Fair Stood the Wind for France

It's an unlikely word to describe a WWII novel, but this book is really beautiful. It is, on the whole, comparatively slow paced and the romance gently unfolds while not a lot actually happens, but then, suddenly, the violence of war interveens and these episodes are genuinely shocking. A wellington bomber crashlands in France after a bombing raid to italy. The crew survive, but the pilot suffers a serious injury to on arm, losing a lot of blood. They proceed on foot and discover a farmhouse, whose occupants take them in. they are distinctly segregated from the inhabitants initially, but slowly the crew leave to try and escape to Blighty, leaving just the pilot in the farmhouse. He begins to integrate into the family, and they spend show more considerable effort trying to protect him from the truth of events in the village. the ending is, in one sense, a culmination of events that you can see building from a distance off, however, the final chapter is utterly shocking and completely unexpected. It is moving and could be profoundly depressing, but it isn't, and you remain sure that love will come through. show less

Fair Stood the Wind For France by H. E. Bates is the story of a young English pilot, John Franklin, who, along with his 4 man crew, are forced to crash land in Occupied France in 1942. Franklin has a bad arm injury but they are taken in at a remote farm. The daughter, Francoise and Franklin have an immediate attraction to one another and rather than give himself up and get treatment, he allows the local doctor to remove his arm. Working with the Underground, papers are obtained for the 4 other Englishmen, but Franklin, due to his injury remains at the farm to heal.

Eventually he is well enough to attempt to escape and Francoise decides to be his guide and, in fact, to accompany him back to England so that they can be married. They manage show more to work their way into Vichy France and to Marseilles. When they learn that the Allies have landed in Algeria, they realize that the Germans will be taking over Vichy France and they need to get out quickly.

Although there were moments of very high tension, the story actually moved quite slowly with a lot of emphasis on the building relationship between the two young people. I have read H. E. Bates previously but only some of his humorous books like The Darling Buds of May, so I was quite surprised at the serious content and literary technique of the writing. The book was published in 1944 so is quite unusual in that it was unknown as to when or how the war would end. Fair Stood the Wind For France is a simple, poignant story that is delivered in a thoughtful and understated manner. show less

1944 story of a group of British airmen who come down in occupied France. With one of them seriously injured, they plough on - every human a potential traitor - until they meet a kindly French family, willing to put themselves at huge isk by helkping...
Written in a very tense, immediate style...gripping up to the very end.

Treacherous mud clutched at the wheels and the Wellington up-ended. End of mission. The great bomber had been giving the crew trouble since leaving Italy. Finally over occupied France, it settles like a weary, wounded edge on what seemed to Franklin a hard, smooth field. The five members of the crew, already closely bound together that even conversation was seldom necessary, were welded by the crash into a single whole, one tiny forged weapon in the vast territory of the enemy-weak and ineffectual yet confident as only men can be whose minds are free.

I think this novel is considered a minor classic of World War II fiction, but I didn't find it to be exceptional. It is a familiar story that has been told many times in various ways - a downed and injured pilot falls in love with the farm girl who shelters him and aids him in his recovery. The pilot and his four crewman take shelter with a sympathetic French family. This is set in Occupied France during WWII and I would guess in August and September of 1942. I enjoyed the story but felt too many of the supporting characters were not fleshed out well or at all, and the author's descriptions were quite repetitive. It took me a long while to buy into the romance as well.

On the plus side, although the story proceeded fairly slowly, there show more were some interesting scenes and happenings, and it did build to a rather powerful somewhat surprising conclusion which almost bumped my rating up a half star to the high end of an "average" read. show less

I had read this novel perhaps forty years ago, but I had no real recollection of the story line. On a second reading I have enjoyed the fact that the book is beautifully written, and the developing love of Franklin and Francoise is delicately handled. One has to put oneself into how life was in occupied France during WW2, and the huge risks the family took to shelter and feed these five British airmen. If interested in this era in our history it is novel of its time which portrays all the hardships, scarcity of supplies, lack of medical facilities, limited travel opportunities, all the things we take for granted today. I was a little disappointed in the ending and would have enjoyed a 'happy ever after scene' back in Britain.

An absolute masterpiece of literary adventure. A British bomber crashlands in France during the Second World War, and somehow the crew need to escape to safety. But the pilot, their captain, is injured...

Written in a poetic, spare style, this book will have you hooked from the beginning and will not let go until the very end.