Edie Castle is a young mechanic in uniform working in Pearson's garage. Her mother Nellie, a widow, runs Castle's Café in Dover. Following the struggle to escape from Dunkirk, the British had left the French coastline to the German Army, who were able to shell across the narrow Channel and fly over with bombers carrying firebombs.
Work has to continue at the Dover Café, which has already been featured in two books of this powerful series by Ginny Bell. New readers may take a little while to untangle the relationships and town residents, who treat the café as a source of companionship as well as food. Edie lives at the garage, but that is closed when a bomb hits the back of the building and her boss is injured. She has to return home, which is now crowded with the appearance of a bombed-out woman, Hester Erskine, who knew her mother years before turning to the ‘oldest profession’. The whole community is so careful to close blackout curtains, drive without lights and put out cigarettes. Who, then is shining a torch at night shortly before another bomber arrives? Fear and uncertainty suffuse the community.
Rationing already seems to be strict, with continued deprivation, and some people grumble that the rich folks never did much for the working people between the wars. Author Ginny Bell weaves in mentions of Ernest Mosley's British Fascist movement, which held major rallies in London before the war began. She adds recognisable locations in Kent and the various snippets of news, mainly bad at this point, to add further grounding for her drama. But the family issues loom just as large. With the threat of separation, young couples take steps faster than they otherwise would. Local morals are strict and add to secrecy, while the new glamour of pilots in town reminds everyone that war secrets are everywhere.
I found the story dense with atmosphere in a tale oddly claustrophobic. The Kent coastline can’t be walked, anymore; the people have to stay at their jobs and can’t go up to visit London; the houses are getting crowded; and random chance might cause a shell to strike anyone. Frequent explosions make this a book to remember, full of daily and nightly danger. THE DOVER CAFE UNDER FIRE does what it says on the pack. Read it if you dare.
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