Product Description

Spanning more than 50 years, this is a novel of dark secrets and extraordinary revelations. It starts when Leonora Galloway visits the war grave of her "father" and discovers that he was killed 11 months before she was born. The author's other books include "Into the Blue" and "Past Caring".

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28755 in Books
• Published on: 1991-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

From the Back Cover
Six months after her husband's sudden death, Leonora Galloway sets off for a holiday in Paris with her daughter Penelope. At last the time has come when secrets can be shared and explanations begin...

Their journey starts with an unscheduled stop at the imposing Thiepval Memorial to the dead of the Battle of the Somme near Amiens. Amongst those commemorated is Leonora's father. The date of his death is recorded as 30th April, 1916. But Leonora wasn't born until 14th March 1917.

Penelope at once supposes a simple wartime illegitimacy as the clue to her mother's unhappy childhood and the family's sundered connections with her aristocratic heritage, about which she has always known so little.

But nothing could have prepared her, or the reader, for the extraordinary story that is about to unfold.

About the Author
Robert Goddard was born in Hampshire. He read History at Cambridge and worked as an educational administrator in Devon before becoming a full-time novelist. He is the author of many bestselling novels, including Into the Blue which won the first WH Smith Thumping Good Read Award and was dramatized for TV in 1997, starring John Thaw.

Customer Reviews

Seven Veils
If what you love about Robert Goddard is his many-layered story-telling, you will go for this in a big way. The focus constantly shifts depending on who is speaking at the time. This technique lends mystery and distance to the narrative.

Full of surprises right up to the last few pages, and I had to read the pages over several times, it was such a shock.

He is a brilliant storyteller, hope there's a new book on the way!

Wonderful - absolutely un-put-downable!
Yet another thoroughly readable book from Robert Goddard - I usually enjoy his books and this one was no exception! In fact I read this one in one sitting!. Great story with enough twists to keep you guessing to the end.

Second novel, and perhaps Goddard's weakest
Robert Goddard's second novel - his first was "Past Caring" - and it suffers a little from second novel syndrome. As a piece of writing, it is better worked and better crafted than the first, but as a narrative, it is a weaker story. Goddard's first novel had moved effortlessly, back and forth across half a century and more, exploring the impact of history and the way time and times shape our persona and our relationships. "In Pale Battalions" continues in this vein.

The story is recounted by an older woman, taking her daughter to visit the First World War British cemeteries in France and Belgium. She is looking for her father's name, one amongst thousands. As they travel from the scene, mother recounts the tale to daughter, a tale of soldiers recovering from, or failing to recover from, wounds, a tale of loss of face, loss of heritage, loss of name, a tale of a murder - or perhaps a double murder - left unsolved for half a century and more.

It's a neatly set up story, it's a story which has its moments, but it's possibly the weakest of Robert Goddard's novels. Goddard is an exceptionally fine mystery / thriller writer who has established a reputation for weaving his tales across the centuries and creating a solid sense of history and period. But "In Pale Battalions" is just a little too cosy in places. It opens out, like Russian dolls, the mother telling her story, which includes a story told to her by another, which incorporates a confession from another, who had heard from, and so on.

The pace slows a little too much in places, and it is, at times, difficult to retain your sympathy for some of the protagonists. It plays with themes of duty, loyalty, love, and friendship without being really convincing. The history, too, seems to be kept at arm's length - it's never quite as convincing or as intriguing or as atmospheric as in other of Goddard's novels.

A good read, and quite a satisfying one, but a book which is not as strong as other works by Goddard, perhaps because it becomes a tad sentimental in places where it needed to demonstrate greater historical authenticity rather than fictional sentiment. Read it, but then go on to read Goddard's other books - he is a very fine writer.