Overview

Terrific novel set in the Roaring Twenties, reissued to accompany Philippa Gregory’s new bestselling novel, The Other Boleyn Girl Lily Valance wants to forget the war. She's determined to enjoy the world of the 1920s, with its music, singing, laughter and pleasure. When she meets Captain Stephen Winters, a decorated hero back from the Front, she's drawn to his wealth and status. In Lily he sees his salvation – from the past, from the nightmare, from the guilt at surviving the Flanders plains where so many were lost. But it's a dream that cannot last. Lily has no intention of leaving her singing career. The hidden tensions of the respectable facade of the Winters household come to a head. Stephen's nightmares merge ever closer with reality and the truth of what took place in the mud and darkness brings him and all who loves him to a terrible reckoning…

Full Product Details

9780007233069

Table of Contents

Reviews

Praise for 'Fallen Skies': 'Superbly crafted!a fine book.' Daily Mail 'Round of applause.' Frank Delaney, Sunday Times

Praise for 'Fallen Skies': 'Superbly crafted!a fine book.' Daily Mail 'Round of applause.' Frank Delaney, Sunday Times Praise for Philppa Gregory: 'Written from instinct, not out of calculation, and it shows.' Peter Ackroyd, The Times

Gregory (The Other Queen, 2008, etc.) leaves Tudor gowns behind for the Jazz Age in this addictive tale, originally published in the United Kingdom in 1993, of two wounded soldiers and the pervasive cost of war.The novel begins with Stephen Winters recalling the Flanders fields of World War I, of the deep mud and bits of bodies underfoot, of the unrelenting terror of gunfire. Since his father's stroke (at the news of favorite son Christopher's death), Stephen has taken over the law practice, and he finds solace only with Coventry, his mute chauffer and wartime aid. Then he sees Lily Valance singing at the theater and is thunderstruck by the luminous joy of her face and voice - she reminds him of girls before the war, before everything was ruined. He courts her with his wealth, but his advances are rejected; Lily is 17 and in love with the theater's musical director, Charlie Smith (though devoted to Lily, he refuses to marry her - a war wound has left him impotent). When Lily's mother dies, Stephen, convinced Lily will cure him of his shell shock, coerces her into wedlock at her most vulnerable. Their honeymoon is a disaster (Stephen is sadistic and controlling), and the marriage continues in this vein when Stephen brings her to live with his mother Muriel, disapproving of the merchant-class theater girl, and his father Rory, upstairs and half-dead. But Lily is bright and resilient, and soon she is singing again professionally (after a fat lip from Stephen). She has Rory up and beginning to speak, and even Muriel begrudgingly admits Lily has an undeniable grace. Their house becomes fashionable with both society mavens and young bohemians - the only one not happy is Stephen, who has become more violent and unpredictable. When they have a little boy, the emotional torment really starts. The only bright spot in Lily's life is Charlie Smith, who vows to save Lily and her son, if only he's able before Stephen destroys them all.This great doorstop of a romantic tragedy illustrates Gregory's winning formula: A young woman triumphs despite a hostile male society. (Kirkus Reviews)

Author Information

DR PHILIPPA GREGORY studied history at the University of Sussex and was awarded a PhD by the University of Edinburgh where she is a Regent and was made Alumna of the Year in 2009. She holds an honorary degree from Teesside University, and is a fellow of the Universities of Sussex and Cardiff. Philippa is a member of the Society of Authors and in 2016, was presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Historical Fiction Award by the Historical Writers' Association. In 2018, she was awarded an Honorary Platinum Award by Neilsen for achieving significant lifetime sales across her entire book output. In 2021, she was awarded a CBE for services to literature and to her charity Gardens for the Gambia, and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available