"What Happened to the Corbetts", Nevil Shute

I thought I'd read all Shute's books (and indeed it turns out I actually own a copy of this one!), but I had no recollection of ever having encountered "What Happened to the Corbetts" before -- and given the subject matter, I think I probably would have remembered it. I can see *why* it's not familiar among his 'canon'; it is an unexpected experiment that could best be described as speculative fiction, I suppose. This is the story of Britain undergoing heavy bombing at the start of a World War II that had at the time of writing, not (quite) actually happened, and ultimately did not take place quite as described -- in this reality, the characters find refuge across the Channel in a sympathetic France which is harbouring the Royal Navy but still at peace, for example. ( Read more... )