Our Noble Selves

A thrilling tale of post-World War II London where the peace proves as tricky to navigate as the past, from the #1 international bestselling author of Life After Life.

When foreign correspondent turned war reporter Harry Flynn returns to Britain in 1949 from Singapore, held for years as a POW, he takes a quiet office job with The Festival of Britain, a nostalgic government-funded endeavor to celebrate British creativity, grit, and ingenuity. There, he joins an oddball team of misfits, ne'er-do-wells, and downright chancers helping to ready the Festival of Britain for launch.

But when one of Flynn’s dates goes missing, everything is upended. The last person to see her prior to her disappearance, Flynn is thrust into the center of the investigation. At first, he finds the suspicions preposterous. But it’s true he has no memory of how their evening ended, and there’s the fact of the nasty black eye he had upon waking. As evidence mounts, Flynn begins to wonder, could he be to blame? And, more importantly, could any of his new friends actually be foes?

With her unique portraiture of place and delightful prose, Atkinson turns her light on a nation reconstructing its image and the lengths some might go to determine its future. Witty, brilliantly plotted, and gripping as ever, Our Noble Selves cements Atkinson’s place as one of the greatest chroniclers of our times.