Coventry: A Novel (2008)

oventry by Helen Humphreys is an almost poetic depiction of the devastation of the bombing by the Germans in WWII upon that town.

I felt very close to one of the main characters, Harriet Marsh and her reaction to her husband's death in WWI. I could understand why she felt the way that she did. The only thing that keeps this book from getting a five star rating from me is an act by Harriet that just did not did believable. I also enjoyed reading about Maeve but didn't feel close to her.
Coventry was targeted by the Germans because of the munitions factories but so much more was destroyed than that. On the cover of the book is a picture of the shell of the only cathedral in Great Britain that was destroyed. That is what drew me to this book. I talked about to my friends who live close by and they remember going to see the ruins. The author puts Harriet as a firewatcher and Maeve’s son, Jeremy at the cathedral on November 14, 1940 on the beginning of the horrible night and the main part of the book focuses on that night.

So we see the people move into the bomb shelters and hear the ear piercing sounds of the bombs, smell the fires that were set off by the flares and made worse by the bombs. I really felt that I was walking around in the dark with Harriet and Jeremy. Hearing the moans of the trapped people and not sure where to go.

I highly recommend this book to people who love historical fiction. I want to read more of Helen Humphries books. ( )

Lovely little book. Wonderful writing. ( )

“The planes come in waves and sound exactly like that, like the pulse and pound of sea on the sand, a muffled, rhythmic heaviness.” (82)

Coventry, a prime target for the German Luftwaffe in WWII, is desecrated on November 14, 1940. Hours prior, beneath a “bomber’s moon,” Harriet Marsh, a middle-aged fire-watcher is stationed atop one of the cathedral’s roofs. A young man, Jeremy, stands his post on an adjacent roof. Unbeknownst to Harriet, his mother is artist Maeve Fisher, a happenstance one-time acquaintance of Harriet’s during WWI. This night, Maeve takes her cover in the basement of a local shop. The relationship between the three brings to life into the human experience of the Blitz. The terror that is about to be unleashed upon Coventry will resonate for the remainder of the their days.

Humphreys’ writing is spare and thoughtful, and has a reflective quality to it that completely drew me in. For me, her strength in Coventry is not her brilliant capture of the terrifying bombing raid itself, but rather her meticulous portrayal of the human, emotional experience of those on the ground who lived through it. The novel is full of beautiful passages illuminating the ponderings of individuals caught in rampage. One such passage occurs as Harriet and Jeremy crouch behind a wall of rubble across the street from the burning library. The city falling around them, the cacophony of its demise deafening, Harriet reflects:

“When a building is lost, everything that happened within its walls is lost as well. She wants to know if the world in which she lives, this place where she is using herself up every day, will remember anything of her. Will the buildings that she has carefully studied, walked through, touched – will they recall her footsteps, the weight of her body on the stone steps, the smooth flat of her hand on the banister? Will the cobblestones hold her footfall? Will the river or the rain remember the shape of her body?” (108)

Coventry is my first Humphreys novel, but I will definitely look up more of her work. Highly recommended. ( )

On 14 November 1940 Harriet Marsh fills in for a neighbour on a firewatch duty on the roof of the Coventry cathedral. It ends up being the night when Coventry is bombed more heavily than ever before, and soon the cathedral is among the many, many buildings in flames. With the city centre burning, Harriet and a fellow firewatcher, Jeremy, who is half her age and reminds her of her husband (who died in the early months of the Great War), try to make their way back home together (it turns out that they live not far from one another, and the reader soon learns that Jeremy is the son of a woman Harriet briefly met once before, on the day she saw her husband to leave for the war). I enjoyed this book, it was an intense quick read with most of the story taking place that one night. ( )

I confess that my knowledge of the bombing of Coventry has been shaped in large part by Connie Willis' books, [Fire Watch], [Blackout], and [All Clear]. This novel by Canadian author Helen Humphreys is quite different in that it is less historical (and lacking time travel), however, her ability to create a sense of time and place and her relationship mirroring are well-done.

The book begins on the eve of the Great War with the separation of newlyweds Owen and Harriet. Owen has enlisted and is proudly off to France, and Ypres. They are both very young, and their sweet relationship becomes a sticking point in Harriet's perspective of life. When the novel jumps forward to WWII, Harriet still seems to be emotionally stuck in 1914.

Harriet agrees to fill in for her injured neighbor as a fire warden on the roof of Coventry Cathedral, expecting the usual distant bombing and tense boredom. It is November 14, 1940, the day the Germans firebomb Coventry. When the cathedral catches fire, she escapes with her fellow fire warden, Jeremy, and over the next day or two they form a close bond. Jeremy's youth and innocent bravery remind her of Owen.

In another parallel relationship, Harriet meets a women in 1914 and, although the two never exchange names, the two spend a glorious, carefree afternoon riding on the top of one of the new double-decker buses. During the bombing of Coventry twenty-five years later, the two meet one another once more. As these relationships spiral into increasing tension, the book moves toward its denouement.

A short novel at less than 200 pages, the plot moves quickly, but in that short amount of time, the author is able to recreate the look and feel of the place, and the terror and resignation, fear and bravery of the city's occupants.

"Do you think the bombing will last all night?" asks Harriet.
"How should I know?" says the woman.
The war has not improved people's tempers. All this talk of how it brings out the best in people is simply rubbish, thinks Harriet. Miserable people are made more miserable by the war's deprivations and dangers. Happy people can still return to being relatively cheerful. But everyone, regardless of temperament, is weary of the fighting, and nervous that they are losing the war...

A solid read, I was inspired enough to pick up another book by Humphreys, also set in WWII, called [The Lost Garden]. ( )