Requiem for a Wren

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Though this is somewhat a sad story, it is a hopeful one as well. Alan Duncan, though considerably changed by his war experience, comes to terms with his life and adapts as best he could. He pursues his studies which were left unfinished and comes home to settle for good on his parent's sheep farm in Australia. Although Alan doesn't find love in the quarter he seeks, there is hope for him in another quarter. Setting aside my few complaints, I enjoyed the story immensely. The characters were so well drawn I felt like I knew each one of them. As I got to know Janet I kept hoping that she, who committed suicide at the beginning, would somehow be found alive.... perhaps the dead body was mis-identified ....and the ending would be a happy one, as I've come to expect from Shute.

Disabled fighter pilot, Alan Duncan, must confront his own ghosts and fears. His brother, a marine sergeant, has died in Normandy and he wishes to learn the true details. The brother's girl, a wren officer, is lost to him without a trace, and he must find her for his brother's sake. His fear of flying and the fear of facing life challenges in his new disability are personal hurdles that he must overcome. Shute's talent for description allowed me to feel like I was right there in the Australian family home/estate/sheep farm looking out at the gorgeous rural landscapes. Equally effective were the descriptions of the other settings in France, England, and America.When things like this happen, there's just nothing to be done about it. Even suffering itself is a mere waste of time...

The late 1940s story concerns two English women, Wrens, and two Australian brothers. It is narrated by one of the brothers, Alan Duncan. His elder brother, Bill, a Royal Marine frogman, has been killed in action, and Alan is now returning to his wealthy parents' prosperous sheep station (ranch) in Australia. Alan has studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and fought as a RAF pilot in World War II before being injured in action, losing both feet when his plane crashed. He has recently qualified as a barrister ( called to the bar) in England.Requiem for a Wren is a sad story of the consequences of those servicemen/women who served in WWII. War may be over, but for them, it'll never be over. The ghosts of the past haunt them, the guilt weighs them, and an unexplainable restlessness possesses them. They know that they must put the past behind them and adapt to civil life as best as they could. But this is not easy. Requiem for a Wren is a departure for Shute from his usual "formula." It is a heart breaker. Close to the beginning of Requiem for a Wren the hero of the story commits suicide. Once she is found dead it is discovered that she had been living under an alias and there are no papers with which to identity her. The purpose of the rest of the book is to discover the identity of this woman and to allow the reader to get to know her and her motivations for killing herself. The more I read the more I liked this woman (Janet) and the sadder became her story. Ocr_converted abbyy-to-hocr 1.1.20 Ocr_module_version 0.0.17 Openlibrary OL9722439M Openlibrary_edition Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2014-08-07 16:32:57.577853 Bookplateleaf 0003 Boxid IA1146308 City Leicester Donor