Thursday, May 29, 2014

The English Air - D E Stevenson


Sophie Braithwaite & her daughter Wynne are preparing to welcome their cousin, Franz von Heiden, to Fernacres. Sophie's cousin, Elsie, had married Otto von Heiden before the First World War & spent the rest of her life in Germany. Elsie was very unhappy & the marriage was not a success. Being an Englishwoman in Germany during the War was difficult & Otto wasn't the kind of man to support his wife against the gossip & unkindness directed at her. Now, in 1938, Elsie's son, Fritz, wants to visit.

Sophie is a kind, rather distracted woman, a widow with two children - Wynne & Roy, who is in the Navy. Her brother in law, Dane Worthington, also lives with the family. Dane seems to do very little to earn a living but he is actually involved in mysterious government work. Not quite spying but he seems to be used when delicate international negotiations are required. In that, although in no other way, he reminded me of Peter Wimsey. Dane even has a loyal manservant in the same efficient mould as Bunter. Wynne is a typical middle class young woman of her time. She's left school & is involved with her local community but spends a lot of time with her friends, playing tennis.

Franz's visit begins awkwardly as he adjusts to his English family & the English sense of humour. However, he's soon being called Frank & finds himself learning a great deal about the English & their way of life that surprises him. Frank's father is a committed Nazi & Frank has been brought up to believe in Hitler & his policies. Otto has sent his son to England ostensibly to improve his English but he's really there to gauge the English attitude to Germany. Dane soon realises what Frank is doing but admires the young man's serious attitude & is content to merely observe him. Frank realises that his English side, which he was always made to feel ashamed of, is more important to him than he imagined.

When Chamberlain returns from Germany declaring Peace In Our Time, Frank is relieved & delighted that his two countries have averted war. He is devastated when Hitler invades Czechoslovakia in 1939, in defiance of the Munich agreement. All his illusions about Hitler come crashing down with that one betrayal. He is even more upset because he has fallen in love with Wynne & realises that he cannot ask her to live in Germany & repeat the tragedy of his parents' marriage. Frank & Roy are on a driving tour of Scotland when war is declared & he immediately leaves for Germany.

Frank (now Franz again) finds his Aunt Anna, his father's sister who had looked after him as a child, ill & distressed, while his father is about to take up an important post in the Nazi Party. Franz decides to join a resistance group working to overthrow Hitler's regime & he's soon broadcasting to the allied countries, including England, where Dane hears him one evening. The Braithwaites have no idea where Franz is as he left without word. Wynne is in love with Franz even though they never discussed their feelings or their future. All she can do is wait for word, unaware that Franz is risking his life opposing the Nazis.

I loved The English Air (cover picture from here). Published in 1940, it gives a real sense of the atmosphere of the late 30s, the apprehension of another war & the relief that many people felt after Munich. Franz was such a sympathetic character & the story is almost entirely told through his experiences. It was interesting to see such an even handed presentation of a German character in a book written at such a fraught time. It's lovely to see Stevenson showing us the English from an outsider's perspective. Of course, it wouldn't be a Stevenson novel without a trip to Scotland &, as always, her descriptions of place & nature are beautifully done. Wynne & her friends are fairly stock characters but Sophie was a delight & her relationship with Franz was delicately drawn. The scenes between Franz & his aunt were very poignant & the later scenes in Germany very tense. This is one of the best D E Stevensons I've read. It's available to borrow as an ebook from Open Library & there are other recent reviews from The Captive Reader & Fleur In Her World (from whose blog I discovered Open Library).

Anglophilebooks.com Edited to add : The English Air has just been reprinted by Greyladies &


this edition is available for US readers from Anglophile Books.

18 comments:

  1. haven't read this one
    adding to list

    Have you read Vittoria (sp?) Cottage and the other books set in the Highlands? I loved them

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    1. I haven't read VC but I especially love the books set in Scotland so that may be my next DES.

