Book Review: "Pied Piper"

 I stumbled upon Pied Piper while going through a list of Nevil Shute’s works. The synopsis of the book piqued my interest and I almost bought it soon after while making an Amazon purchase (I opted out to buy Steal Like An Artist instead). Several weeks back, I received Pied Piper as a birthday gift from my parents and started reading it a few days later.

 In the most simple of terms, I loved it. The idea of an old man trying to return to England as the Nazis invade France and taking refugee children with him appeals to my imagination and Nevil Shute did not disappointment. Pied Piper was everything I wanted it to be and then some.

 As with the majority of my favorite books it was the characters that captured my heart most. John Sidney Howard might be an unlikely hero at the ripe old age of seventy but he is a compelling one. Feeling useless in England during the stalemate of the winter of 1939, he journeys to Southeast France in the spring of 1940 determined to fish and enjoy himself, unaware of the Nazi invasion of France about overtake him. When his perilous position finally does rouse him into returning to England, he is entrusted to take two English children to their aunt in England as well. Their journey is difficult from the outset but Mr. Howard is completely unprepared for just how arduous and difficult it becomes. As they straggle towards the coast, he finds himself taking more children under his wing even though he hardly knows what he will do with them.

 Fans of historical fiction and WWII history buffs will find Pied Piper a treat, though be on the look out for occasional smatterings of language throughout. The bulk of foul language comes from the mouths of two RAF men Howard and the children travel with briefly.