Most Secret

This is a war time novel that I had not read before. I have been reading Neville Shute's novels for many years but had missed this one. It is excellent. The story is told in the same way he did "A Town Like Alice and "No Highway." He is the outsider looking at the characters from his passive role as observer. In the novel, the narrator is an older naval officer who becomes involved in a Special Operations action in Brittany. The other characters are young men and women and their lives and relationships are a large part of the story. This is extremely well done. One of them, a young industrial chemist, is similar to the character in "No Highway." He is totally alone and shrinks from contact with girls as he is certain he will mess it up. Another character grows up with the young woman who will become his wife. One of the most interesting, Charles Simon, is born British but lives almost his entire life in France except for his schooling. He, on an impulse, volunteers to be a British officer when a commando raid happens to find him at a seaside cafe during a raid. His character and the circumstances remind me of the Helen MacInnes novel Assignment in Brittany. The Bretons are fiercely independent and resisted the Germans more than most in 1940 France. They are still quite proud of their heritage, as I learned two summers ago when I inadvertently referred to a small hotel in Brittany as being Norman. I was firmly corrected. The adventure is good, although a bit bloodthirsty for some so many years after the war. The best part is the character development, which has always been the best feature of Neville Shute's novels.

I've read it many, many times. The characters are very believable (you will feel as though you have met people like them), and the suspense buildup is managed brilliantly. The ending, though poignant, is superb.About as good a war tale as you can get -- the plot is fast-paced, always developing. No wasted words. This book proves that good war tales can be told without lasping into profanity and gore -- neither of which are used by Shute.As with other Shute books, it is written from the viewpoint of a detached observer to the main tale -- a technique he has used rather well in other books.Read _Most Secret_ once and I guarantee you will never look upon fishing boats or Worcester Sauce in quite the same way.