowed to give it. I had not intended to read this right now, having just read Pied Piper, but Bob convinced me it would be stupid to push this off so that I could read something I could not be assured would be as satisfying.
My conclusion: I am going to let my friend, Bob, pick all my books from now on.
July 28, 2019
4.5�
requiem
noun [ C ] UK � /ˈrek.wi.əm/ US � /ˈrek.wi.əm/
a mass (= a Christian ceremony) at which people honour and pray for a dead person:
a requiem mass
Definition from the Cambridge Dictionary
Always one of those words where I wasn't quite sure of the meaning! Knowing the meaning now makes me understand the book title (although I think the US title works even better & doesn't give away an important part of the story)
I was lucky enough to go into this story almost completely cold. I knew it was a WW2 novel but nothing else. I would like everyone to have the same experience, so don't want to reveal too much. At the start for me it was almost like a Golden Age mystery where I was trying to work out the clues.
This remained a fascinating story - until once again, Shute doesn't quite nail the ending. Just the one spoiler
requiem
noun [ C ] UK � /ˈrek.wi.əm/ US � /ˈrek.wi.əm/
a mass (= a Christian ceremony) at which people honour and pray for a dead person:
a requiem mass
Definition from the Cambridge Dictionary
Always one of those words where I wasn't quite sure of the meaning! Knowing the meaning now makes me understand the book title (although I think the US title works even better & doesn't give away an important part of the story)
I was lucky enough to go into this story almost completely cold. I knew it was a WW2 novel but nothing else. I would like everyone to have the same experience, so don't want to reveal too much. At the start for me it was almost like a Golden Age mystery where I was trying to work out the clues.
This remained a fascinating story - until once again, Shute doesn't quite nail the ending. Just the one spoiler
April 23, 2009
The thing that keeps me coming back to Shute--and has made him one of my favorites--is his wonderful leading female characters. They're all different enough to make them worth reading, but still similar--smart, sensible, sturdy...in short, plucky. From Moira Davidson facing the end of the world (On the Beach) to Jean Paget on a Malaysian death march (A Town Like Alice) they're the kind of girls that can get through anything, and they do it in the way that I would hope that I would, were I in their shoes.
This is the story of what happens when one of those wonderful girls finally breaks....
It's also about chasing your youth. As with many of Shute's books, this story was largely set during WWII. And although that was a horrible time for many people, of course, as one of the characters in this book points out, it had to have been at least somewhat exciting in places too....And how do you go back to real life after that?
This is the story of what happens when one of those wonderful girls finally breaks....
It's also about chasing your youth. As with many of Shute's books, this story was largely set during WWII. And although that was a horrible time for many people, of course, as one of the characters in this book points out, it had to have been at least somewhat exciting in places too....And how do you go back to real life after that?
May 9, 2023
‘Even in this quiet place the war had reached like the tentacle of an octopus and had touched this girl and brought about her death. Like some infernal monster, still venomous in death, a war can go on killing people for a long time after it’s all over.�
This must be one of the saddest books I have read and I thought ‘On the Beach� was sad. Shute trowels on the sadness like a plasterer working on a wall.
I don’t want to spoil the story by narrating the events in detail. As with ‘A Town like Alice� the story follows clear sections - Janet’s life in the Wrens. Alan Duncan trying to find her. Alan returning home and finding her.
Suffice to say Janet never recovers from shooting down a German plane. Sparking a quid pro quo loss of people around her.
This is my third Shute and I need to hunt more. But for now I need to find a happier book. Any suggestions gratefully received😉
This must be one of the saddest books I have read and I thought ‘On the Beach� was sad. Shute trowels on the sadness like a plasterer working on a wall.
I don’t want to spoil the story by narrating the events in detail. As with ‘A Town like Alice� the story follows clear sections - Janet’s life in the Wrens. Alan Duncan trying to find her. Alan returning home and finding her.
Suffice to say Janet never recovers from shooting down a German plane. Sparking a quid pro quo loss of people around her.
This is my third Shute and I need to hunt more. But for now I need to find a happier book. Any suggestions gratefully received😉
August 4, 2021
3.5 stars (star rating for the audiobook only).
I think I have PTSD from reading .
Nevil Shute has a knack for writing stories in which tragic events occur, often during WWII, but the tone and feel of the story remain uplifting and the likable and admired hero successfully makes it through a tough situation against all odds, leading to a happy ending and I close the book with a smile on my face. I did not have a smile on my face at the end of .
is a departure for Shute from his usual "formula." It is a heart breaker. Close to the beginning of the hero of the story commits suicide. Once she is found dead it is discovered that she had been living under an alias and there are no papers with which to identity her. The purpose of the rest of the book is to discover the identity of this woman and to allow the reader to get to know her and her motivations for killing herself. The more I read the more I liked this woman (Janet) and the sadder became her story.
The ending is particularly tragic. By this time we have come to know and like many characters. Alan is one of these characters and it is through his searches for Janet (he does not yet know that she has committed suicide) that we get to know not only her but Alan and a friend of Janet's, Viola. Alan and Viola get to know each other over the course of a year. Their relationship breaks off because it is clear to Viola (who loves Alan) that he is in love with Janet. Alan's opinion of Viola is that she is not in the same league as Janet. But the book ends with his leaving Australia to propose to Viola and bring her home as his wife. He, like Janet, ran out of options.
The slower parts of this story might have worked better for me if this audiobook had a different narrator. I must admit that I found myself laughing at the narrator at times, particularly his heavy upper crust English accent which was so inappropriate for this particular book. His reading was also very monotone with little to no inflection of his voice.
