Remember the fallen
Its 1998, and Michael ONeill arrives in Singapore, on his latest mission.
His taxi driver recognises him as a famous actor, but long before that, he was a young soldier with the Manchester Regiment, stationed in Singapore.
Manchester, 1938.
Theres no jobs to be had, and Reg Dwyer has children to clothe and feed, so he enlists in the army, certain hell never see action.
Hes sent to Singapore, where he must overcome the stifling heat and the constant longing he feels for his wife Marjorie and his three children by writing endless letters home.
The Manchester Regiment is a good bunch of lads, and they all get on, mostly.
Theres the Longhurst brothers, Richard and Eddie, who have nothing in common. They left an abusive stepfather and an uncaring mother in Manchester.
Eddie, the oldest, takes to army life, while Richard thinks of his training days in York, and how much he loved Minster. He always has his head in a book. And then theres Reg, happy to get by and just wanting to go home.
Then theres Michael ONeill, an Irish lad. Being a soldier is not for him, and the others think he is doolally. But when it comes time to fight, he takes orders better than any of them.
And then theres Sergeant Percy B Shelley who works tirelessly to keep the men in line and ready to fight.
And then war breaks out and Manchester is bombed. And on a hazy February Day in 1942, everything changes for the Manchester Regiment, when Lieutenant Whitehead gives an order no soldier should have to follow.
Now, fifty years later, Michael ONeill, in the biggest role of his life, returns to say goodbye to the men he knew as lads, who never got to see Manchester again.
Beautifully written and tenderly told, The Fall is a novel of youth and growing up, of war and loss that will leave you with a special place in your heart for the Manchester Regiment.
An intelligent and moving novel about war and friendship bestselling author Richard Foreman
Martin Lee has spent most of his adult life writing in one form or another. As a University researcher in history, he wrote pages of notes on reams of obscure topics. As a social worker with Vietnamese refugees, he wrote memoranda. And, as the creative director of an advertising agency, he has written print and press ads, TV commercials, short films and innumerable backs of cornflake packets and hotel websites. He first encountered Samuel Pepys when an auntie gave him an edited version of the diaries when he was fifteen years old. The man and his world have remained an obsession ever since.
Genre: Mystery
Its 1998, and Michael ONeill arrives in Singapore, on his latest mission.
His taxi driver recognises him as a famous actor, but long before that, he was a young soldier with the Manchester Regiment, stationed in Singapore.
Manchester, 1938.
Theres no jobs to be had, and Reg Dwyer has children to clothe and feed, so he enlists in the army, certain hell never see action.
Hes sent to Singapore, where he must overcome the stifling heat and the constant longing he feels for his wife Marjorie and his three children by writing endless letters home.
The Manchester Regiment is a good bunch of lads, and they all get on, mostly.
Theres the Longhurst brothers, Richard and Eddie, who have nothing in common. They left an abusive stepfather and an uncaring mother in Manchester.
Eddie, the oldest, takes to army life, while Richard thinks of his training days in York, and how much he loved Minster. He always has his head in a book. And then theres Reg, happy to get by and just wanting to go home.
Then theres Michael ONeill, an Irish lad. Being a soldier is not for him, and the others think he is doolally. But when it comes time to fight, he takes orders better than any of them.
And then theres Sergeant Percy B Shelley who works tirelessly to keep the men in line and ready to fight.
And then war breaks out and Manchester is bombed. And on a hazy February Day in 1942, everything changes for the Manchester Regiment, when Lieutenant Whitehead gives an order no soldier should have to follow.
Now, fifty years later, Michael ONeill, in the biggest role of his life, returns to say goodbye to the men he knew as lads, who never got to see Manchester again.
Beautifully written and tenderly told, The Fall is a novel of youth and growing up, of war and loss that will leave you with a special place in your heart for the Manchester Regiment.
Praise for Martin Lee
An intelligent and moving novel about war and friendship bestselling author Richard Foreman
Martin Lee has spent most of his adult life writing in one form or another. As a University researcher in history, he wrote pages of notes on reams of obscure topics. As a social worker with Vietnamese refugees, he wrote memoranda. And, as the creative director of an advertising agency, he has written print and press ads, TV commercials, short films and innumerable backs of cornflake packets and hotel websites. He first encountered Samuel Pepys when an auntie gave him an edited version of the diaries when he was fifteen years old. The man and his world have remained an obsession ever since.
Genre: Mystery
Visitors also looked at these books