Derek Beaven portrays a wartime England in which human relationships are threatened as much from within the family as from occupied Europe
Derek Beaven
Derek Beaven, a lauded but not prolific novelist, was longlisted for If the Invader Comes, the story of a pair of lovers separated by thousands of miles and a global war
Beaven’s novel, his third of six, recounts the love story of Clarice Pike and Vic Warren, a pair from different social backgrounds who find themselves at the opposite ends of the world when the Second World War breaks out - Clarice in Malaya and Vic in East London (and married to Clarice’s cousin). The book picked up some of the themes of his previous works Newton’s Niece and Acts of Mutiny to form a loose trilogy. Beaven came to fiction after teaching English, working for an opera company and training in movement and drama.