The novel, he says, is 'about accommodation. None of his characters are bad, some are weak, many do bad things. War scorches a trail through all of their lives. The doctor's lovely daughter grows up and grows old before her time. Youth withers on the branch.
Love turns to dust.
Beauty is barren. Most of all, he's talked to his father, a retired soldier who took part in the campaign in Italy. With the 'extremely painful and messy' ending of a love affair, it became mainstream. I had to start writing. He left his school in Ipswich, gave away or threw away his possessions, and picked up a pen.