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The lonely
Lieutenant Jerry Wright, 23, product of an upper class Long Island upbringing, takes Patches, a WAAF, with him on a furlough in Scotland, finding in her the answer to his emotional longings. He is torn by his loyalty to his fiance/childhood sweetheart back home.
188 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1945
4 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
About the author
Paul Gallico
190 books317 followersPaul William Gallico was born in New York City, on 26th July, 1897. His father was an Italian, and his mother came from Austria; they emigrated to New York in 1895.
He went to school in the public schools of New York, and in 1916 went to Columbia University. He graduated in 1921 with a Bachelor of Science degree, having lost a year and a half due to World War I. He then worked for the National Board of Motion Picture Review, and after six months took a job as the motion picture critic for the New York Daily News. He was removed from this job as his "reviews were too Smart Alecky" (according to Confessions of a Story Teller), and took refuge in the sports department.
During his stint there, he was sent to cover the training camp of Jack Dempsey, and decided to ask Dempsey if he could spar with him, to get an idea of what it was like to be hit by the world heavyweight champion. The results were spectacular; Gallico was knocked out within two minutes. But he had his story, and from there his sports-writing career never looked back.
He became Sports Editor of the Daily News in 1923, and was given a daily sports column. He also invented and organised the Golden Gloves amateur boxing competition. During this part of his life, he was one of the most well-known sporting writers in America, and a minor celebrity. But he had always wanted to be a fiction writer, and was writing short stories and sports articles for magazines like Vanity Fair and the Saturday Evening Post. In 1936, he sold a short story to the movies for $5000, which gave him a stake. So he retired from sports writing, and went to live in Europe, to devote himself to writing. His first major book was Farewell to Sport, which as the title indicates, was his farewell to sports writing.
Though his name was well-known in the United States, he was an unknown in the rest of the world. In 1941, the Snow Goose changed all that, and he became, if not a best-selling author by today's standards, a writer who was always in demand. Apart from a short spell as a war correspondent between 1943 and 1946, he was a full-time freelance writer for the rest of his life. He has lived all over the place, including England, Mexico, Lichtenstein and Monaco, and he lived in Antibes for the last years of his life.
He was a first-class fencer, and a keen deep-sea fisherman. He was married four times, and had several children.
He died in Antibes on 15th July, 1976, just short of his 79th birthday.
He went to school in the public schools of New York, and in 1916 went to Columbia University. He graduated in 1921 with a Bachelor of Science degree, having lost a year and a half due to World War I. He then worked for the National Board of Motion Picture Review, and after six months took a job as the motion picture critic for the New York Daily News. He was removed from this job as his "reviews were too Smart Alecky" (according to Confessions of a Story Teller), and took refuge in the sports department.
During his stint there, he was sent to cover the training camp of Jack Dempsey, and decided to ask Dempsey if he could spar with him, to get an idea of what it was like to be hit by the world heavyweight champion. The results were spectacular; Gallico was knocked out within two minutes. But he had his story, and from there his sports-writing career never looked back.
He became Sports Editor of the Daily News in 1923, and was given a daily sports column. He also invented and organised the Golden Gloves amateur boxing competition. During this part of his life, he was one of the most well-known sporting writers in America, and a minor celebrity. But he had always wanted to be a fiction writer, and was writing short stories and sports articles for magazines like Vanity Fair and the Saturday Evening Post. In 1936, he sold a short story to the movies for $5000, which gave him a stake. So he retired from sports writing, and went to live in Europe, to devote himself to writing. His first major book was Farewell to Sport, which as the title indicates, was his farewell to sports writing.
Though his name was well-known in the United States, he was an unknown in the rest of the world. In 1941, the Snow Goose changed all that, and he became, if not a best-selling author by today's standards, a writer who was always in demand. Apart from a short spell as a war correspondent between 1943 and 1946, he was a full-time freelance writer for the rest of his life. He has lived all over the place, including England, Mexico, Lichtenstein and Monaco, and he lived in Antibes for the last years of his life.
He was a first-class fencer, and a keen deep-sea fisherman. He was married four times, and had several children.
