I was astonished to find that the positions my grandfather had defended were now overgrown and entangled with trees and thorns. I suppose I had developed a sense of reverence for the locations he described in his memoirs and letters… — Chris Cleave Copy Share Image
When I reached Fort Binjemma, for example, where my grandfather was stationed for a while, the whole Victorian fort was decaying. Barbed wire surrounded it, spray paint on the ancient walls claimed it as private property, and the moat where… — Chris Cleave Copy Share Image
I like to push characters to extremes so they have to make really tough decisions and there is no life more extreme than that… — Chris Cleave Copy Share
This is the forked tongue of grief again. It whispers in one ear: return to what you once loved best, and in the other… — Chris Cleave Copy Share
In a few breaths' time I will speak some sad words to you. But you must hear them the same way we have agreed… — Chris Cleave Copy Share
Wouldn't that be funny, if the oil rebels were playing U2 in their jungle camps, and the government soldiers were playing U2 in their… — Chris Cleave Copy Share
“When death comes you do not stay for one minute in the place it has visited. Many things arrive after death-sadness, questions, and policemen-… — Chris Cleave Copy Share
“I smiled down at Charlie, and I understood that he would be free now even if I would not. In this way the life… — Chris Cleave Copy Share
I do think it is harder to acknowledge our strengths, or to forgive ourselves and each other for our shortcomings, when there has not… — Chris Cleave Copy Share
I think the recent cluster of WWII novels is so good because we have reached an optimal distance from the war. Just as a… — Chris Cleave Copy Share
“Yu only be livin one life, darlin. Don't matter yu don't uh-preshie-ate part of it, cos it don't stop bein part of yu.” — Chris Cleave Copy Share
Sometimes we don't notice that someone is being brave, because they are only doing something that seems quite easy for us. — Chris Cleave Copy Share
Sad words are just another beauty. A sad story means, this storyteller is alive. The next thing you know something fine will happen to… — Chris Cleave Copy Share
“If I was telling this story to the girls from back home, I would have to explain to them how it was possible to… — Chris Cleave Copy Share