Setting aside my few complaints, I enjoyed the story immensely. The characters were so well drawn I felt like I knew each one of them. As I got to know Janet I kept hoping that she, who committed suicide at the beginning, would somehow be found alive.... perhaps the dead body was mis-identified ....and the ending would be a happy one, as I've come to expect from Shute.
Shute's talent for description allowed me to feel like I was right there in the Australian family home/estate/sheep farm looking out at the gorgeous rural landscapes. Equally effective were the descriptions of the other settings in France, England, and America.
I appreciated Shute’s main theme of this novel. War can continue to have negative ramifications on the lives of the people who fought in that war long after the fighting ends. Part of this theme is that people who fight in wars in their youth have a powerful sense of nostalgia for those war years which provided them with the best years of their lives. They had important jobs, made close friends, and lived an exciting life that they will never feel again. When they re-enter civilian life they wish for another war to come along in order to relive that life of camaraderie, excitement and meaningfulness.
I think I have PTSD from reading .
Nevil Shute has a knack for writing stories in which tragic events occur, often during WWII, but the tone and feel of the story remain uplifting and the likable and admired hero successfully makes it through a tough situation against all odds, leading to a happy ending and I close the book with a smile on my face. I did not have a smile on my face at the end of .
is a departure for Shute from his usual "formula." It is a heart breaker. Close to the beginning of the hero of the story commits suicide. Once she is found dead it is discovered that she had been living under an alias and there are no papers with which to identity her. The purpose of the rest of the book is to discover the identity of this woman and to allow the reader to get to know her and her motivations for killing herself. The more I read the more I liked this woman (Janet) and the sadder became her story.
The ending is particularly tragic. By this time we have come to know and like many characters. Alan is one of these characters and it is through his searches for Janet (he does not yet know that she has committed suicide) that we get to know not only her but Alan and a friend of Janet's, Viola. Alan and Viola get to know each other over the course of a year. Their relationship breaks off because it is clear to Viola (who loves Alan) that he is in love with Janet. Alan's opinion of Viola is that she is not in the same league as Janet. But the book ends with his leaving Australia to propose to Viola and bring her home as his wife. He, like Janet, ran out of options.
The slower parts of this story might have worked better for me if this audiobook had a different narrator. I must admit that I found myself laughing at the narrator at times, particularly his heavy upper crust English accent which was so inappropriate for this particular book. His reading was also very monotone with little to no inflection of his voice.
Setting aside my few complaints, I enjoyed the story immensely. The characters were so well drawn I felt like I knew each one of them. As I got to know Janet I kept hoping that she, who committed suicide at the beginning, would somehow be found alive.... perhaps the dead body was mis-identified ....and the ending would be a happy one, as I've come to expect from Shute.
Shute's talent for description allowed me to feel like I was right there in the Australian family home/estate/sheep farm looking out at the gorgeous rural landscapes. Equally effective were the descriptions of the other settings in France, England, and America.
I appreciated Shute’s main theme of this novel. War can continue to have negative ramifications on the lives of the people who fought in that war long after the fighting ends. Part of this theme is that people who fight in wars in their youth have a powerful sense of nostalgia for those war years which provided them with the best years of their lives. They had important jobs, made close friends, and lived an exciting life that they will never feel again. When they re-enter civilian life they wish for another war to come along in order to relive that life of camaraderie, excitement and meaningfulness.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 26, 2019
The "wren" in the book’s title refers to those enlisted in the women's branch of the UK's Royal Navy Service. A requiem is the religious ceremony performed for the dead. It can be more loosely referred to as an act or token of remembrance for a deceased, and so is to be interpreted as a token of remembrance for the fictional character, Wren Janet Prentice.
This is a book of historical fiction set primarily in England, France and Australia and about operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. It deals with the consequences of war on people’s lives long after a war’s end.
The book reflects the author’s own experiences related to the First and Second World Wars, his expert knowledge of aeronautical engineering and his emigration to Australia in 1950. If after having read the book you read up on ’s life, from 1899 � 1960, one is struck by the overlap of events in his life and details, facts and incidents in the book. He writes about that which he knows.
Acronyms and technical military, nautical and aeronautical terms, as well as terms for weaponry and arms, frequent the text. This adds a sense authenticity. The author doesn’t define these terms but with the help of adjacent explanations lay readers come to understand what is meant. The is well done. However, in expressing things several times and in different ways there is quite a bit of repetition which is at times annoying. Too often a reader is told of events rather than experiencing and living them firsthand, as they occur. This is what you need to know about the author’s writing style.
The book’s central theme is about the repercussions of war after its end. It is not true that deaths cease at war’s end. People are forever changed by their experiences. There is an exhilaration to war. Look at the appeal war literature has on readers. Those participating in wars may become entranced with the idea that they are doing something vital, something important. Guilt plays in too. After a war, many have difficulty readjusting to civilian life. These are the themes dealt with in the book.
While I accept that guilt is often experienced, I think it is drawn too far in the case of two central characters, both Janet Prentice and Alan Duncan. That Janet takes upon herself the guilt for , and that Alan feels guilty for Janet’s stretches the power of guilt too far.
Albeit sad, I can accept Janet’s inability to love and marry anyone other than makes sense to me too. Alan’s love for never felt genuine to me, and his decision to isn’t drawn convincingly either.
Damien Warren-Smith narrates the audiobook. He does a good job. He uses different accents, Australian, American and English, which are all pretty well done. He reads at a good pace and is easy to follow. Three stars for the narration.
While I like the message the book conveys, how it is conveyed is neither convincingly nor elegantly drawn. Only in the description of rural landscapes around the family estate Coombargana, in the Western District of Australia, did the writing truly resonate for me. The simplicity of the writing does have a charm.