He died in Antibes on 15th July, 1976, just short of his 79th birthday.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
July 16, 2013
I found a book called Lonely. I found it on the back of another book. That’s one of the things I love about reading old editions, and books from certain small and specialist presses, they come with lists and sometimes details of other books to investigate. Numbered Penguins allow me to spot other books I might know or I might want to know that joined the Penguin list around the same time as, and carry numbers close to, the book in my hand. And it’s lovely to see the list of Persephone titles listed in the back of every dove-grey book growing over the years.
But I found the book called Lonely in a list of titles on the back of an old copy of Jon Godden’s The House by the Sea, a list of new books being published in 1947. There were titles and names I recognised and titles and names I did not. But the book called Lonely caught my eye. I couldn’t help wanting to pull it closer, particularly when I saw that it was written by Paul Gallico whose writing had such wonderful qualities that could make a story with such a title sing.
I found a copy in the library’s fiction reserve and I placed my order.
Lonely is the story of Jerry, who grew up on Long Island, a much loved only child. A young man with a happy and successful future, with his childhood sweetheart by his side, mapped out for him. But war sidelined those plans, and Jerry became a fighter pilot. He was based in England, so far from his home. He knew he was doing the right thing, but he felt very alone in such a very different world.
And he was at a loss to know what to do when it was time to go on furlough. Another pilot suggested that he should go to Scotland, and that he should take Patches, a WAAF who had leave at the same time. Jerry knew Patches, a bright and popular girl, and he was sure they could have a good time together. No strings attached. He didn’t know that Patches was in love with him and that was why she accepted with alacrity, and that she accepted that because Jerry had a girlfriend back home she would not express her feelings.
They had a wonderful, wonderful time, and they parted with a handshake, exactly as they had agreed. Patches returned to base, and Jerry seized the chance of a quick trip back home. And it was then that he had fallen in love with Patches, and that he hadn’t known what love was before.
But back home Jerry struggled, realising that his parents and a girl he still cared for had so much invested in the plans they had made for the future, and that they had no way of understanding how his experiences had changed him.
And, of course he had no idea how much Patches loved him, or if he would ever see her again.
Lonely is the story of Jerry’s coming of age. It is beautifully told, with every emotion and every nuance caught quite perfectly. What particularly struck me, was the change in the relationship between parents and child. I found myself understanding every word, every action, and with my heart in my mouth because I so wanted a happy ending, but I couldn’t quite see how it might come about.
I understood too that the book was called Lonely, because it is so very lonely when you are unable to express or to share such fundamental feelings. That understanding is threaded right through the story.
Lonely is a very short book, but it says so much, simply and clearly. It misses nothing, and touches on every aspect of every relationship. And it is a moving, and utterly believable love story, to inspire both smiles and tears, and to touch the deeper emotions that lie behind them.
I was swept along, completely wrapped up in the story, to an ending that was unexpected but exactly right.
But I found the book called Lonely in a list of titles on the back of an old copy of Jon Godden’s The House by the Sea, a list of new books being published in 1947. There were titles and names I recognised and titles and names I did not. But the book called Lonely caught my eye. I couldn’t help wanting to pull it closer, particularly when I saw that it was written by Paul Gallico whose writing had such wonderful qualities that could make a story with such a title sing.
I found a copy in the library’s fiction reserve and I placed my order.
Lonely is the story of Jerry, who grew up on Long Island, a much loved only child. A young man with a happy and successful future, with his childhood sweetheart by his side, mapped out for him. But war sidelined those plans, and Jerry became a fighter pilot. He was based in England, so far from his home. He knew he was doing the right thing, but he felt very alone in such a very different world.
And he was at a loss to know what to do when it was time to go on furlough. Another pilot suggested that he should go to Scotland, and that he should take Patches, a WAAF who had leave at the same time. Jerry knew Patches, a bright and popular girl, and he was sure they could have a good time together. No strings attached. He didn’t know that Patches was in love with him and that was why she accepted with alacrity, and that she accepted that because Jerry had a girlfriend back home she would not express her feelings.
They had a wonderful, wonderful time, and they parted with a handshake, exactly as they had agreed. Patches returned to base, and Jerry seized the chance of a quick trip back home. And it was then that he had fallen in love with Patches, and that he hadn’t known what love was before.
But back home Jerry struggled, realising that his parents and a girl he still cared for had so much invested in the plans they had made for the future, and that they had no way of understanding how his experiences had changed him.
