In the Light of Morning
Tim Pears
May 1944: High above the mountains of occupied Slovenia an aeroplane drops three British parachutists – brash MP Major Jack Farwell, radio operator Sid Dixon, and young academic Lieutenant Tom Freedman.
Greeted upon arrival by a group of Partisans, the men are led off into the countryside. Despite the distant crackle of gunfire, the war feels a long way off for Tom. The Partisans, too, are not what he was expecting – courageous, kind, and alluring, especially Jovan, their commander, and the hauntingly beautiful Marija.
As the enemy’s net begins to tighten, they find evidence of massacres, of a dark and terrible band of men pursuing them. As they stumble their way towards a final, tragic battle, so the relationships within the group begin to fray, with Tom finding himself forced to face up to his deepest, most secret desires.
Product Details
About Tim Pears
Reviews for In the Light of Morning
Maya Jaggi
Guardian
[T]he characters are beautifully and economically drawn, and he is excellent on the sights and especially the smells of the landscape – the beauty even of a war-torn land.
The Times
Brilliantly nail-biting. Tim Pears tackles the horrors and ambiguity of war with his usual deft observance, in this depiction of a largely forgotten World War II slideshow in Eastern Europe.
Daily Mail
Superb … a thought provoking, lyrical and deeply humane book
Sunday Business Post
Pears’s prose, with its sensuousness and subtlety, is a fine vehicle for the intelligent, unsentimental tale he tells.
Sunday Times
[A] compelling, heartbreaking book
Sunday Herald
The author’s depiction of this psychological turmoil is delicate and respectful … a fine novel with wide appeal
Irish Examiner
I have never failed to be impressed by the quality of his writing and the inventiveness of his story lines…The book unfolds with some remarkably well-written set-pieces. Relationships are clarified, enemy (and allied) plots are uncovered and the inevitable conflict eventually occurs with a great disruption to souls and bodies.
A Common Reader
For his economical yet beautiful prose I fully enjoyed this book. This is an intelligent and quietly absorbing story with a graceful writing style.
Bookmunch
Compelling
Choice magazine