***
* 4 stars
* 3 stars
* 3 stars
* 2 stars
* 1 star
* TBR
This is a book of historical fiction set primarily in England, France and Australia and about operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. It deals with the consequences of war on people’s lives long after a war’s end.
The book reflects the author’s own experiences related to the First and Second World Wars, his expert knowledge of aeronautical engineering and his emigration to Australia in 1950. If after having read the book you read up on ’s life, from 1899 � 1960, one is struck by the overlap of events in his life and details, facts and incidents in the book. He writes about that which he knows.
Acronyms and technical military, nautical and aeronautical terms, as well as terms for weaponry and arms, frequent the text. This adds a sense authenticity. The author doesn’t define these terms but with the help of adjacent explanations lay readers come to understand what is meant. The is well done. However, in expressing things several times and in different ways there is quite a bit of repetition which is at times annoying. Too often a reader is told of events rather than experiencing and living them firsthand, as they occur. This is what you need to know about the author’s writing style.
The book’s central theme is about the repercussions of war after its end. It is not true that deaths cease at war’s end. People are forever changed by their experiences. There is an exhilaration to war. Look at the appeal war literature has on readers. Those participating in wars may become entranced with the idea that they are doing something vital, something important. Guilt plays in too. After a war, many have difficulty readjusting to civilian life. These are the themes dealt with in the book.
While I accept that guilt is often experienced, I think it is drawn too far in the case of two central characters, both Janet Prentice and Alan Duncan. That Janet takes upon herself the guilt for , and that Alan feels guilty for Janet’s stretches the power of guilt too far.
Albeit sad, I can accept Janet’s inability to love and marry anyone other than makes sense to me too. Alan’s love for never felt genuine to me, and his decision to isn’t drawn convincingly either.
Damien Warren-Smith narrates the audiobook. He does a good job. He uses different accents, Australian, American and English, which are all pretty well done. He reads at a good pace and is easy to follow. Three stars for the narration.
While I like the message the book conveys, how it is conveyed is neither convincingly nor elegantly drawn. Only in the description of rural landscapes around the family estate Coombargana, in the Western District of Australia, did the writing truly resonate for me. The simplicity of the writing does have a charm.
***
* 4 stars
* 3 stars
* 3 stars
* 2 stars
* 1 star
* TBR
November 24, 2014
Requiem For A Wren by Nevil Shute
Shute reveals the end at the beginning, but only part of it, the devastating part. A young woman's suicide that seemingly has no rhyme or reason starts the returning home Aussie pilot on a journey through his past. The attention to detail is fantastic and the reader learns much about the nitty gritty of maintaining the gunnery parts of British WWII ships. I had no idea that there was such a thing as Ordinance Wrens in the War. They were an integral part of the War Effort and they suffered as much of what we know now as PTSD as any of the soldiers that saw action.
All of this plays into Shute's story and is worked beautifully into a story of love, war, regret and family. While the author pulls no punches, he does not dramatize, he tells it like it was, laying bare the hearts of the characters. Even knowing of the eventual end of the pivotal character does not take away from the dramatic tension Shute creates throughout the story. He brings us to slow realizations in a wonderfully artistic manner, dawn breaking finally revealing the true depth of each character.
Highly Recommended.
Shute reveals the end at the beginning, but only part of it, the devastating part. A young woman's suicide that seemingly has no rhyme or reason starts the returning home Aussie pilot on a journey through his past. The attention to detail is fantastic and the reader learns much about the nitty gritty of maintaining the gunnery parts of British WWII ships. I had no idea that there was such a thing as Ordinance Wrens in the War. They were an integral part of the War Effort and they suffered as much of what we know now as PTSD as any of the soldiers that saw action.
All of this plays into Shute's story and is worked beautifully into a story of love, war, regret and family. While the author pulls no punches, he does not dramatize, he tells it like it was, laying bare the hearts of the characters. Even knowing of the eventual end of the pivotal character does not take away from the dramatic tension Shute creates throughout the story. He brings us to slow realizations in a wonderfully artistic manner, dawn breaking finally revealing the true depth of each character.
Highly Recommended.
May 9, 2011
I'm trying to guess how many books I've read which in one way or another are about the Second World War. I've read a couple just in the last month, Wilcox's and Linebarger's . As usual, I was gripped by two contradictory emotions: horror and fascination. I think most people have a similar reaction. The war was monstrous and appalling, but it was also the most exciting, extraordinary period in human history. New techniques, new ideas, new ways of thinking were invented and turned into weapons within a couple of years; sometimes a couple of months. Nothing was impossible, and everyone knew what the purpose of life was. It was to win the war.
These thoughts are not, of course, new, and they've been expressed many times. I don't think though that I've ever seen them expressed in quite such a pure form as in this obscure novel. The heroine has served as a WREN in the war, and now it's over there's only one thing she wants: to get back in uniform and do it again. It's a very tragic and thought-provoking story. What does it say about us? I don't think Shute knew either: my feeling is that he was just describing something he'd seen himself, in slightly fictionalised form, because it disturbed him so much and he had to get it out of his system. It's worth reading.
These thoughts are not, of course, new, and they've been expressed many times. I don't think though that I've ever seen them expressed in quite such a pure form as in this obscure novel. The heroine has served as a WREN in the war, and now it's over there's only one thing she wants: to get back in uniform and do it again. It's a very tragic and thought-provoking story. What does it say about us? I don't think Shute knew either: my feeling is that he was just describing something he'd seen himself, in slightly fictionalised form, because it disturbed him so much and he had to get it out of his system. It's worth reading.
