 | Lieutenant Winnington-Smith is a promising artist and hopeless soldier who gets injured on his second day. Captain Southall is the commander of the Royal Flying Corps, Kite Balloon Section, who takes ‘Winner’ up in the sky to sketch the view. Elsie Fox is the fearless young working-class woman who drives an ambulance for the British Women’s Hospital and developed a soft spot for Winner on the boat out there. Isabel Hinchcliff is an upper-class nurse at the hospital, brought up with a heavily starched upper lip. Welcome to Salonika in the middle of the First World War, a multicultural playground and hotbed of spies in neutral Greece where those with the means can make believe carnage doesn’t lurk just over the horizon. |
The first novel from a prolific author of non-fiction on architecture, style, the countryside and the British way of life, has the irony, wit and panache of (although I wouldn’t stake my life on it, not having read them for many years) of Joseph Heller, Evelyn Waugh and Jerome K Jerome. While it didn’t make me laugh, it raised a smile on many a page, which is definitely an achievement. A fun book that doesn’t deny the horrors, but chooses to shine its light in a different direction, reminding us that wars are fought by the young, and the young will always welcome love and adventure. Thanks to Sandstone Books for my review copy.
This week’s flash fiction challenge is to write a 99-word story featuring a raptor. To avoid a category error, I did a search to check which birds would qualify and was surprised to come across a military aircraft at the top of the list. Although I was tempted by the thought that this would be a novel take on the prompt, and a great contrast to the kite balloons in this novel, I wasn’t inclined to plough through the information, but I hope someone else does. (Anyway, I wrote about flying last month.)
This week’s flash fiction challenge is to write a 99-word story featuring a raptor. To avoid a category error, I did a search to check which birds would qualify and was surprised to come across a military aircraft at the top of the list. Although I was tempted by the thought that this would be a novel take on the prompt, and a great contrast to the kite balloons in this novel, I wasn’t inclined to plough through the information, but I hope someone else does. (Anyway, I wrote about flying last month.)
| We’re very lucky to get sight now and then of buzzards and kestrels above our garden and, having watched a pair this afternoon, I felt compelled to make one of them the subject of my story. But I’m not confident in nature writing, so I started this with no idea where it was going to go. |  |
Squeaky toy?
A rabbit caught in a trap, perhaps? Or someone stepping on a child’s squeaky toy. A cry, for sure, but was it from pleasure or pain? A call for help or to scare predators away?
He suggested scouring the heather for a wounded animal. She wanted to forget it and continue their walk. Begun in whispers and ending in shouts, their debate drowned the noise that sparked it. Neither thought to tilt their head skyward to watch the pair of buzzards circling, wheeling joyfully on the afternoon thermals. They stomped home, united in disappointment that no wildlife seen today.
A rabbit caught in a trap, perhaps? Or someone stepping on a child’s squeaky toy. A cry, for sure, but was it from pleasure or pain? A call for help or to scare predators away?
He suggested scouring the heather for a wounded animal. She wanted to forget it and continue their walk. Begun in whispers and ending in shouts, their debate drowned the noise that sparked it. Neither thought to tilt their head skyward to watch the pair of buzzards circling, wheeling joyfully on the afternoon thermals. They stomped home, united in disappointment that no wildlife seen today.
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