What to Read Next: April 18, 2025
Issue #375, featuring Chris Cleave's somewhat forgotten novel
Happy Friday readers!
Here is what’s on tap this week:
A review of Chris Cleave’s Everyone Brave Is Forgiven
My favorite book rec for Earth Day
5 Things: Links and Opinions
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Everyone Brave Is Forgiven by Chris Cleave
“Everything can be restored. If one won't believe that, how does one endure all this?”
There’s a lot of WWII fiction out there, but Chris Cleave’s Everyone Brave Is Forgiven (2016) is a title that I haven’t ever seen on social media or featured in “Best WWII Fiction” lists. Best known for mega-bestsellers like Little Bee and Gold, this fantastic book somehow slipped under the literary radar.
Our primary cast of four teenaged and twentysomething Londoners at the outbreak of WWII are forced to grapple with decisions big and small: Should I volunteer to fight? Should I ask her out on a date? Should I teach these castaway children? Can I work up the courage to stand up to my parents? How can we possibly go on amidst all the tragedy?
Something Cleave does really well throughout the entire book is show the effects of war beyond the battlefront. From the daily months-long bombing of London (which killed over 23,000 civilians), to airplane crashes caused by faulty engines rather than enemy fire, to soldiers accidentally stepping on unexploded artillery — war has innumerable ripple effects that go well beyond the front line clashes.
By the end, we’re left with a group of people who are broken — physically, mentally, and emotionally. And yet, life must press on. So they have to figure out the way forward amidst a crumbling London and an equally messy tangle of relationships. While there was plenty of heartbreak in this story, there was always a twinkle of hope that kept me reading.
Beyond the narrative itself, I wasn’t surprised that the book also had psychological depth and believability, combined with Cleave’s superb prose. The overall result made for a compelling, beautiful read that will stay with me for a long time and has a shot to be on my year-end favorites list.
If you’re into historical fiction, Everyone Brave Is Forgiven is not to be missed and deserves far wider acclaim.