Valley of Bones - post III

There is a moment when Jenkins gets leave and he steps back into the world that has become familiar in the past six volumes.

The link is the family he has married into with the Tolland clan and their hangers on but the weekend is short and Jenkins has to return to Aldershot before heading off to Northern Ireland for more training.

The book mainly concentrates on the relationship between Nick and the other officers, in particular the one that becomes the defacto head of the training camp, Gwatkin. This man aspires to be some sort of Kipling inspired hero but rubs people up and falls in love with the bar maid at the local village pub.

Nick seems to breeze about much as he did in his pre-war life but as the Germans advance across Europe the question of whether or not he will actively become involved in the war does become slightly more consuming.

More tomorrow…