January 9, 2014
Re-reading is something I avoid, along with watching movies or TV shows a second time. Life's too short for repeats...well, in most cases. This is such a poignant, human novel that it almost demands re-reading. Shute's writing is exactly my cup of tea. There's always a cracking story and the life - and death - of Leading Wren Janet Prentice is a heart-breaker. With D-Day and the aftermath of WW2 as a back-drop Shute's in his real comfort zone. If you think the descriptions of the build-up to the Invasion have a powerful realism, you won't be surprised to know that Shute was there at the time as a naval Lt. Commander and that his day job was designing some of the secret and weird new weapons used on June 6th. Yet this is not a war book, certainly not a chronicle of battle. Shute has crafted an emotional story as pertinent today as at any time. Sometimes attitudes which were current in the 40s and 50s jar a bit. ( "..her action drawings were unusually good for a woman" he says of one character). But the tragedy of missed opportunity which engulfs the two main characters is an eternal tale.
July 9, 2014
Great book.
I was touristing in England a couple of decades ago and visited Bucklers Hard. Their small museum had a feature about Neville Shute's Requiem for a Wren but I had no idea what the display was about.
A day or so later I was in Plymouth and walked into a used bookshop near Sutton Harbour. First book I spotted was Requiem for a Wren! I was fated to buy the book.
Glorious read and the first "war book" that spoke of the postwar stresses... not PTSD but "war is over! what shall I do now" stress. I've heard a second hand tale from one children of a war veteran (RAF Group Captain) who said "the war years were the best years of my life" and then he added "never tell that to your mother".
I suppose the best modern term to describe these war veterans is "adrenalin junkies". The war is over and everything is now an anticlimax. They queued to get into the Korean War and were turned down. What can they do and what don't they end up doing?
Great book, great read and gives a perspective you never hear about these days.
I was touristing in England a couple of decades ago and visited Bucklers Hard. Their small museum had a feature about Neville Shute's Requiem for a Wren but I had no idea what the display was about.
A day or so later I was in Plymouth and walked into a used bookshop near Sutton Harbour. First book I spotted was Requiem for a Wren! I was fated to buy the book.
Glorious read and the first "war book" that spoke of the postwar stresses... not PTSD but "war is over! what shall I do now" stress. I've heard a second hand tale from one children of a war veteran (RAF Group Captain) who said "the war years were the best years of my life" and then he added "never tell that to your mother".
I suppose the best modern term to describe these war veterans is "adrenalin junkies". The war is over and everything is now an anticlimax. They queued to get into the Korean War and were turned down. What can they do and what don't they end up doing?
Great book, great read and gives a perspective you never hear about these days.
July 7, 2018
Nevil Shute is a rare breed of writer. His books are full of danger, romance and other dynamics. But the principal theme in all his work is dignity amid and often accompanied by death. In On the Beach Shute depicted a group of Australians awaiting radiation fall out and subsequent death with strength and forbearance. A Town Called Alice showed a group of Australians living and dying amid the Pacific theater of WWII. The Breaking Waves mines familiar terrain. It follows a group of people through WWII and the subsequent decade or so afterward. Shute’s thesis in this book is that war can go on killing and affecting people long after the final battle. Also, Shute argues that peace is often impossible because people who fight wars in their youth become nostalgic for the war, without realizing it’s their youth they actually miss, and thus will support future wars rather than peace for a chance to return to that excitement. Nothing they realize will ever touch them the way the war did, and they long to return to that feeling all their days. If this sounds heavy for a novel, rest assured Shute is a master at plotting and keeps events moving.
Shute’s saga involves the wartime exploits and subsequent search of former RAF pilot Alan Duncan for a Wren that was involved with his brother in WWII. Through his search Alan revisits his brother’s wartime death, meets some of the Wren’s friends, and offers some insight into his own war injury and complicated recovery. Shute was an engineer and a RAF pilot, and his experiences provides a nuts and bolts approach to wartime work, duties involving both risk and boredom amid day to day living. So many novels explore the excitement and danger of war but provide little insight into what that work actually involves. Shute’s novel goes into great deal of the work of the Wrens, scuba divers and pilots in the war.
However, novels like this rise or fall on their characters. Shute does a great job exploring how each of the surviving characters processes the war and the long years after the war. Some of the characters adapt and move on as best they can. Some don’t move on and Shute explores their agony with respect. Alan is a decent and good man, but he has flaws and the novel traces how he resolves his past mistakes by actually learning from the experience of his brother and the Wren.
My one quibble is that I felt the ending was a bit hasty. I wanted to see how Alan’s parents and Viola deal with the ramifications of Alan’s discoveries. However, that does not really distract from a strongly, emotional masterpiece.
Shute’s saga involves the wartime exploits and subsequent search of former RAF pilot Alan Duncan for a Wren that was involved with his brother in WWII. Through his search Alan revisits his brother’s wartime death, meets some of the Wren’s friends, and offers some insight into his own war injury and complicated recovery. Shute was an engineer and a RAF pilot, and his experiences provides a nuts and bolts approach to wartime work, duties involving both risk and boredom amid day to day living. So many novels explore the excitement and danger of war but provide little insight into what that work actually involves. Shute’s novel goes into great deal of the work of the Wrens, scuba divers and pilots in the war.
However, novels like this rise or fall on their characters. Shute does a great job exploring how each of the surviving characters processes the war and the long years after the war. Some of the characters adapt and move on as best they can. Some don’t move on and Shute explores their agony with respect. Alan is a decent and good man, but he has flaws and the novel traces how he resolves his past mistakes by actually learning from the experience of his brother and the Wren.
My one quibble is that I felt the ending was a bit hasty. I wanted to see how Alan’s parents and Viola deal with the ramifications of Alan’s discoveries. However, that does not really distract from a strongly, emotional masterpiece.
