132,956
edits
Changes
The Edge of the Cloud by K M Peyton (view source)
Revision as of 15:16, 15 April 2014
, 15:16, 15 April 2014no edit summary
Will and Christina have run away together, not least to get away from the very tense situation at Flambards. But this is 1912 so Christina is taken chastely to her aunt's house and before long Will leaves to look for a job. They know that it's going to be years before they can marry as Christina's Uncle Russell - who's also Will's father has said that he won't give consent to the marriage whilst there's breath in his body. Christina is left to help her aunt in her dressmaking business, but it's not long before she has a job close to where Will is working.
You'd never say that Will doesn't ''love'' Christina, but you'll always know that his first priority is going to be the planes, or flying - or earning money through doing stunts, which he can spend on the planes. Christina takes to spending her evenings at the airfield and even begins to enjoy herself but the world is changing and what's happening in Europe casts a shadow over their lives.
It's a superb book. The fact that it's a ''sequel'' and still managed to win the Carnegie medal should tell you all that you need to know on that score. The characters are all wonderfully drawn: Christina is independent, a young woman working to earn her living, but she's capable of being naive on occasions. She loves Will and he certainly cuts a dashing figure, but he's reckless and not all that caring about Christina or anyone else for that matter. They're ''real'' people rather than hero and heroine of a story.