August 2014 Guest Editor Gerald Seymour on Most Secret...
The stories of Nevil Shute have a timeless appeal. He was a complete story teller, knew how to put together a beginning, a middle, and an end. The reader is transported by the personalities he introduces us to, and we live with them and care about them. The one most often in my mind is ‘Most Secret’ which tells of a small group of fighting men who convert a trawler into a mini-warship and sail across the Channel to take on naval forces of the German occupation. I usually end up with an unashamed wet eye when I return to the last few pages of this epic. He’s brilliant.
In their trusty fishing boat Genevieve, armed with a flame thrower and limited ammunition, a small group of officers and men take a stand against the might of the German army after the fall of France in World War II. This is classic Shute: at once a thrilling adventure that will keep you on the edge of your seat, and a heartbreaking tale of the ravages of war.
'A magnificent thrill; it is also a tale of character, for every member of the little ship's company is worth meeting. A book that should not be missed' Daily Telegraph
Author
About Nevil Shute
Nevil Shute Norway was born on 17 January 1899 in Ealing, London. After attending the Dragon School and Shrewsbury School, he studied Engineering Science at Balliol College, Oxford. He worked as an aeronautical engineer and published his first novel, Marazan, in 1926. In 1931 he married Frances Mary Heaton and they went on to have two daughters. During the Second World War he joined the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve where he worked on developing secret weapons. After the war he continued to write and settled in Australia where he lived until his death on 12 January 1960. His most celebrated novels include Pied Piper (1942), No Highway (1948), A Town Like Alice (1950) and On the Beach (1957).
