Product Description

Hal Treherne is a young and dedicated soldier on the brink of a brilliant career. Impatient to see action, his other deep commitment is to Clara, his beautiful 'red, white and blue girl', who sustains him as he rises through the ranks. When Hal is transferred to the Mediterranean, Clara, now his wife, and their baby daughters join him. But Cyprus is no 'sunshine posting', and the island is in the heat of the Emergency: the British are defending the colony against Cypriots - schoolboys and armed guerrillas alike - battling for enosis, union with Greece. The skirmishes are far from glorious and operations often rough and bloody. Still, in serving his country and leading his men, Hal has a taste of triumph. Clara shares his sense of duty. She must settle down, make no fuss, smile. But action changes Hal, and Clara becomes fearful - of the lethal tit-for-tat beyond the army base, and her increasingly distant husband. The atrocities Hal is drawn into take him further from Clara; a betrayal that is only part of the shocking personal crisis to come. The prizewinning and bestselling author of "The Outcast" returns with an emotionally powerful portrait of a marriage in extremis and a world-view in question. Sadie Jones has produced a passionate, gut-wrenching and brilliantly researched depiction of a 'small war' with devastating consequences; and in doing so, raises important questions that resonate profoundly today.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2794 in Books
• Published on: 2009-08-27
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

Review
`stylish fiction follow-up to Orange Prize-shortlisted The Outcast' --Sunday Times

`this is an unforgiving, far from comfortable read, but a very compelling one'. -- Metro

`Poignant and compelling' -- Marie Claire

'Here Jones's talent really shows...In an excellent encounter with a military psychiatrist, the dialogue breaks like dry twigs.' -- Literary Review

`Heavy with menace and a dark streak of violence, it's as unforgiving as it is gripping'.
--Metro

"An absorbing story about emotional constraint and its dangers" --Saturday Telegraph Review

'Small Wars is a gripping account of emotional disintegration...A well-paced novel possessing both literary and moral integrity'
-- Sunday Telegraph Books

`Here Jones's talent really shows...In an excellent encounter with a military psychiatrist, the dialogue breaks like dry twigs. --Times Literary Supplement

`Heavy with menace and a dark streak of violence, it's as unforgiving as it is gripping'. --Metro

"An absorbing story about emotional constraint and its dangers" --Telegraph Review

'a gripping account of emotional disintegration...A well-paced novel possessing both literary and moral integrity'
--Sunday Telegraph Books

`Jones's research is impeccable, and her emotional intelligence outstanding' --The Times

`Meticulously researched and emotionally powerful, this is a second novel to be proud of.' --The Daily Express

`...direct, undecorated, irresistibly dynamic and immensely powerful...'. --Independent on Sunday

`An inspired subject for a historical novel, the occupied island is vividly drawn...[Jones] lays out with great honesty and directness the quandries of war'. --Guardian

"Exciting novel ... it's a movie waiting to happen."
--The Independant

`...this exciting novel...[focuses] as much on the thrills and terrors of frontline action as its psychological fall out...it's a movie waiting to happen.'
--Independant

"with her second novel, Sadie Jones...confirms her brilliance" --Books Quarterly

About the Author
Sadie Jones lives in London. Her first novel,The Outcast, was published to wide acclaim in 2008: winner of the Costa First Novel Award, it was also shortlisted for the Orange Prize and was a Richard and Judy Summer Reads bestseller.

Customer Reviews

Superb second novel
I eagerly anticipated reading the second novel from Sadie Jones as I absolutely loved 'The Outcast' last year.'Small Wars' is a moving, emotional read, set mainly in Cyprus during the 1950s. The main character, Hal Treherne, is seemingly an army man for life, following in his father's and grandfather's footsteps, and after a posting in Germany, he moves to Cyprus with his wife Clara, and his young twin daughters, and after a temporary home, they move to live with the other families on the base. There is a real sense of the heat and stifling atmosphere of the island evoked in the novel, and the pressures and demands of all aspects of army life are starkly portrayed. The events on Cyprus that Hal bears witness to, as the British attempt to defend this colony, have a devastating effect on him and his marriage.

This novel tells of a man and a family terribly damaged by the conflicting demands of duty and love, following orders and knowing the difference between right and wrong, and how this can become blurred. It portrays a man's internal agonies in the face of serving his country alongside those around him, however they might behave, and at facing up to his own doubts and weaknesses. Additionally we experience the struggle that Hal has to verbalise or express in any way the life-changing feelings he experiences. The events in Cyprus prove to be a test of the strength of love between Hal and Clara, and test their marriage to the limits. I found this a moving and intelligent read, with situations at times having parallels with the modern day.

A strong follow up to Jones' inspired debut
A review of Small Wars by Sadie Jones.

After reading and loving Jones' first book 'The Outcast' I knew she had plenty more to give. That said not all second novels live up to the promise of their predecessor. Jones does not disappoint with 'Small Wars'. Set in post second world War Cyprus, where the British are trying to hold on to their Mediterranean colony in the face of unionist insurgents, 'Small Wars' details the impact of this so called minor military intervention on the lives of the everyday people involved; in this case Major Hal and his wife Clara Treherne. As the story unfolds Jones' reminds us that there is no such thing as a small war. The fact the book takes place in the 50s doesn't make it any less topical. Jones is one of those wonderful breed of writers (all of whom seem to be women) who master the art of credible dialogue. Beneath the ellipses and the apparent banality of the conversations whole worlds are changing. The strain of army life on the Treherne's marriage and the toll it takes on Major Hal's moral and emotional well-being is conveyed fantastically well through Jones penchant for the minutiae. What could be boring, irrelevant detail if handled badly is used by Jones to great effect to show the importance of the ordinary in life. It's the absence and rupture of these things when disaster strikes that can be so devastating.

As has been stated in other reviews book is paced well. Jones knack for characterisation is indisputable. Even those of minor importance jump off the page with whole back stories one can easily imagine even if not apparent on the page. The character of Lewis is particularly fascinating and I would have liked him to feature more, particularly towards the end of the book; or at least a stronger resolution to his story.

My only real criticism is the long, drawn-out denouement of the novel. It seems to meander and drag its way to the end. Admittedly the turn that the narrative takes would have made it difficult to end abruptly. Nevertheless the book lost some momentum and I think the ending could have been a lot more succinct.

Still, Jones is proving to be one of the most consistent of new writers. Although I was not as taken in by the story in 'Small Wars' as I was with 'The Outcast' it's a solid read. Meticulously researched, Jones brings colour and texture to a genre - the war novel- that I would normally give wide berth. You can trust Jones to elicit the humanity from just about any topic. Her gift as a novelist comes so naturally as to appear effortless. I am already looking forward to her next one.

how men and women react differently to problems/stress
Sadie Jones is an amazing writer - she takes you to the dark disturbed places that exist inside her sad heroes/heroines. As in The Outcast the main characters are a little broken and are not very good at talking to their friends and family about it. This is definitely a book of its time - the 1950s - the attitude of the middle classes seems a little brusque and unemotional to modern day readers but it was definitely the way one behaved at the time.
A really good read - the characters are well developed and the setting of Cyprus at that time is portrayed as very harsh and brutal.
The gender difference is very striking - "real men don't cry" and women have to be the perfect wife.
It left me wondering about this couple's future and wishing them well.