Books in brief: The Evening Chorus

    Helen Humphreys' The Evening Chorus is set during and after the Second World War. It features just a handful of characters: prisoner of war James, finding solace in observing birds at his camp in Germany, his wife Rose, solitary and regretful in a cottage in the Ashdown Forest, Enid, James' sister, bombed out of her London flat and job, and Toby, Rose's lover, each one pivoting between hope and heartbreak. 

    Humphreys' style is very spare, taut, and blunt; she is adept at letting the silences speak. This restraint makes this short book understated but powerful.

                                                ~~~~~

    In addition to this novel I've enjoyed The Lost Garden, and her non-fiction The Ghost Orchard, while firmly on my wish list is And a Dog called Fig: Solitude, Connection, the Writing Life.

Comments

[diana]

Thank you for this ! I had not known about her books other than The Lost Garden and I have already got my hands on The Evening Chorus and Nocturne.

[Cornflower]

You're welcome, Diana!