By rights, the next Nevil Shute I opened should have been An Old Captivity, as Ian‘s been practically with child to find out what I think of it. But I found Pastoral at the used bookstore last night, it’s been highly recommended, and anyway I started reading it in the bookstore while Jane was still browsing.

What we have here is nothing more nor less than a nice little wartime romance. Peter Marshall is a British bomber pilot, and a veteran of over 50 missions to Germany. Gervase Robertson is a WAAF officer. Both are stationed at Hartley air field. It is, of course, completely against regulations for the two of them to fall in love, but when did that stop anyone?

I’m told that many people find this to be their favorite of Shute’s novels; I can’t see that myself. It’s a plain, simple story, and moreover a story that’s undoubtedly been told hundreds of times over with respect to WWII alone. I’d have to say that I liked A Town Like Alice rather better. On the other hand, I did enjoy Pastoral rather thoroughly. If there are few surprises, Shute nevertheless spins his tale deftly; the characters are believable, the incidental details are charming, the climax is suitably climactic, boy gets girl and all is well (with the two of them, at least). The flying scenes are particularly well done, and there was one moment–one of the few real surprises in the book–that stole the breath from my lungs and brought tears to my eyes.

All in all, a good outing for Mr. Shute, and I wish there was rather more of it.