Review
Packs a tremendous emotional punch . . . adeptly depicts how the random intersection of lives can impact destiny.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Book Description
On the evening of November 14, 1940, Harriet stands on the roof of the cathedral in the British town of Coventry and marvels at the magnificence of frost glittering beneath a full moon. But it is a bomber's moon. The Germans are coming to unleash destruction. For Harriet, Jeremy, the young man who shares her duties as a firewatcher, and his free-spirited mother, Maeve, this single night will resonate for the rest of their lives.
In a story of breathtaking beauty, with the wondrous poetic style that has earned her international acclaim, Helen Humphreys recreates the terror of the infamous Second World War bombing raid on Coventry. As Harriet and Jeremy make their way through the burning city in search of Maeve, their trek becomes a journey of fear and awe as they witness butter from the dairy flowing down the streets in a burning stream and landmines on parachutes swimming like jellyfish out of the darkness. Cold dread brings to life both a grief and a love that Harriet thought she had put behind her forever.
Drawing on actual events of that horrific night in 1940, Coventry is an astounding work, at once tense and lyrical, shocking and exquisite. Touching on themes of love, loss, loneliness and remembrance, Humphreys has crafted a story that will seize readers' hearts and imaginations.
From the Back Cover
PRAISE FOR HELEN HUMPHREYS "A triumph: written in perfect pitch by a writer whose heart is as open as her eyes." TORON TO STAR on The Lost Garden "A sensual, romantic and brutally wise novel. Every sentence is a blow to the heart." EMMA DONOGHUE , author of The Sealed Letter on Wild Dogs "Utterly beautiful." nOW Magazine on The Lost Garden
About the Author
HELEN HUMPHREYS is the author of four previous acclaimed novels: Leaving Earth, which won the City of Toronto Book Award and was named a New York Times Notable Book; Afterimage, winner of the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize; The Lost Garden, a finalist for Canada Reads 2003; and Wild Dogs, winner of a Lambda Literary Award and one of NOW Magazine's Top 10 Fiction Books of 2004. Her recent non-fiction work, The Frozen Thames, was a #1 national bestseller. Humphreys lives in Kingston, Ontario.
