Growing up in a northern English town after World War II, seventeen-year-old Robert, clever student and formidable rugby player, finds himself drawn into a passionate affair with a young teacher at his school.
Contains two stories about the spirit of Christmas--one in which a young boy encounters a ghost with a desperate message, and the other featuring a girl whose holiday is saved by an unruly neighbor and a pregnant cat.
Tom Higgins, a British school boy during the Persian Gulf War, narrates his younger brother's struggle with an apparent mental illness or "mystery of nature" which drives the child to assume the role of an Iraqi.
In England during World War II, with his mother dead from a German bomb and his father off in training and action but keeping him informed by letter, Sonny tries to understand the darkest truths of war and retribution.
After his sort-of-girlfriend dies, teen-aged Bob is shocked to discover that their love was stronger than he thought, even strong enough to transcend death.
While seeking shelter from a sudden rainstorm in an old barn, a young motorcyclist finds himself catapulted into a mid-17th century England troubled by witch hunts.