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  2. Thanks for this excellent precis and review. The English Air is one of my favourite Stevensons.

    And the cover art at Captive Reader's review is lovely.

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    1. Thanks Susan. I enjoyed it very much & I'm glad I was able to get hold of it through Open Library.

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  3. I'm so pleased that I found Open Library, and that so many other lovers of older books are finding it too - I think this is my favourite DES - though I have a good few more ahead of me.

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    1. OL is a great resource, isn't it? The scanning can be a bit dodgy but I haven't found any of the books I've borrowed so far to be unreadable & I'm prepared to put up with a few glitches to read books I can't get hold of any other way.

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  4. It would be hard for me to choose a favorite DES book, but I loved being reminded of this one, for sure. I have read all of her books that are available and truly enjoyed them!

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    1. I think this is one of my favourites too although I still have quite a lot of her books to track down. Open Library has been great as there are several available there that aren't in print.

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  5. Open Library has it but it is in a system where I dont seem to be able to get to! Like your review so much.

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    1. I know there were a few people on the waiting list for TEA Mystica so maybe you can reserve it? I've been reading the OL books on my iPad through my Overdrive app.

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  6. So glad you enjoyed this! It is definitely one of my favourite DES titles. Like you, I loved the relationship between Sophie and Franz.

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    1. Yes, I thought Wynne was a pretty standard heroine but Sophie was much more interesting.

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  7. DES review, woo! And of one I haven't read yet. I get the sense from other fans that this is one of her better-known books, which is interesting, since by its description it seems rather different from her other (non-political, female-centric) books.

    I'm glad to hear you loved it, though! My next DES will be The Young Clementina, as it's due back at the (not Open) library soon, but I'll probably read this one afterwards.

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    1. It's definitely different because the story is told through Franz's eyes. I have TYC on the tbr shelves so I hope to get to it soon.

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  8. It's so funny, Lyn. I've just discovered D.E. Stevenson. I know, I know, where have I been? Well, I have no excuse. I'm just late to the party as usual. I read THE HOUSE ON THE CLIFF and fell madly in love with Stevenson's quiet style. I LOVED THAT BOOK! I'm currently reading MRS. TIM FINDS A JOB, out of sequence because my library doesn't have all of them. And I've got SUMMERHILLS, FLETCHER'S END, VITTORIA COTTAGE and one other coming. In between I've also decided to read some Miss Read books and also re-read some Dorothy Sayers, so obviously I'm in some sort of mood. By the way - Just finished MISS PETTIGREW LIVES FOR A DAY by Winifred Watson - Have you read that yet, Lyn? I disliked the movie intensely. But the book is wonderful.

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    1. Sometimes an author comes along at the right time. I found that with Georgette Heyer. I was never attracted to her books as a teenager which seems to be when most women discover her. But, a few years ago, someone in my book group recommended A Civil Contract & I really enjoyed it. Since then, I've read about half a dozen, mostly with older heroines which I prefer & have about as many on the tbr shelves. I enjoyed the Mrs Tim books although I haven't read Mrs Tim Carries On, set during WWII which I really want to read, being a fan of WWII books. I listened to Summerhills on audio not long ago & loved it. It's the sequel to Amberwell, which I haven't read but it made no difference as there was enough back story to work out everyone's relationships. Do you know this website, http://www.destevenson.org/ It has lots of info on the series & which characters pop up in other books. I loved Miss Pettigrew. I agree with you about the film, even Ciaran Hinds couldn't save it but the book is wonderful.

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  9. Basically the same thing happened to me with Georgette Heyer. Coincidentally my first Heyer book was also A CIVIL CONTRACT. Began reading her in earnest just a few years ago as well. Now I think I've read just about all of them except for a few stragglers. Even read the mysteries.

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    1. I did read her mysteries when I was a teenager. I've always read more mystery than romance but I'd like to reread them as it's been so long I'll have forgotten whodunit.

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