After Berlin

by Martin Corrick

When Charles Beevor teaches Elizabeth, the daughter of the family's butler, to fly his gypsy moth, neither character knows that their shared passion for flying will lead them both to war and, eventually, to love. Elizabeth spends World War II as a female ferry pilot - her last job, to airlift wounded serviceman out of a ruined Berlin to the safety of England. But in a terrible accident, Elizabeth's engineer and best friend, Alice, is killed on their last trip together. Elizabeth's subsequent return to the mundane domesticity of her pre-war life proves unbearable. It's only when she visits Alice's East London family to pay her condolences that she begins to feel some peace among a community struggling to rebuild its homes and families after the devastation of war. And it's only when Charles goes to find her that their friendship is rekindled, and their love affair takes flight.

272 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Katie Grainger · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt that at times this novel was slightly disjointed and I wasn't 100% sure sometimes where it was going. The story is ultimately quite simple about two people who survive WW2, love flying and start a photographic business. However the events of the war never quite leave and for Lizzie the memory of a fateful flight to Berlin at the end of the war is almost her undoing. One thing I loved about this book was the fact that it taught me things about aircraft I never knew and more about the history of Berlin than I was familiar with. Slow in parts but ultimately a heart-warming story this is a good read for anyone interested in post war fiction and aviation.