And, of course he had no idea how much Patches loved him, or if he would ever see her again.
Lonely is the story of Jerry’s coming of age. It is beautifully told, with every emotion and every nuance caught quite perfectly. What particularly struck me, was the change in the relationship between parents and child. I found myself understanding every word, every action, and with my heart in my mouth because I so wanted a happy ending, but I couldn’t quite see how it might come about.
I understood too that the book was called Lonely, because it is so very lonely when you are unable to express or to share such fundamental feelings. That understanding is threaded right through the story.
Lonely is a very short book, but it says so much, simply and clearly. It misses nothing, and touches on every aspect of every relationship. And it is a moving, and utterly believable love story, to inspire both smiles and tears, and to touch the deeper emotions that lie behind them.
I was swept along, completely wrapped up in the story, to an ending that was unexpected but exactly right.
March 21, 2018
Beautifully written. Much to read in between the lines.
October 5, 2011
A typical love story in which two people fall in love but a heart warming tale of two lonely souls trying to reach out to one of their kind and be complete again. Set in the dangerous times of world war II, it accentuates the need of the central characters who seem more lost than those whom they have already lost.
Even though Jerry is committed to a girl back home, but what he feels for Patches is something real. In his journey from being a boy to becoming a man he realizes that the process is something more than raising a moustache or going easy with girls.
The emotional turmoil which each character undergoes has been written brilliantly and makes the book worth reading. In spite of its slow pace, there is never a dull moment. For each action that is taken, a justification is given, which makes it even more difficult for the reader to decide what can be the end of the story. A most vivid description of the characters and their thoughts makes the reader literally go under the skin of each and relive their moments time and again.
Even though Jerry is committed to a girl back home, but what he feels for Patches is something real. In his journey from being a boy to becoming a man he realizes that the process is something more than raising a moustache or going easy with girls.
The emotional turmoil which each character undergoes has been written brilliantly and makes the book worth reading. In spite of its slow pace, there is never a dull moment. For each action that is taken, a justification is given, which makes it even more difficult for the reader to decide what can be the end of the story. A most vivid description of the characters and their thoughts makes the reader literally go under the skin of each and relive their moments time and again.
January 24, 2010
A tug of war between love and duty, following one's feelings or what other people say. An absorbing read. But you can't help asking yourself whether he really made the correct choice.
May 10, 2013
US pilot in WW2 has to choose between local girl and fiancee back home. Beautifully written - and I didn't guess the ending! Main characters finely drawn and I felt their pain!
December 4, 2025
Found it randomly at a book market in Amsterdam and for 3€ I got the perspective I needed to reach at this time in my life. Especially with the ending that was so open-ended and unfulfilling. Some decisions might feel good in the moment, but damn will they fuck up your life in the long run
August 2, 2022
I've reread this a few times, and it just gets better as I get older.
Gallico's lyrical prose captures the sentimentality and despair and bits of happiness snatched amongst the horror of World War 2. This is very much a coming of age story for both Jerry and Patches - and told in a fairytale, twilight setting between the chaos of war.
Just a beautifully told story and it's also incredibly romantic.
Gallico's lyrical prose captures the sentimentality and despair and bits of happiness snatched amongst the horror of World War 2. This is very much a coming of age story for both Jerry and Patches - and told in a fairytale, twilight setting between the chaos of war.
Just a beautifully told story and it's also incredibly romantic.
January 10, 2023
-Best love story- amount of stars
At the end some quotes that may be considered as spoilers:)
I was with my mom to an exhibition in which my painting teacher participated. Immediately after we entered the gorgeous church it was in I saw a market of second-hand books. So many books for 1 euro!! Most of them were in Dutch, but of course I was drawn to the english ones. I found this one. The mermaid books edition. I had never heard of Paul Gallico before(I'm sorry). And there was no text on the back. I guess it was a gut feeling that made me take this one home. I was somewhat scared to start reading, having no idea where it would be about. But I made a bowl consisting of little pieces of paper with the titles of the books I own, but haven't read yet. I drew this book and was so curious. And it didn't disappoint me at all. I really hope I have the power to recommend everyone to read this book. Although I would love to keep this one to myself. A little treasure in my collection. It's, in my opinion, the best love story I've ever read. The loneliness described when apart and the amazing feelings when together. Oh, and it's also about becoming a man. I have finished this book in one day, today, and it took my breath away.