May 4, 2016
Sometimes I think I am just not that good at reading some kinds of mainstream fiction. I am too easily aggravated. That's far too broad of a statement, I am aware. It's not like I only read science fiction, or even that science fiction is devoid of characters or plots that piss me the hell off. Still, I have even less patience for those elements when they come wrapped in mundanity.
Note: The rest of this review has been withheld due to the changes in ŷ policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at
Note: The rest of this review has been withheld due to the changes in ŷ policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.
In the meantime, you can read the entire review at
August 22, 2022
"The Breaking Wave" AKA "Requiem for a Wren" is a beautiful but very melancholic WWII story, touching and full of emotion, which ends on a note of hope, thankfully. I listened to the audiobook, brilliantly narrated by Patrick Tull.
This is the fourth novel by Nevil Shute I have read, and I seem to keep coming back for more. He was an outstanding writer who skilfully and poetically captures the souls of his characters and serves them up to us in all their haunting fineness.
This is the fourth novel by Nevil Shute I have read, and I seem to keep coming back for more. He was an outstanding writer who skilfully and poetically captures the souls of his characters and serves them up to us in all their haunting fineness.
March 6, 2017
One of this authors more outstanding works, very sad, but a really good read.
October 3, 2023
3.5🎖️🎖️🎖�
January 22, 2023
Time to cue the old . We're talking England during World War II and its aftermath. Good stuff. I'm a bit of an Anglophile and love immersing myself into the British experience from the 30s through the 50s. So, now you understand the basic setting and have your background music cued up, on to the plot sketch.
First, what's a Wren? Well, the WRNS were the Woman's Royal Naval Service, but its members were generally called the wrens, like the birds. I wonder if "bird" was a slang term for a woman back then, or if that came in during the Beatles' era, when I first learned of that bit of slang. Whatever, Wrens were where women helped out the British Navy and they lived in a barracks called the wrenery. One can imagine that if Shakespeare had lived 350 years later, he might have had Hamlet telling Ophelia to "get thee to a wrennery". Or, perhaps not. But, I'm digressing, huh?
Anyway, some five or eight years after the end of World War II, we have a young Australian, Alan Duncan, coming back to live on his parents' sheep station. He finds the household in a flutter, because the parlour maid, Jessie Proctor had just committed suicide. She had apparently left no personal items behind so that people could know who her relatives were or whom to contact about her. After talking to the cook, Alan figures out that at least one of the personal items that came into the house with Jessie might have disappeared. He wonders if she might have hidden something. So he searches the house and eventually finds, tucked away in the attic, a suit case with Jessie's personal papers. But, as Alan begins to investigate those papers, he realizes that the young woman was actually Leading Wren Janet Prentiss, who had been his brother Bill's sweetheart during the war.
What then follows is a meditation on the life of Janet Prentiss, partly from the diaries she had left behind, and partly from Alan's recollections from the time he met her and also from talks he had with her friends after the war. He had met Janet once, and after his brother was killed in combat, had tried to track her down so as to communicate with her. He viewed her as family, in that he was certain she and Bill would have wed had they both survived the war.
It's a simply, but beautifully written story of the heroism and staunch optimism of the British people during the dark times they faced during the early and middle 1940s. One of my all-time favorites.
----------------------------------- 2023 read ----------------------------
My spouse and I have been watching a program called Foyle's War. It's essentially a British cop show, but set in WWII. It's a wonderful show, but it got me started thinking about WWII-era things, and I decided to dust off this gem from the past.
It's still great. I'd forgotten about the Irish Terrier, Dev. I used to have Irish Terriers and I loved both dearly, Bridget, then Colleen. Naturally, it made the story all the better.
As for Foyle's War, I think someone should make a video of this book, and I've already cast Honysuckle Weeks, from Foyle's War, in the role of Leading Wren Janet Prentis.
First, what's a Wren? Well, the WRNS were the Woman's Royal Naval Service, but its members were generally called the wrens, like the birds. I wonder if "bird" was a slang term for a woman back then, or if that came in during the Beatles' era, when I first learned of that bit of slang. Whatever, Wrens were where women helped out the British Navy and they lived in a barracks called the wrenery. One can imagine that if Shakespeare had lived 350 years later, he might have had Hamlet telling Ophelia to "get thee to a wrennery". Or, perhaps not. But, I'm digressing, huh?
Anyway, some five or eight years after the end of World War II, we have a young Australian, Alan Duncan, coming back to live on his parents' sheep station. He finds the household in a flutter, because the parlour maid, Jessie Proctor had just committed suicide. She had apparently left no personal items behind so that people could know who her relatives were or whom to contact about her. After talking to the cook, Alan figures out that at least one of the personal items that came into the house with Jessie might have disappeared. He wonders if she might have hidden something. So he searches the house and eventually finds, tucked away in the attic, a suit case with Jessie's personal papers. But, as Alan begins to investigate those papers, he realizes that the young woman was actually Leading Wren Janet Prentiss, who had been his brother Bill's sweetheart during the war.
What then follows is a meditation on the life of Janet Prentiss, partly from the diaries she had left behind, and partly from Alan's recollections from the time he met her and also from talks he had with her friends after the war. He had met Janet once, and after his brother was killed in combat, had tried to track her down so as to communicate with her. He viewed her as family, in that he was certain she and Bill would have wed had they both survived the war.
It's a simply, but beautifully written story of the heroism and staunch optimism of the British people during the dark times they faced during the early and middle 1940s. One of my all-time favorites.
----------------------------------- 2023 read ----------------------------
My spouse and I have been watching a program called Foyle's War. It's essentially a British cop show, but set in WWII. It's a wonderful show, but it got me started thinking about WWII-era things, and I decided to dust off this gem from the past.
