On The Edge Of Darkness

In the late 1930's Britain is still haunted by the horrors of the Great War whilst facing the prospect of a new conflict with a resurgent Germany, now ruled by the Nazis.  It is a society where everyone is expected to abide by an unspoken code of societal norms within a pernicious class structure.  Nevertheless when war comes everyone is expected to do their bit whatever their backgrounds or beliefs.

Robert Matthews is a likeable rogue who has a toxic relationship with his father and a mundane job. He is rebellious and unreliable until he finds a new purpose in the army. When he meets Lily he falls in love but his commitment is tested when she reveals her past to him. However his biggest test will come in France where his regiment fights a vicious rearguard action against the advancing German army as Hitler's Blitzkrieg drives the British Expeditionary Force back towards the sea.

Banished to work in her uncle's shop following an affair with an older man Lily finds friendship with Em, which leads to an active interest in the Women's Rights Movement.  Despite her misgivings she falls in love with Robert but she carries a heavy burden from her past that she suspects is destined to come between them. As the prospect of war becomes more inevitable she volunteers for military service and is destined to play a key role in some of the most significant action of the first months of the conflict.

Coming from a working class family in London's East End Tom finds work as a bricklayer despite showing at school that he is unusually gifted. He also realises from a young age that he is attracted to people of his own sex and it is a secret that weighs heavily on him.  After a brief relationship with a distinguished older man he returns to his working class roots and is drawn into a world of socialist political activism. When he is called up he pleads his case as a conscientious objector and is assigned to the Army Medical Corps. He finds love amidst the chaos of war as the British Expeditionary Force retreats in disarray towards Dunkirk.

On The Edge Of Darkness is the first book of a trilogy spanning the years of World War Two and follows the lives of these three young protagonists. It is a story of love and loss at a time when Britain faces perhaps its greatest challenge as a nation.  Despite society's intolerance and inequality people from every background will stand together to show extraordinary courage in the face of a threat to everything good that their country stands for.