![]() ![]() There were survivors, there was hope, but Mary had a night to get through before she found out the next morning if her husband was alive or dead. The peaceful scene was disturbed when Mary switched on the wireless, when she heard that her husband’s ship had been hit. I was particularly taken with her understanding that a terrier can be sound asleep and alert at the same time … It was lovely watching Mary and Bingo settle in, lovely to be reminded of the depth of Monica Dickens’ understanding of character and of her talent for catching exactly the right details to paint a perfect picture. Because she wanted to be quiet, to remember, to think. ![]() Her husband was at sea, in the navy, and the country was at war. Mary escaped to the country with just her small terrier dog, Bingo, in tow. ![]() It captured my own feelings perfectly, and expressed them more beautifully than I ever could. If she could not be with the man she loved, then she would rather be by herself.” All her life she had needed the benison of occasional solitude, and she needed it now more than ever. ![]() “Mary sometimes heard people say: ‘I can’t bear to be alone.” She could never understand this. This may be the loveliest opening to a novel that I have ever read. ![]()
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