Their Finest, Lissa Evans
Their Finest, Lissa Evans
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Their Finest
A Novel

Author: Lissa Evans

Narrator: Peter Wickham

Unabridged: 12 hr 46 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/14/2017


Synopsis

From the author of the acclaimed Crooked Heart comes another “smart, funny, ingenious, revealing tale of London life during the Second World War” (The Independent)—longlisted for the Orange Prize upon its original publication in England.It is 1940. France has fallen, and only a narrow strip of sea lies between Great Britain and invasion. The war could go either way and everyone must do their bit. Young copy writer Catrin Cole is drafted into the Ministry of Information to help “write women” into propaganda films—something that the men aren’t very good at.

She is quickly seconded to the Ministry’s latest endeavor: a heart-warming tale of bravery and rescue at Dunkirk. It’s all completely fabricated, of course, but what does that matter when the nation’s morale is at stake? Since call-up has stripped the industry of its brightest and best, it is the callow, the jaded and the utterly unsuitable who must make up the numbers: Ambrose Hilliard, third most popular British film-star of 1924; Edith Beadmore, Madame Tussauds wardrobe assistant turned costumier; and Arthur Frith, whose peacetime job as a catering manager has not really prepared him for his sudden, unexpected elevation to Special Military Advisor.

Now in a serious world, in a nation under siege, they must all swallow their mutual distaste, ill-will, and mistrust to unite for the common good, for King and Country, and—in one case—for better or worse....“Evans displays a fine eye for detail and for the absurdities involved in filming. She also brilliantly evokes the disruption and dangers of wartime London. This funny, heart-warming and beautifully crafted novel is a must-read.”—Daily Mail (London)

About Lissa Evans

Lissa Evans has written internationally bestselling books for both adults and children, including Crooked Heart, Old Baggage, and Their Finest Hour and a Half, which was made into the feature film Their Finest. Her books have twice been longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. She lives in London with her family.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Violet

Their Finest Hour is about the making of a movie during the blitz. Initially I was struck by the lovely subtle wit of the voice of this. Such a smooth gliding surface to her prose like a layer of freshly fallen snow. Evans did a fine job of setting up the novel, evoking the atmosphere and telling li......more

Goodreads review by Roger

Dunkirk at the Odeon I so loved Lissa Evans' recent novel Crooked Heart, about a precocious boy and crafty woman making common cause in the London Blitz, that I immediately ordered this earlier book, set in the same period. Besides, I was tickled by the title and its cheeky rewriting of Churchill's f......more

This book is just about perfect: expertly written in a style reminiscent of the literary fashions of the 1940s; full of wonderful characters that begin as stereotypes and take on flesh in an extraordinary way; expertly plotted and paced, with each development and surprise perfectly timed; unsentimen......more