It's still great. I'd forgotten about the Irish Terrier, Dev. I used to have Irish Terriers and I loved both dearly, Bridget, then Colleen. Naturally, it made the story all the better.
As for Foyle's War, I think someone should make a video of this book, and I've already cast Honysuckle Weeks, from Foyle's War, in the role of Leading Wren Janet Prentis.
June 28, 2011
Nostalgic needs nabbed Nevil by the novelistic 'nads and gnawed them to nubbins.
The only reason I read this all the way to the end was because I wanted to know how Janet Prentice ended up at Coombargana. I'm giving it two stars rather than one because Shute demonstrates very well how people who have served in a great war are at loose ends when the war is over. They find themselves wishing for another war so their lives can once again have meaning and camaraderie. Can't say I'd recommend the book, though. Dreadfully dull, and that's coming from someone who usually enjoys WWII novels.
The only reason I read this all the way to the end was because I wanted to know how Janet Prentice ended up at Coombargana. I'm giving it two stars rather than one because Shute demonstrates very well how people who have served in a great war are at loose ends when the war is over. They find themselves wishing for another war so their lives can once again have meaning and camaraderie. Can't say I'd recommend the book, though. Dreadfully dull, and that's coming from someone who usually enjoys WWII novels.
October 22, 2016
كانت تجربتي الأأولى مع الكاتب هي وكانت مشجعة كثيرا
فتشجعت لتكرار التجربة ثانية وما شجعنى أكثر أنها صدرت في سلسلة روايات الهلال العريقة
لكن للأسف الترجمة كانت مملة للغاية وركيكة في بعض الأحيان
كما أن نيفيل شوت إختار أكثر من راوي للأحداث فشتتني
أقل مما توقعت
فتشجعت لتكرار التجربة ثانية وما شجعنى أكثر أنها صدرت في سلسلة روايات الهلال العريقة
لكن للأسف الترجمة كانت مملة للغاية وركيكة في بعض الأحيان
كما أن نيفيل شوت إختار أكثر من راوي للأحداث فشتتني
أقل مما توقعت
May 8, 2018
This is my second Nevil Shute book and twice in a row, I have fallen in love with his superb love stories and totally awesome strong women. Also, it became one of those very few books which I finished in flat 48 hours, talking about gripping stories, this was one of the best based around second world war and its repercussions on a family. Also the story of two brothers took me back in time couple of years and made me miss my own little brother who will go to any extent just to make one evening I spend with him more beautiful. On my way to a family emergency, I called my brother and told him that I may drop by for a night to our home-town. He threw out everything off the refrigerator, much to the shock and amazement of our sister in law and filled it up totally with Beer :). My friend who drove with me as we had to come back non-stop, my brother, and our immediate neighbor (now my father in law), we all got drunk that night, walked around the block in drunken state, had our dinner somewhere and no idea who woke up where next morning, as we had to push out very early in the morning. The friend who joined me on this adventure now co-incidentally an Australian Citizen, where this story takes place and hence the memory. Hope I get to meet them again in this life time and we all get drunk yet again to have a beautiful evening, a memory of a life time.
Going by the title and its amazingly beautiful cover, two lovers kissing with Guns and a Naval ship in the background was totally unexpected but beautiful story. Also, before I forget, let me tell you that this is I guess second book in a long long time which actually made me super emotional and tears actually rolled down my eyes with a huge lump in my throat almost the size of a basketball :). Terrific story of two brothers from outskirts of Australia, the town of Coombargana (which I will never be able to forget now) where they own thousands of a acres of land and sheep farms. One of them a pilot in air force where as the other becomes a marine. Their paths cross during the war near Normandy, where the one who meets the love of his life during the course of war, loses his life and other loses both his legs. The strong girl who serves in war as a wren in-charge of ordinance, is the the character to watch out for. Imagine all that happens in the very first chapter and the story goes in flashback when one of the brother returns back home for good after so many years and realizes that his parents life is in ruins. They have their own struggles and a dead housemaid to take care of, who commits suicide on the day he returns, what is the cross connection? Read the book to find out.
As I said this was my second Nevil Shute book and what amazed me again is that in both the books, his women characters are super strong and totally amazing. You've got to read this book to know what she does in Army and how. Imagine a broad shouldered girl with a square face who claims she isn't much of a beauty but what she does with Guns is something everybody watches with their eyes popping out. One unfortunate mistake in the course of the war for which she is never blamed by anyone changes her life for good. Where that episode leads her and how it all ruins her life to no repair is the story is all about. Heart-breaking yet a emotional roller coaster ride of the three amazing characters and their friends and family is totally out of this world experience. Nevil Shute's stories are totally smooth and his narrative is just so gripping yet simple that I found the book to be totally unputdownable as my heart kept asking me to go forward and solve the riddle. Plus I wanted to race to the end to know how it all ends. As I said it was one of the most emotional stories that I ever read, it is very tough to point out the moments it made me super emotional. The entire journey of one brother to find his dead brother's lover touched me deep inside, every-time his search fails, my heart cried out. Also the girls struggle after her loss and after so many deaths, the point where she finally loses something which makes her cry for the first time was the moment my tears just rolled out, unable to control the barrage. Wow, that was just wow moment and I feel totally out of words to explain why and what I felt at that moment. If you read the book, you will certainly know and agree with me on that.
Have you read The Breaking Wave? do let me know how you find it and if you haven't read it, you've got to read it and you just can't miss it at any cost, trust me on that. Also, do let me know if you have a favorite Nevil Shute book, I am surely looking forward to more of his works.
