Windows on the Moon

by Alan Brownjohn (Contributor)

Set just after the war, Brownjohn's fourth novel captures with great vividness the lives of austerity Londoners. With no sense of victory and little let-up in the daily hardships, they are just beginning to feel the beginnings of hope for the future. All, that is, except Pierre-Henri, wartime collaborator in Vichy France, who is lying low and has a bag packed just in case. Next door, Perce and Maureen Hollard are struggling with a son who feels he has outgrown them intellectually. A rich narrative following the ordinary lives of extraordinary people.

402 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Alan Charles Brownjohn was an English poet and novelist.

Reviews

[Mark Rubenstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the immediate aftermath of WWII and with its focus on a family -- and those around them, but not necessarily known to them -- in austere London, Windows On the Moon is a quiet and nuanced novel perhaps best summed up by one of its final lines: “It was odd that the most important parts of life, she thought, the things that changed you forever, went on in the midst of so much ordinariness, so many trivial things.” Sits nicely alongside the works of Patrick Hamilton or Norman Collins’ London Belongs To Me.

[Cmbrooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set at the end of the second world war, this book follows the fortunes of a small group of people and explores the connections between them. The women don't fare too well. An interesting read leading to more interest in this author's work.