The Long and the Short

The Long and the Short is the second in Allen Saddler's Forties trilogy and the sequel to his acclaimed Bless Em All. Four years on from Blitz London, as news of the Normandy landings filters through the country, Allen Saddler presents new characters struggling in wartime England alongside memorable figures from the first book. Where Saddler had lives criss-crossing each other in London's streets before, this time they span north and south and with his customary narrative drive and sparkling dialogue, he describes the subtle differences, as well as similarities, between friends and enemies who are meant to be fighting a common enemy abroad. Jimmy, the delivery boy from Bless Em All has become a nervy young soldier and is reunited with the enigmatic Rosa Tcherny, the Jewish nurse who finds herself tending German POWs; Harry 'Boy' Fortune is an officer/spiv hot on the trail of two tarts, revealing his softer side along the way; Major Le Surf is his boss, carving out a sweet life for himself in a northern backwater, only to be thrust into the riddle of a murdered German POW. All of these dramas and more converge as the country moves towards V.E. Day and a final release from endless sacrifice and strain.