Alexander McCall Smith is probably best known for his 'Number 1 Ladies Detective Agency' series, but he's a prolific author who pens other books as well. This is a standalone novel by Smith about a British woman, Lavender (La) Stone, who weathers WWII in a country town.
Prior to the war La graduates from Cambridge University, but like many women of her generation, forgoes a career to get married.
Sadly for La her husband, Richard Stone, leaves her for a woman in France. Richard's parents are shamed by their son's behavior and give La a country house in Sussex, where La moves just before WWII.
Once war breaks out La wants to do her part, and becomes a kind of unofficial Land Girl who helps an arthritic Sussex farmer, Henry Madder, with his chickens.
La cleans Henry's chicken coops and collects and packs the eggs for sale. La also grows vegetables in her garden, particularly potatoes.
As it happens there's an RAF base in Sussex and La becomes friendly with an officer called Tim Honey, a recreational trumpet player.
Tim suggests La form an amateur orchestra composed of soldiers and local people. The orchestra, conducted by La, meets once a month to prepare for a Christmas recital that will (hopefully) lift the spirits of Sussex residents.
Comcomitantly a Polish refugee named Feliks is also assigned to work for farmer Henry. La becomes friendly with Feliks and encourages him to play the flute in her orchestra, and Feliks helps La with her garden.
The Brits are suspicicious of foreigners, thinking they may be spies, and there's some question about Feliks' honesty and intentions.
Many English people thought the war would be a brief affair that they would easily win, but Germany turns out to be a formidable foe with a massive war machine and the war drags on and on.
By the end of the book we learn about of the fates of La and the other main characters, both during and after WWII. As usual with Smith's books, this is a quiet story that explores human nature. I liked the book and found La to be a compelling character who navigates difficult situations with intelligence and grace.
Rating: 3.5 stars
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