Small Wars: Sadie Jones

I loved this book.  Mainly set in occupied Cyprus in the late 1950’s, its subject is a young couple: Hal, a bright young officer who hasn’t been taught to have any kind of real emotional life, and Clara, his young and dutiful wife.  

The book divides itself between looking at Hal, appalled and yet brutalised by the conflict he is a part of, and Clara, bored, frightened and powerless.  As Hal's military involvement increases, the couple become increasingly unable to communicate. Cyprus itself is beautifully evoked, but it casts no spell over the protagonists.  

I was unconvinced by the faltering reconciliation at the end of the book, but as an examination of Englishness, and the effects of war on everyone involved, as well as a portrait of a country I’ve never visited, it was a gripping and involving read.