Clouds of Love and War
RACHEL BILLINGTON
(UNIVERSE, 352 PP, £10)
Tablet bookshop price £9 • tel 020 7799 4064

Rachel Billington’s Clouds of Love and War, published to coincide with the eightieth anniversary of the Battle of Britain, is a detailed tale of the life of a Spitfire pilot in the Second World War, woven together with a poignant love story. Billington has written over 30 books, and her fans might recognise two of the main older characters here – Fred and Sylvia from Glory: A Story of Gallipoli (2015). This story belongs to their young, skyward-bound son Eddie, and Eva, the woman who steadfastly loves him, while also pursuing her own long-held desire to become a painter.