Small Wars

Major Hal Traherne is stationed in Cyprus in 1956, when resistance fighters are working to reunite the nation with Greece while the British are digging in to keep it part of the Empire. Stephen Hoye's measured and restrained narration is perfect for this bleak novel. Hal's stiff upper lip, required of a British military man, is clear even though he feels betrayed by the army after learning that torture and rape are often ignored. The novel is also a portrait of a military marriage, and the author frequently juxtaposes the situations of Hal and his wife, Clara. Hoye magnifies the powerful contrasts in these moments, for example, when Clara is struggling with her sick children at home at the same time that Hal is setting fire to terrorists in a cave. This multilayered story and performance will continue to resonate with listeners long after it's over. A.B. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

May 31, 2010
Save for a tendency to drop his voice on the last syllable of each sentence, Stephen Hoye is a perfect narrator. His clear, dramatic voice engages an audience quickly and fully in this tense and moving story of the agonizing dilemmas of young Major Treherne, who faces increasingly conflicting duties to his men, his country, his wife and twin daughters, but also to the enemy's men and boys so badly brutalized by his own troops. Set in 1956 Cyprus during the bloody British battles against Greek Cypriots, this is a fine story, carefully hewn and beautifully narrated, that resounds poignantly with the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A Harper hardcover.

Starred review from October 19, 2009
In her excellent second novel (after The Outcast
), Jones sets a couple down in turbulent 1956 Cyprus as the Cypriots seek union with Greece and resist British rule. British army major Hal Treherne is dispatched to Cyprus, taking along his wife, Clara, and their young twin girls. There, they fight separate, but equally maddening, battles—Clara as an army wife with babies in an increasingly dangerous land, and Hal on the front lines where, yearning for firefights, he is instead haunted by his lack of control when torture and rape occur at the hands of his own men. While Hal dodges mortal danger, Clara tries to keep the homefront together, struggling to remain supportive of him as she remains isolated with the twins and he is tormented by the violence he witnesses. After Clara narrowly avoids death, Hal makes a split-second decision with powerful implications for their future. The narrative is excruciatingly tense and also graced with real emotion as a marriage is pushed to the brink and loyalties are stretched and broken. It's the perfect mix of poignant and harrowing.