Open Book

Barbara's comment on Friday's post alerted me to last week's edition of the Radio 4 programme, Open Book, which I'd missed. I was able to get it on 'Listen Again' (click on the title for the link) and caught the interview with Joan Bakewell about her novel All the Nice Girls, which I finished over the weekend and enjoyed very much; hearing her talk about the book did add to my reading of it.
     The story begins in 1942 when the war was going badly for Britain and the battle of the Atlantic was being directed from Liverpool's Derby House. It was not just Royal Navy ships which faced the enemy at sea; the merchant marine braved U-boat patrols to bring essential supplies to these islands, and their part in the conflict is less well known than that of their service colleagues. To boost morale and help the war effort, schools took part in the Ship Adoption Scheme, forging links with a particular vessel, writing to their crew, keeping them in touch with home, and it's one such school's relationship with the captain and crew of a merchantman which forms the basis for this wartime romance which ends in the present day.
     Apart from the love story, the book highlights the turbulence of war - not just death and displacement, but the shift in political, moral and social attitudes, and the changing role of women. For all these things, it's an involving read.
     Next on the programme came P.D. James (of whom I am a fan) talking about the Golden Age crime writer Cyril Hare and his novel Tragedy at Law. Another addition to my very long wishlist, I think, as Baroness James made an excellent case for reading it. Does anyone know his work?
    That linked neatly to a piece on lawyers who write crime fiction, and Martin Edwards was one of those mentioned. There were, of course, slightly derogatory references to the legal profession (shame!), but much more importantly, due mention of the knowledge and insight which a lawyer as writer brings to the genre.