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The Chestnut Tree Charlotte Bingham

The Chestnut Tree By Charlotte Bingham

The Chestnut Tree by Charlotte Bingham


£4.30
New RRP £6.99
Condition - Very Good
5 in stock

Summary

It is the summer of 1939, the residents of the Sussex fishing port of Bexham are preparing for war. Judy Melton, Meggie Gore-Stewart, Mathilda Eastcott, and Corrie Hogarth are determined to play an active part in the defence of their country. However, it is not just the young women who are determined to find new roles, so are their mothers.

The Chestnut Tree Summary

The Chestnut Tree by Charlotte Bingham

It is the summer of 1939, and like the rest of Europe, the residents of the little idyllic Sussex fishing port of Bexham are preparing for war. Beautiful but shy Judy Melton, daughter of a naval war hero, her determinedly feckless friend, the social butterfly Meggie Gore-Stewart, seemingly demure Mathilda Eastcott, and Corrie Hogarth, the tomboy daughter of the owner of the local boatyard, are all in their very individual ways determined to play an active part in the defence of their country. Knitting socks and bomb-dodging is not what they have in mind for themselves while their husbands and brothers, fathers and lovers are away fighting. But attitudes to women's roles in a warring world are difficult to change, and at first all four find it impossible to settle for the traditional kind of work that their families envisage. However, it is not just the young women of Bexham who are determined to find new roles for themselves - so are their mothers. In this manner the little Sussex village, facing as it does the coastline of Nazi-invaded France, finds its closely sewn social fabric gradually unstitch, inch by little inch. Under the tree on the green the women of Bexham meet to look back on a landscape that has changed irrevocably, and which they have in their own ways helped to alter. None of them are the same, and yet, with the men returning from war, they are expected to slip back into their simple roles of mother, daughter, grandmother. This, more than anything perhaps, is their greatest sacrifice. Having been freed by war, they have now to relinquish that very independence that gave them the liberty for which they once fought. Only the chestnut tree planted by Corrie at the edge of the village flourishes in the accepted manner, finally becoming the uniting symbol of all that has passed forever.

The Chestnut Tree Reviews

Summer 1939 and the residents of the little Sussex fishing port are preparing for war. Beautiful shy Judy, her feckless friend social butterfly Maggie, the seemingly demure Mathilda and tomboy Corrie are all determined to play an active part in the defence of their country as the closely sewn social fabric gradually unstitches as having been freed by war, the women now have to relinquish their independence..

About Charlotte Bingham

Charlotte Bingham comes from a literary family - her father sold a story to H G Wells when he was only seventeen - and Charlotte wrote her autobiography, Coronet Among the Weeds, at the age of nineteen. Since then, she has written comedy and drama series, films and plays for both England and America with her husband, the actor and playwright Terence Brady. Among her most recent novels are the highly acclaimed bestsellers TO HEAR A NIGHTINGALE, THE BUSINESS, CHANGE OF HEART (winner of the 1994 Romantic Novel of the Year Award), DEBUTANTES, IN SUNSHINE OR IN SHADOW, STARDUST, NANNY, THE NIGHTINGALE SINGS, GRAND AFFAIR, LOVE SONG, THE LOVE KNOT, THE KISSING GARDEN, THE BLUE NOTE, THE SEASON, SUMMERTIME and DISTANT MUSIC.

Additional information

GOR002928218
9780553812770
0553812777
The Chestnut Tree by Charlotte Bingham
Used - Very Good
Paperback
Transworld Publishers Ltd
20020805
464
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
This is a used book - there is no escaping the fact it has been read by someone else and it will show signs of wear and previous use. Overall we expect it to be in very good condition, but if you are not entirely satisfied please get in touch with us

Customer Reviews - The Chestnut Tree