_Blackout_
_All Clear_
by Connie Willis
read by Katherine Kellgren
Several of the young Historians of 2060 Oxford are excited to be allowed to
visit Britain during the Blitz period of World War Two. Merope will be
researching the lives of children evacuated to the countryside, away from the
bombing of the capitol, by taking on a job in domestic service under the name of
Irene O'Reilley in one of the great homes where such children sheltered. Polly
has three assignments--to observe V.E. Day in Trafalgar Square, to work with the
ambulance drivers who helped those struck by bombs and German rockets, and
finally to observe the shopgirls who worked in the department stores along
Oxford Street as well as those who sheltered in the Tube stations and cellars
around the city. Michael Davies had intended to observe the bombing of Pearl
Harbor, only to find that Mr. Dunworthy had changed the order of his
assignments--he is to go first to Dover so as to observe the heroes who helped
evacuate the soldiers crowded on the beaches of Dunkirk, where he gets
shanghaied on a boat that was not particularly seaworthy and finds himself
joining those heroes.
But circumstances work against any of the three managing to get back to their
own timeline. Why aren't their drops opening to allow them to return to 2060
Oxford, and how are they going to survive if they are stuck within London all
through the remainder of the war?
But when Mike appears to have died in a bomb strike, along with a fellow tenant
from Polly's boarding house, things grow increasingly desperate.
These two books definitely should be read together and in order to get the full
story, Filled with humor, yet still managing to communicate the horrors of the
Blitz and the stubborn heroism of those who daily snubbed their noses at
Hitler's war on their city.
Definitely worth reading. I got them both via Audible, Most ably read by Ms.
Kellgren. Definitely recommended.
Bonnie L. Sherrell
Teacher at Large
"Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very
wise cannot see all ends." LOTR
"Don't go where I can't follow."
We gave the Goblin King control of our nation!