Going by the title and its amazingly beautiful cover, two lovers kissing with Guns and a Naval ship in the background was totally unexpected but beautiful story. Also, before I forget, let me tell you that this is I guess second book in a long long time which actually made me super emotional and tears actually rolled down my eyes with a huge lump in my throat almost the size of a basketball :). Terrific story of two brothers from outskirts of Australia, the town of Coombargana (which I will never be able to forget now) where they own thousands of a acres of land and sheep farms. One of them a pilot in air force where as the other becomes a marine. Their paths cross during the war near Normandy, where the one who meets the love of his life during the course of war, loses his life and other loses both his legs. The strong girl who serves in war as a wren in-charge of ordinance, is the the character to watch out for. Imagine all that happens in the very first chapter and the story goes in flashback when one of the brother returns back home for good after so many years and realizes that his parents life is in ruins. They have their own struggles and a dead housemaid to take care of, who commits suicide on the day he returns, what is the cross connection? Read the book to find out.
As I said this was my second Nevil Shute book and what amazed me again is that in both the books, his women characters are super strong and totally amazing. You've got to read this book to know what she does in Army and how. Imagine a broad shouldered girl with a square face who claims she isn't much of a beauty but what she does with Guns is something everybody watches with their eyes popping out. One unfortunate mistake in the course of the war for which she is never blamed by anyone changes her life for good. Where that episode leads her and how it all ruins her life to no repair is the story is all about. Heart-breaking yet a emotional roller coaster ride of the three amazing characters and their friends and family is totally out of this world experience. Nevil Shute's stories are totally smooth and his narrative is just so gripping yet simple that I found the book to be totally unputdownable as my heart kept asking me to go forward and solve the riddle. Plus I wanted to race to the end to know how it all ends. As I said it was one of the most emotional stories that I ever read, it is very tough to point out the moments it made me super emotional. The entire journey of one brother to find his dead brother's lover touched me deep inside, every-time his search fails, my heart cried out. Also the girls struggle after her loss and after so many deaths, the point where she finally loses something which makes her cry for the first time was the moment my tears just rolled out, unable to control the barrage. Wow, that was just wow moment and I feel totally out of words to explain why and what I felt at that moment. If you read the book, you will certainly know and agree with me on that.
Have you read The Breaking Wave? do let me know how you find it and if you haven't read it, you've got to read it and you just can't miss it at any cost, trust me on that. Also, do let me know if you have a favorite Nevil Shute book, I am surely looking forward to more of his works.
January 11, 2023
“Like some infernal monster, still venomous in death, a war can go on killing people for a long time after it’s all over�
Overall I really liked this book and felt it contained a nuanced and shrewd portrayal of how those involved in war struggled to adjust to peacetime. In particular, the second half of the book which gives us access to Janet Prentice’s diary entries unlocks a part of the war which I think is often overlooked - the perspective of the women who were involved in operations and how they adjusted to peace time. I did find the war jargon in the first part of the book hard to follow at times and felt it sometimes took away from the emotion of particular passages though, in the context of the narrator’s character, the use of jargon does seem fitting. An interesting novel about the experience facing the practicalities of civilian life and how in some ways, after a war, they can seem like the bigger battle.
Overall I really liked this book and felt it contained a nuanced and shrewd portrayal of how those involved in war struggled to adjust to peacetime. In particular, the second half of the book which gives us access to Janet Prentice’s diary entries unlocks a part of the war which I think is often overlooked - the perspective of the women who were involved in operations and how they adjusted to peace time. I did find the war jargon in the first part of the book hard to follow at times and felt it sometimes took away from the emotion of particular passages though, in the context of the narrator’s character, the use of jargon does seem fitting. An interesting novel about the experience facing the practicalities of civilian life and how in some ways, after a war, they can seem like the bigger battle.
May 21, 2016
Tgis was my first book from Shute, but browsing the reviews I saw he is quite popular. My first impression of this novel was that it's a crime story. Though it is not, it's a war book and I've read quite some of thos, but this is the first one where leading character fighting in war is a woman. The story is simple about two brothers, Australians, who are very fond of each other. Requiem for a Wren starts from the end of story, when Alan is after long years coming back to Coombargana in Australia to visit his old parents and stay forever. The night before their parlourmaid committed a suicide which was a great shock to all people on the farm. Younger brother Bill is in love with the leading navy wren Janet Prentice, they are just getting to know each other. Her work is to clean the guns, but she also shoots. One day she is meeting Alan Duncan the older brother, pilot and she is impressed by him. Successful young pilot, very modest and quiet. Soon after that Bill dies while deactivating mines in water and Janet's father too. Janet is able to keep his dog thoygh. She is quite devasted, though not decided to leave wrennery just yet as the war is about to end. One day a plane is flying over their ship and she shoots ir down, but at the end the plane and people in it are Czechs, Poles who wanted to join their side. This much adds to her depressions and soon after that Bill's dog dies. She tries few times to take her life, her mother's and aut's deaths are the last ones. She thinks she deserves this for the seven dead people in the plane, she killed. Though her doctor is of different opinion and recommends her to go to Australia, to meet Bills family and she does and is very happy at the farm. She realize she wants Alan to fall in love with her just to be able to stay on the place she started to feel at home and therefore the she takes her life.
This is quite a good novel consider the war scenes, though I was bored in some parts of it.
This is quite a good novel consider the war scenes, though I was bored in some parts of it.
November 26, 2018
Nevil Shute's books were written a long time ago but are well worth reading. This book is set during world war II.