Here some quotes to convince you:
Don't want any spoilers? Don't scroll down!
"--this Jerry, who was a piece of her heart, whose heartbeat she had felt, whose being she had shared, whose body had been there to touch when she stirred and reached out in the night--" (page 46)
"The sense of missing her, the longing for her presence, overwhelmed him so suddenly that he sat down on the edge of the bed and put his face in his hands and was frightened by the power of the emotion, afraid to look up again at the shattering emptiness of the room because it would verify that Patches was gone." (page 48)
"But what did you do if it wasn't over inside you? If it could never be over, if you knew that as long as you lived and wherever you were, the memory of her and the longing to have her next to you would be with you?" (page 52)
"Who was Patches? What was she, a being, one of the countless millions who occupied a tiny pinpoint of earth somewhere, to be identified with a name and colouring and ancestry, a catalogue of features, a place in society? Or was she the beating of his heart, his hunger and his thirst, his hope on earth?" (page 70)
I'll let you discover the other beautiful pages yourself.
At the end some quotes that may be considered as spoilers:)
I was with my mom to an exhibition in which my painting teacher participated. Immediately after we entered the gorgeous church it was in I saw a market of second-hand books. So many books for 1 euro!! Most of them were in Dutch, but of course I was drawn to the english ones. I found this one. The mermaid books edition. I had never heard of Paul Gallico before(I'm sorry). And there was no text on the back. I guess it was a gut feeling that made me take this one home. I was somewhat scared to start reading, having no idea where it would be about. But I made a bowl consisting of little pieces of paper with the titles of the books I own, but haven't read yet. I drew this book and was so curious. And it didn't disappoint me at all. I really hope I have the power to recommend everyone to read this book. Although I would love to keep this one to myself. A little treasure in my collection. It's, in my opinion, the best love story I've ever read. The loneliness described when apart and the amazing feelings when together. Oh, and it's also about becoming a man. I have finished this book in one day, today, and it took my breath away.
Here some quotes to convince you:
Don't want any spoilers? Don't scroll down!
"--this Jerry, who was a piece of her heart, whose heartbeat she had felt, whose being she had shared, whose body had been there to touch when she stirred and reached out in the night--" (page 46)
"The sense of missing her, the longing for her presence, overwhelmed him so suddenly that he sat down on the edge of the bed and put his face in his hands and was frightened by the power of the emotion, afraid to look up again at the shattering emptiness of the room because it would verify that Patches was gone." (page 48)
"But what did you do if it wasn't over inside you? If it could never be over, if you knew that as long as you lived and wherever you were, the memory of her and the longing to have her next to you would be with you?" (page 52)
"Who was Patches? What was she, a being, one of the countless millions who occupied a tiny pinpoint of earth somewhere, to be identified with a name and colouring and ancestry, a catalogue of features, a place in society? Or was she the beating of his heart, his hunger and his thirst, his hope on earth?" (page 70)
I'll let you discover the other beautiful pages yourself.
October 3, 2022
In the beginning chapters, I was very disappointed, feeling that the writing was stilted and out of date; the only thing that kept me going was it taking place, in part, in Westbury, LI, an area I knew well, even when much of it was farm country. Towards the middle, the story picked up, and the two characters, Jerry and Patches, became more interesting, more three-dimensional. The third, Catherine, stayed two-dimensional, especially since we learn of her through her fiance. I began to see Jerry and Patches as real people when they grew that way to each other. The "stilted" aspects of the writing help stage the physical aspects of time and place, WW II by an American flier stationed in Britain. Though he is engaged to his girl back home, Catherine, he falls in love with Patches. We are left questioning, is this just the loneliness of a young m an in a strange and will-I-live-through-tomorrow attitude. The exact same feeling that Jerry is having.
The book is short and worth the read, especially for me, as it echoes the inside of the lives of my parents who lived during that time with my mom being an army bride.
Jerry. Both Jerry and Patches only come into their own, as each of them excharacter
The book is short and worth the read, especially for me, as it echoes the inside of the lives of my parents who lived during that time with my mom being an army bride.
