The Clouds Above

by Andrew Greig

In a novel that will remind many readers of The English Patient and Birdsong, a prize-winning British poet and writer has crafted a remarkable elegy to love, the summer of 1940, and the Battle of Britain. The Clouds Above is not only a wonderfully written love story set during the Battle of Britain, but also a brilliant and evocative description of the battle itself. Andrew Greig recreates with a sure touch that extraordinary summer when Great Britain's survival lay in the hands of two thousand or so very young men. The aerial combat scenes are so vivid that to read this book is to be with these men up in the blue sky, where ten seconds is a very long time and everything happens in a rush of adrenaline and terror. Len, a Royal Air Force Sergeant pilot, and Tadeusz, a Polish pilot serving in the RAF, are thrown directly into the fierce struggle with the Luftwaffe. Despite their obvious differences, they become close friends, each aware that neither of them is likely to survive. In this tumultuous and uncertain time Len falls in love with Stella, a young WAAF radar operator. She is trying to endure her own making the transition from a sedate middle-class English life to service life with other young women, being bombed and seeing her fellow WAAFs killed, listening to young men die every day, and trying to find an intense, if brief, happiness with a young man who risks his life daily. In chapters alternately narrated by the two young lovers, Len and Stella wrestle with the foolhardiness of a romance in wartime, even as the battle in the sky intensifies. Drawing from his mother's diary chronicling her own experience during the Battle of Britain, Andrew Greig has written a novel that is as compelling a love story as it is a war story, and of which the Sunday Times (London) "Memorable, not only has a good sense of period, but a profound sense of time, and of interpenetration of past and present....Beautifully done."

Genres: Fiction

Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Andrew Greig is a Scottish writer who grew up in Anstruther, Fife. He studied philosophy at the University of Edinburgh and is a former Glasgow University Writing Fellow and Scottish Arts Council Scottish/Canadian Exchange Fellow. He lives in Orkney and Edinburgh and is married to author Lesley Glaister.

Reviews

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Right up my alley -- a WWII Battle of Britain Hurricane pilot falls in love with a WREN. Follow the trials and tribulations of these two as they learn to love one another and lose friends to the German bombing and fighters.

[Susan]

June-October 1940 romance between a flyer and a radio operator

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely read.

[Shelley Krueger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice introduction to learning about the battle of Britain.

[Paula Dembeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

A narrative story of two couples set during the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940.
Len is an RAF pilot and Tad is a Polish pilot who become close friends. Tad has already lost both his family and his country in the war. Len falls in love with Sheila a young radar operator who is trying to make the transition from a sedate middle class life to her new life living with other women, enduring bombing experiences, and listening to and watching men die. At the same time she is trying to eke out some brief happiness with Len, who risks his life everyday as a pilot.
The aerial combat scenes are vivid and the writing is excellent.

[Riley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has an odd writing style. It uses the first person "I" for two main characters and switches back and forth. Perhaps I wasn't paying enough attention, but it also seemed to me that certain chapters and paragraphs came out of nowhere. The cherry on this cake is that when I finally tired of reading this book, I still hadn't encountered a plot. On the other hand, the descriptions of the battles were intriguing. Perhaps someone more interested in the Battle of Britain would give "Above the Clouds" more credit.

[Lynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found my mind wandering, wondering why I was uninterested in the two protagonists. They just weren't fully developed characters. Their best pals were far more interesting and human. Plus, the end was just plain tacked on.

[Jeanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not to be confused with a historical romance!

The Battle of Britain wages on while a bomber pilot and radar girl fall in love and find their place in the world.

[David Abrams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet. Engaging. Heart breaking.

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

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