November 3, 2021
I love Nevil Shute's books for the characters, the story, the sense of time and place, his engaging style of storytelling. Even though his characters often find themselves in dire straits, there's something comforting about the stories, the way characters deal with situations and tragedies, the tone. (I should note I still have neither read nor viewed On the Beach, so that might add to the complexity of my response.) British born, Shute emigrated to Australia after WWII, and this book is set in England during the war, especially the lead up to D-Day, and briefly in Australia. He uses flashbacks and a diary to tell about Australian brothers fighting in England. The younger brother is killed and after the war ends, the older becomes obsessed with finding the Wren his brother had loved. One of his strengths as a storyteller is the way he incorporates technical details--the heroine is a Wren who fixes guns on ships, the hero is a pilot, as was Shute--and we get a lot of details of war work from a more intimate angle than histories allow. It's also about how the war affects those who served after there is no more wore to fight. Shute is particularly good with his female characters, though I found all believable and relatable, even the dog. It's a sad story of war and its aftermath, but it's also lovely, involving, and very satisfying. Still, I wonder why the title change. Requiem for a Wren really describes it better.
December 12, 2024
This one was so good! I loved how the reader finds out bad news at the beginning of the story, but gets to go through the background information with the narrator to solve the mystery of what happened, how it affected those involved, and why this particular event even had to happen! It is centered around World War II, which was impactful to the whole situation.
Nevil Shute is a wonderful storyteller and does such a good job of making the reader really care for his characters. I enjoyed this one a lot!
Nevil Shute is a wonderful storyteller and does such a good job of making the reader really care for his characters. I enjoyed this one a lot!
August 4, 2019
Recently when I was browsing the shelves of a library I came across this Nevil Shute novel that I was not familiar with. Having enjoyed reading two of his other better know novels I was inspired by his writing style and story telling to read this one. I found this to be a most poignant story.
November 14, 2022
Not so bad as expected. No Highway will be the next one on this list...
5* A Town Like Alice
2* On the Beach
4* Pied Piper
4* Landfall
4.5* Most secret
4* Marazan
3* Requiem for a Wren
TR The Rainbow and the Rose
TR Trustee from the Toolroom
TR The Chequer Board
TR No Highway
5* A Town Like Alice
2* On the Beach
4* Pied Piper
4* Landfall
4.5* Most secret
4* Marazan
3* Requiem for a Wren
TR The Rainbow and the Rose
TR Trustee from the Toolroom
TR The Chequer Board
TR No Highway
October 30, 2016
Poignant, complex and beautifully written. Alan Duncan reluctantly returns home to his parents' farm in Australia after the war, to recuperate after being maimed in a plane crash. He discovers the family in turmoil because their young housekeeper, Jessie, has committed suicide. As he searches through her belongings, he realises that the woman was actually Janet Prentice, the former girlfriend of his brother, who died in action. And Alan, who is psychologically broken as well as physically, has spent a considerable amount of time trying to find her.
Janet was haunted by a decision she made in the course of her war duties. After that one mistake, she loses all her cherished people, one by one, as the war takes them, which she comes to feel is justice for her unforgivable act. As a character she is heartbreaking; as a symbol she embodies the impossible burdens of war. Meanwhile, Alan, who needs his own healing, has become obsessed with his quest to find her. The cruellest accident of all is Alan's arrival at the house in Australia, too late to meet her in person. As we read, the pressure of this timing grows to tragic proportions; if he had come home just a few months earlier, would that have saved Janet in some way? Could she have forgiven herself? Would it have saved him?
Masterful.
Janet was haunted by a decision she made in the course of her war duties. After that one mistake, she loses all her cherished people, one by one, as the war takes them, which she comes to feel is justice for her unforgivable act. As a character she is heartbreaking; as a symbol she embodies the impossible burdens of war. Meanwhile, Alan, who needs his own healing, has become obsessed with his quest to find her. The cruellest accident of all is Alan's arrival at the house in Australia, too late to meet her in person. As we read, the pressure of this timing grows to tragic proportions; if he had come home just a few months earlier, would that have saved Janet in some way? Could she have forgiven herself? Would it have saved him?
Masterful.
April 2, 2019
Have read this one twice, both titles ... bit of a tear jerky ... definite recommend for readers of Nevil Shute.
***
"The Breaking Wave is one of Nevil Shute's most poignant and psychologically suspenseful novels, set in the years just after World War II.
"Sidelined by a wartime injury, fighter pilot Alan Duncan reluctantly returns to his parents' remote sheep station in Australia to take the place of his brother Bill, who died a hero in the war. But his homecoming is marred by the suicide of his parents' parlormaid, of whom they were very fond. Alan soon realizes that the dead young woman is not the person she pretended to be. Upon discovering that she had served in the Royal Navy and participated along with his brother in the secret build-up to the Normandy invasion, Alan sets out to piece together the tragic events and the lonely burden of guilt that unravelled one woman's life. In the process of finding the answer to the mystery, he realizes how much he had in common with this woman he never knew and how "a war can go on killing people long after it's all over." "
Above review copied from Calgary Public Library.
***
"The Breaking Wave is one of Nevil Shute's most poignant and psychologically suspenseful novels, set in the years just after World War II.
"Sidelined by a wartime injury, fighter pilot Alan Duncan reluctantly returns to his parents' remote sheep station in Australia to take the place of his brother Bill, who died a hero in the war. But his homecoming is marred by the suicide of his parents' parlormaid, of whom they were very fond. Alan soon realizes that the dead young woman is not the person she pretended to be. Upon discovering that she had served in the Royal Navy and participated along with his brother in the secret build-up to the Normandy invasion, Alan sets out to piece together the tragic events and the lonely burden of guilt that unravelled one woman's life. In the process of finding the answer to the mystery, he realizes how much he had in common with this woman he never knew and how "a war can go on killing people long after it's all over." "
Above review copied from Calgary Public Library.
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