Jerry. Both Jerry and Patches only come into their own, as each of them excharacter
December 22, 2021
1946 romance novel from the author of The Poseidon Adventure (his author bio at the time describes him as primarily a sports writer). Set in England during the Blitz, a sheltered American Pilot falls for a casual acquaintance and is forced to choose between her and his fiancé back home. The leads' names are Jerry and Patches, which is basically reason enough to read this.
For a pocket book, the plot covers a lot of physical ground: Our leads vacation in Scottland, then Jerry hops a plane to return to his home in upscale New Jersey for an evening. We do get some solo time with Patches, but her character and motivations — as is often the case with love interests in romance — is left somewhat opaque.
There's some fascinating discussion about what we now call PTSD; seeing these experiences through the 1940s lens was illuminating, particularly with how young adults proceeded into the postwar period with these traumatizing experiences locked away.
For a pocket book, the plot covers a lot of physical ground: Our leads vacation in Scottland, then Jerry hops a plane to return to his home in upscale New Jersey for an evening. We do get some solo time with Patches, but her character and motivations — as is often the case with love interests in romance — is left somewhat opaque.
There's some fascinating discussion about what we now call PTSD; seeing these experiences through the 1940s lens was illuminating, particularly with how young adults proceeded into the postwar period with these traumatizing experiences locked away.
October 3, 2024
A beautiful and tender love story that keeps you guessing right to the end. I couldn’t put it down. Paul Gallico has such a lyrical style to his writing, and his main characters are beautifully developed. There is a sense of old-fashioned morality that appeals. My only reservation is the assumption that Patches will have to adapt to his life, his background. Why don’t they start again in a place that’s new to them both? But then, the book is of its time.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 27, 2025
When I was in high school many years ago, having exhausted the science fiction available in my local library, I came across the works of Paul Gallico and binged them. This book was one of them, a short novel about a young American airman stationed in Britain during World War 2 who takes a short holiday with a local English girl, despite the fact that he has a fiancé waiting back home in America. Revisiting it many years later I find it still as enjoyable as before.
August 15, 2024
A beautifully written love story
June 7, 2025
when you find a book in a second hand shop that you’ve never heard of and it turns out to be exactly the type of story you adore. the kind that speaks to your soul.
June 4, 2022
Goodreads has the wrong cover posted. I'll fix it later.
A romance starring an American WWII bomber and a British member of air support services, one can only think to compare this to Nevil Shute's Pastoral. While Pastoral has the pilot actively flying combat missions, here the bomber is on leave to get a mental break and perhaps shake the jitters. While Pastoral is quite significantly about third parties looking approvingly on the romance, here the third parties disapprove. And Pastoral is the better book.
Most of the dialog in this book is internal, and it's primarily what is bouncing around inside the head of the male protagonist. Should he stick with his beautiful and successful high school sweetheart, or move on to his "plain" British girlfriend? His parents adore his glamorous Stateside girl and are horrified he may jilt her.
I am left wondering how much of this book is autobiographical. I know Gallico had 4 wives, and I know he was a war correspondent during WWII. Do the thoughts of the bomber as he works through his choice mirror those of Gallico before pulling the pin on one of his marriages?
Gallico was a terrific wordsmith, and I liked the book. It's 3.5 stars from me.
A romance starring an American WWII bomber and a British member of air support services, one can only think to compare this to Nevil Shute's Pastoral. While Pastoral has the pilot actively flying combat missions, here the bomber is on leave to get a mental break and perhaps shake the jitters. While Pastoral is quite significantly about third parties looking approvingly on the romance, here the third parties disapprove. And Pastoral is the better book.
Most of the dialog in this book is internal, and it's primarily what is bouncing around inside the head of the male protagonist. Should he stick with his beautiful and successful high school sweetheart, or move on to his "plain" British girlfriend? His parents adore his glamorous Stateside girl and are horrified he may jilt her.
I am left wondering how much of this book is autobiographical. I know Gallico had 4 wives, and I know he was a war correspondent during WWII. Do the thoughts of the bomber as he works through his choice mirror those of Gallico before pulling the pin on one of his marriages?
Gallico was a terrific wordsmith, and I liked the book. It's 3.5 stars from me.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews