"War was declared at eleven-fifteen and Mary North signed up at noon," begins Everyone Brave Is Forgiven, the magnificent and profoundly moving fourth novel by Chris Cleave (Little Bee).
Cleave draws from his grandparents' courtship amid the ravages of World War II in London and Malta to tell Mary's story. When war breaks out, Mary dreams of being a spy, but is assigned to teach school. When the children are evacuated to the English countryside, Mary persuades Tom, an education administrator, to give her a class of forgotten children to teach--those who are handicapped, or black, or who refuse to leave or are rejected by their host families. The experience awakens in her indignation at the casual racism and elitism of her peers, and sparks a love affair with Tom, who has decided to remain in London to teach while his best friend and flatmate, Alistair, enlists. Tom is sweet and dependable but no match for Mary's spirited convictions. Their mismatch is compounded by their youth and, later, by Mary and Alistair's mutual attraction, after they meet while Alistair is on leave.
Cleave writes his characters with immense compassion. Mary and Alistair eagerly sign up for their respective war efforts with the soaring, adventuresome idealism of youth, and Tom tries hard to do the right thing for his students. Their naïve decisions at times result in awful consequences, but they are the choices of profoundly decent people. These flawed but unforgettable characters come to know that bravery is not just what happens on the battlefield; to live and to love require it, too. --Jeanette Zwart, freelance writer and reviewer