Dover Beach Author:Leslie Thomas In May 1940, 338,000 soldiers were evacuated from Dunkirk and the majority passed through Dover, saturating the town with soldiers, sailors and airmen. This is a humorous look at the impact of this influx of young men on the small town. — Toby Hendry, a fighter pilot, is awaiting orders when he meets Giselle, a young Frenchwoman who has fled occu... more »pied France. Can their love affair withstand the forces of war?
Reserve naval commander Paul Instow has been called up to fight in a war for which he feels too old. Distracting him from his worries is Molly, a young prostitute. Their relationship is tender and happy, but is this true love?
In Dover Beach Thomas chronicles the lives and loves of ordinary people in besieged Britain during these tense, but curiously elated days.
'Thomas's characters are finely crafted, with dialogue that never misses a beat...It is as vivid a portrait of those crucial months as one is ever likely to read.'