Thursday, December 18, 2008

La's orchestra saves the world by Alexander McCall Smith


Find this book at your library






La (short for Lavender) goes to live in the country when her marriage breaks down. She’s a young woman & with WWII about to break out, she wants to do some war work. She helps out at a poultry farm where she meets Feliks, a Polish refugee, who has been a pilot in the RAF, but is now grounded. La falls in love with Feliks, but she has doubts about his background at a time when everyone is looking for spies. La helps to start up an orchestra in the village along with men from the local air base & people from the nearby town. The orchestra provides a focal point for the members during the worst times of the war with their plans for a victory concert when it’s all over. The descriptions of life in the country during wartime are wonderful, the threat of air raids & the reality of rationing. McCall Smith’s gentle style of storytelling is perfectly suited to this story of a woman trying to overcome sorrow & get on with her life.

---- Reviewed by Lyn, Headquarters

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