Customer Reviews

Requiem For a Wren (Vintage Classics)

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Nevil Shute's gentle and very clever way of telling a story really shines here. This one sneaks up on you as you slowly find yourself caught up in the emotions of the characters, all of whose lives have been forever shaped and scarred by their experiences in WWII. Masterfully told in partial flashback, the mystery of the suicide of a parlourmaid at an Australian sheep station turns out to have profound implications for everyone involved in her life. A deeply moving and haunting novel, Mr. Shute deftly shows us how "Like some infernal monster, still venemous in death, a war can go on killing people for a long time after it's all over."

This is a stunning novel by a master storyteller. Highly recommended.

NOTE: This is also published as 'The Breaking Wave'

One of Nevil Shute's best stories, second only to Town Like Alice -his greatest book (and wonderful film!) Story is during and after WWII, with lots of good descriptions of the desolate center of Australia interlaced with a beautiful love story of two people trying to find each other. The two main characters are very likeable, you root for them - but there is a very unpexpected twist towards the end of the book. The "wren" is not a bird, but a Royal Naval Nurse. I have read this book 3 or 4 times over 25 years and I highly recommend it, although it is difficult to find outside of England. It is easy to read, and would be a good book to take on a vacation or plane trip Another good Nevil Shute book is "Trustee from a Toolroom" - guys would enjoy this one, gals would like "Requiem for a Wren".

The story of Alan Duncan begins with his return to Coombargana, a sheep farming station in the Western District of Australia. On the day before his return, the trusted parlour maid on the station, of whom his parents were very fond, died in her room unexpectedly, causing an awkward homecoming

Beginning with the pursuit of a law degree at Oxford University, the years of Alan's absence from family and homeland taught him very much, very quickly. Not surprising, he is drawn into World War-II action as a fighter pilot, risking all he has in life, just like his younger brother Bill.

Also like his brother, he is attracted to the same English girl, Janet Prentice, a WREN on active duty, assigned to maintenance of ordinance used in preparation of the D-Day invasion. The terrible war has left each one with terrible losses, of which the consequences carry the reader through Alan's quest to find Janet in the years that follow its ending in 1945.

In London, Viola Dawson, Janet's friend, is Alan's greatest source of information to lead him through his search. Where will he ultimately find her in this world that both separates and binds together those on opposite sides of the globe?

A terriffic story, beautifully written; also published under the title "The Breaking Wave."

This is one of Shute's best, an old-fashioned love story and suspense tale linked to the Australian countryside of post WWII. Not wishing to reveal the plot, I will only say that a young Australian returns home after the War to find that a young woman has recently died in his parents' home under mysterious circumstances. He tries to unravel her identity and he is in for a shock - all is not as it seems. Gives the reader an insight into central Australian life just after WWII,with the hardships and battles with droughts, fires and isolation of the sheep ranches. Anyone who enjoyed "A Town Like Alice" would enjoy this one.

I have recently discovered Nevil Shute, and what a find! I highly recommend this book. It's a story that takes place during WWII when a man returns home to australia to find that his parents' parlor maid has committed suicide. As he searches for her identity he reminisces about the war and the people he met.

Someone dubbed Nevil Shute "the Prince of Storytellers" and it's not just hype. He wrote about 20 novels between 1930 and 1960, all of which are good and a few of which are great ("Trustee from the Toolroom, "A Town Like Alice" and "On the Beach"). Many of Shute's books, like "Requiem for a Wren," revolve around individuals caught up in the trauma of World War II or the post-war world. Many take place in the wide open spaces of his beloved Australia. They blend romance, adventure, sacrifice and deep sentiment (a quality I miss in our era of irony and detachment). Shute creates compelling characters -- his women are as well-drawn as his men -- who endure a lot and whose journey to hard-won wisdom is always riveting. "Requiem" is no exception. As its title suggests, it is a sad story but told with compassion and eloquence. It made me think about the unknown heroism and quiet desperation of people's lives and also about the dignity of each person's life. "Requiem," like all of Shute's work, is a good, thought-provoking reading experience.

Suffering from overbearingly cheerful friends? Significant other a tad too upbeat?

Forget sylvia plath. Throw away your Tolstoy. Give them this book.

This is one of the most ridiculously depressing and tragic books i have ever read. It would be verging on parody if it were not for the beautiful prose, powerful message, and the momentum of the narrative.

Neville Shute had three phases of his writing. There were novels of England, both during and after the war. I have not read the novels from before the war. One of his wonderful wartime novels is Most Secret, which I have reviewed elsewhere. This novel has many similarities to that one as it involves wartime England and young people who must cope with the disastrous burden of war. Both novels have a story about a dog that ends in sadness. This novel continues after the war and is the first of his Australian stories. Alan, the older son and narrator, is an RAF pilot who is shot down after D-Day, which figures very large in this story, and loses his feet. He spends months of rehabilitation, then returns home to the family sheep station at Coombargana, in south Australia. He is restless and unhappy and soon returns to England to finish his studies at Oxford. Eventually, he returns to Australia, determined to live there and take over the station from his aging parents. On the day he arrives, which is the opening of the book, his father informs him that a parlour maid at home has taken her life. No one knows why.

Most of the book is then told in flashback. He is puzzled about why the girl would end her life and he searches for information about her, finding her suitcase, which she has hidden in the attic. When he opens the suitcase, he learns that she is the girl his brother Bill would have married had he not been killed shortly before D-Day. Most of the book recounts their story and his own efforts to find her in England, and eventually in America, after the war. As he searches for her, he slowly comes to the conclusion that he was in love with her himself even though he had only met her once. His search has taught him much about her life and his determination to find her grows and becomes an obsession. Defeated at last, he returns to Australia only to learn that she has been caring for his parents while concealing her own identity. Why did she commit suicide the night before he arrives ?

He reads her diary and learns how she was terribly harmed by the war, by his brother's death and by the life that remained for her as she became progressively more isolated. Finally, she travels to Australia on the advice of a friendly American physician she met in England. She finds peace and contentment in her anonymous service for Bill's parents. The prospect of Alan's return threatens her exposure and she chooses to end her life the day before the man who has been searching for her arrives.

A Town Like Alice has a similar story of a search after the war but with a happy ending. The Far Country has a story of an English girl who comes out to Australia to visit family in the same general area as this story. Both have roughly the same setting and there are similarities in the stories. My favorites are A Town Like Alice and No Highway but this novel is now in my top three. It has a somber, melancholy tone but so did Most Secret. Shute seems to do a good job with female characters and this is another example. If you like Neville Shute, this is one of his best.

I have just discovered Nevil Shute and I love his works. This book may start off a little slow in the first chapter (as all his seem to do) but it is an incredible story. I highly recommend it!