His entry begins:
I’ve just read Piece of Cake by Derek Robinson. It came out about 30 years ago as a kind of sequel to Goshawk Squadron, Robinson’s novel about aerial combat in World War One. Seen largely through the eyes of the young pilots of the fictional Hornet Squadron, Piece of Cake takes us from the build-up to the outbreak of WW2 in September 1939 and into the heart of the Battle of Britain a year later. It’s a long, panoramic book which avoids cynicism, sentimentality and hero-worship. Yes, Robinson pays tribute to the bravery of the pilots and the skill of the ground-staff, the fortitude and optimism required of both the men and the (few) women directly involved in the war. He shows them buckling and sometimes breaking under pressure, but also he describes people who can be petty and unscrupulous immediately before or after they’ve risked their lives for their country. The cast is mostly British but, as the fighting really gets underway, there are fliers from occupied Poland and Czechoslovakia, as well as an American who...[read on]About The Ely Testament, from the publisher:
Read more about The Ely Testament and visit Philip Gooden's website.Third in the highly-acclaimed nineteenth-century 'Cathedral' mystery series
When Mr Lye, an elderly partner at Tom Ansell's law firm, drops dead at his desk, Tom is dispatched to Ely to search for Mr Lye's will at Phoenix House, the home of his brother, Ernest. At the same time, Tom's wife Helen has been commissioned by New Moon magazine to write a piece on a town with 'inner beauty' - and what better place than Ely But shortly after they arrive at Phoenix House, their host is arrested for murder - and Tom and Helen find themselves at the centre of an ever-deepening mystery...
Writers Read: Philip Gooden.
--Marshal Zeringue
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