Requiem For A Wren is a novel by Nevil Shute. It was first published in 1955 by William Heinemann Ltd. It was published in the United States under the title The Breaking Wave. [1]
Requiem For A Wren is a novel by Nevil Shute. It was first published in 1955 by William Heinemann Ltd. It was published in the United States under the title The Breaking Wave. [1]
The late 1940s story concerns two English women, Wrens, and two Australian brothers. It is narrated by one of the brothers, Alan Duncan. His elder brother, Bill, a Royal Marine frogman, has been killed in action, and Alan is now returning to his wealthy parents' prosperous sheep station (ranch) in Australia. Alan has studied as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and fought as a RAF pilot in World War II before being injured in action, losing both feet when his plane crashed. He has recently qualified as a barrister (called to the bar) in England.
His arrival home is marred by the apparent suicide, a few hours earlier, of a young Englishwoman named Jessie Proctor, who was his parents' housekeeper. [2]
Alan guesses that this troubled woman must have left personal papers hidden somewhere in case her suicide attempt was not successful. He searches the house and finds a small suitcase of letters, diaries, and her passport. He is appalled to learn that he knew her: she was, in fact, Janet Prentice, a former Wren and his late brother Bill's sweetheart. Together with another Wren, Viola Dawson, Alan has spent years searching for Janet after Bill's death.
Janet had a "lovely war" in Southern England, until tragic events around D-Day. In quick succession she lost Bill, then her father, and then her beloved dog. Her mother also died, shortly after the war. In addition, she believes herself responsible for the deaths of seven men, possibly allies, who were escaping in a German aeroplane which she had shot down.
Reading through Janet's diaries, Alan learns that she came to Australia to find Bill's family, and that she still feels she must atone for the deaths of the seven men. He realizes that, after Bill's death, he and Janet, though never meeting, came to love each other, and ought to be the master and mistress of the family property; but now, the ghosts of Bill and Janet make it impossible for him to stay. But then he learns, as if from the ghosts, that he should "do the job for them"; and there is a woman in England, Viola, the other former Wren, who he should marry.
Airspeed Limited was established in 1931 to build aeroplanes in York, England, by A. H. Tiltman and Nevil Shute Norway. The other directors were A. E. Hewitt, Lord Grimthorpe and Alan Cobham. Amy Johnson was also one of the initial subscribers for shares.
Nevil Shute Norway was an English novelist and aeronautical engineer who spent his later years in Australia. He used his full name in his engineering career and Nevil Shute as his pen name, in order to protect his engineering career from inferences by his employers (Vickers) or from fellow engineers that he was "not a serious person" or from potentially adverse publicity in connection with his novels, which included On the Beach and A Town Like Alice.
On the Beach is an apocalyptic novel published in 1957, written by British author Nevil Shute after he emigrated to Australia. The novel details the experiences of a mixed group of people in Melbourne as they await the arrival of deadly radiation spreading towards them from the Northern Hemisphere, following a nuclear war some years previous. As the radiation approaches, each person deals with impending death differently.
A Town Like Alice is a romance novel by Nevil Shute, published in 1950 when Shute had newly settled in Australia. Jean Paget, a young Englishwoman, becomes romantically interested in a fellow prisoner of World War II in Malaya, and after liberation emigrates to Australia to be with him, where she attempts, by investing her substantial financial inheritance, to generate economic prosperity in a small outback community—to turn it into "a town like Alice" i.e. Alice Springs.
Percival Christopher Wren was an English writer, mostly of adventure fiction. He is remembered best for Beau Geste, a much-filmed book of 1924, involving the French Foreign Legion in North Africa. This was one of 33 novels and short story collections that he wrote, mostly dealing with colonial soldiering in Africa.
The Far Country is a novel by Nevil Shute, first published in 1952.
The Chequer Board is a novel by Nevil Shute, first published in the United Kingdom in 1947 by William Heinemann Ltd. The novel deals with the question of racism within the US forces during World War II and portrays black characters with sympathy and support. Shute began writing The Chequer Board in September 1945 and completed it in February 1946.
Round the Bend is a 1951 novel by Nevil Shute. It tells the story of Constantine "Connie" Shaklin, an aircraft engineer who founds a new religion transcending existing religions based on the merit of good work. It deals with racism, including the White Australia policy, and also with the importance of private enterprise. It was one of the first novels Shute wrote after emigrating from Britain to Australia in 1950.
Beyond the Black Stump is a novel by British author Nevil Shute. It was first published in the UK by William Heinemann Ltd, in 1956.
Landfall: A Channel Story is a novel by Nevil Shute. It was first published in England in 1940 by Heinemann.
The Percival Proctor is a British radio trainer and communications aircraft of the Second World War. The Proctor is a single-engined, low-wing monoplane with seating for three or four, depending on the model.
Marazan is the first published novel by the British author Nevil Shute. It was originally published in 1926 by Cassell & Co, then republished in 1951 by William Heinemann. The events of the novel occur, in part, around the Isles of Scilly.
On the Beach is a 1959 American post-apocalyptic science fiction drama film from United Artists starring Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, and Anthony Perkins. Produced and directed by Stanley Kramer, it is based on Nevil Shute's 1957 novel On the Beach depicting the aftermath of a nuclear war. Unlike the novel, no one is assigned blame for starting the war, which attributes global annihilation with fear, compounded by accident or misjudgment.
On the Beach is a 2000 apocalyptic drama television film directed by Russell Mulcahy and starring Armand Assante, Bryan Brown, and Rachel Ward. In America, it aired on Showtime on 28 May 2000 and in Australia it aired on Channel 7.
Most Secret is a novel by English writer Nevil Shute, written in 1942 but censored until 1945, when it was published by Heinemann. It is narrated by a commander in the Royal Navy, and tells the story of four officers who launch a daring mission at the time when Britain stood alone against Germany after the fall of France. Genevieve is a converted French fishing vessel, manned by four British officers and a small crew of Free French ex-fishermen, armed only with a flame thrower and small arms. Their task is as much psychological as military: to show the Germans that they will one day be beaten back.
The Rainbow and the Rose is a novel by Nevil Shute. It was first published in England in 1958 by William Heinemann.
Lonely Road is a 1936 British crime drama film directed by James Flood and starring Clive Brook, Victoria Hopper, Nora Swinburne, and Malcolm Keen. It was shot at Ealing Studios in London. The film was released in the United States as Scotland Yard Commands.
Exbury House is an English country house in Exbury and Lepe, Hampshire, situated on the edge of the New Forest.
This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of Australian literature during 1960.
The Seafarers is a novella by Nevil Shute, written in the late 1940s but unpublished until 2002.