Tuesday's War — David Fiddimore

Caught in thick fog over Kent, a damaged Lancaster bomber returning from Germany desperately strains to land. But moments from the airbase, a second bomber materialises and guides it home. Grace Baker's aviation skills and introduction to the Lancaster bomber, "Tuesday's Child", are not the only surprises she brings. Pete - rear gunner and black marketer - absconds and Grace is secretly elected to take his place. As radio operator Charlie Bassett regales the reader with the drama of combat during his eight weeks aboard "Tuesday's Child" in 1944, a funny, authentic and deeply humane tale unfolds. Comparable to Sebastian Faulks' Birdsong, Tuesday's War races vividly across the page, emotionally entwining the reader in the lives of its extraordinary characters and awakening us to the heroics and realities of war.