WARLIGHT (2018)

Warlight by Michael Ondaatje

Warlight refers to the dimmed lights that guided emergency traffic during wartime blackouts and we see the story in the same way. What remains of a mysterious childhood?

In 1945 Nathaniel (14) and his older sister Rachel are left in London by their parents with an odd and mysterious man they call The Moth. The first part of the book are his memories of people and places. The second part becomes his quest to learn about his mother's past as an important part of the intelligence work during and after the war.

Beautifully written and haunting, a reminder that the effects of war are far reaching.