<\/p>\n‘Tender, evocative’ TLS<\/i><\/p>\n
‘Richly engaging’ Spectator<\/i><\/b>
A Radio 4 Serial Fiction Book of the Week <\/b><\/i><\/h3>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
‘A characteristically tender novel about a young man growing up in the shadow of one war and the whispers of the next’ Observer<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
‘A wonderful novel about relationships, particularly between a mother and son. A compelling read, beautifully crafted and sensitively written’ Irish Examiner<\/i><\/b>
_______<\/b><\/p>\n
Laura, a laundress, meets her young husband when they are both placed in service in Teignmouth in 1914. They have a baby, Charles, but his father returns home from the trenches a damaged man, already ill with the tuberculosis that will soon leave Laura a widow.<\/p>\n
As a new war looms, Charles signs up for the navy as a coder. His escape from the tight, gossipy confines of Launceston to a more colourful life in action sees him blossom, as he experiences the possibility of death, and the excitement – even terror – of a love that is as clandestine as his work.
_______<\/b><\/p>\n
‘Stands with the best queer literary fiction of a historical bent, illuminated as it is by Gale’s devilish wit and talent for both social observation and intricacies of character’ Sydney Morning Herald<\/i> <\/b><\/p>\n
‘A wonderful novel – a touching, utterly convincing portrait of the nascent artist’ Mail on Sunday<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
‘A deeply moving novel. The portrait of a complex relationship that constricted as much as it sustained is brilliantly done’ The Tablet<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Laura, an impoverished Cornish girl, meets her husband when they are both in service in Teignmouth in 1916. They have a baby, Charles, but Laura’s husband returns home from the trenches a damaged man, already ill with the tuberculosis that will soon leave her a widow. In a small, class-obsessed town she raises her boy alone, working as a laundress, and gradually becomes aware that he is some kind of genius. As an intensely private young man, Charles signs up for the navy with the new rank of coder. His escape from the tight, gossipy confines of Launceston to the colour and violence of war sees him blossom as he experiences not only the possibility of death, but the constant danger of a love that is as clandestine as his work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[68],"product_tag":[69,26830],"class_list":{"0":"post-96575","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","5":"product_cat-general-fiction","6":"product_tag-historical-fiction","7":"product_tag-modern-contemporary-fiction","8":"pa_book_author-gale-patrick","9":"pa_cover-paperback","10":"pa_dewey-823-92-edition23","11":"pa_edition-1st-paperback-ed","12":"pa_imprint-tinder-press","13":"pa_language-english","14":"pa_pages-8352","15":"pa_publisher-tinder-press","16":"pa_readership-general-trade-code-k","18":"first","19":"instock","20":"taxable","21":"shipping-taxable","22":"purchasable","23":"product-type-simple"},"yoast_head":"\n