The FitzOsbornes at War (review)

The third installment of Sophie's journals (following A Brief History of Montmaray, BCCB 11/09, and The FitzOsbornes in Exile, BCCB 4/11) begins in September 1939, when England declared war on Germany. As exiled royals who had to leave their (fictional) island kingdom when the Nazis invaded, the Montmarays decide that they too will make a declaration of war, officially signed by King Toby. The next few years see Toby, Simon, and their good friend Anthony joining the RAF while Veronica, Sophie, Aunt Charlotte, and Julia take various posts in the civil service, and Henry stews and sulks about having to go to boarding school. Their varied positions allow Sophie to tell a nearly complete story of the domestic side of war, which tended to level classes (almost) through rationing and indiscriminate bombs, and she manages to suspend Aunt Charlotte's campaign to get her nieces and nephew advantageously wed. Sophie is the perfect narrator for a young person's account of the war: she's intelligent and politically aware (though, like most, entirely unaware of the Holocaust taking place), yet she's insecure about her own prospects for romance and what else her future might hold, if in fact they have a future beyond the war. As she suffers wartime losses, including the deaths of friends and Toby's being classified as missing in action, she also records the smaller frustrations of privation, the uncertainties of first kisses, and the guilt of being happy in love when so many people are suffering. Stunning griefs come to the Montmaray family as well, but they ultimately find a way to reclaim their beloved home, creating effective closure for this fascinating and thoroughly engrossing family portrait. An author's note reveals the extensive research that has been distilled into this eminently readable account.