Customer Reviews

A Pair of Silver Wings

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First of all, the title is "A Silver Pair of Wings." I had read "the Burning Blue" by the same author, and enjoyed it as both a war novel, drama and romance. In this second novel, the author deals with an RAF pilot's unresolved grief on the 50th anniversary of the war. The main character is well developed and believable. He is retired, his wife has passed away, and his grown son is distant and resentful of his father's detachment. On the insistance of his grandson, he attends an RAF reunion and decides to deal with his anxiety by visiting the places he served during the war. First, he visits his base in England, then Malta, and finally Italy, where he had been shot down and rescued by partisans. The story is told in a series of flashbacks, and for once we are not treated to another story about the Battle of Britain or the Phoney War. Malta is an undertold tale, and Holland captures it better in a segment of this book than Frank Barnard did in an entire book. The section in Italy is not a pilot novel in the sense that it involves dog fights. It his however, very well written and frankly, difficult to put down. I was somewhat surprised upon reading the reviews on the Amazon UK's site, that the main criticisms were over the fact that the author referenced a Bren Gun as a belt fed machine gun (it is clip fed). It's a minor point, and does not distract from what otherwise appears a well researched an written story. Hopefully, this author will write more such novels.

Note that this is not available in the US. However, I ordered a copy easily enough through Amazon UK. It was shipped quickly and cheaply from Aprohead Books.