Jones' debut novel, The Outcast (2008), won the Costa First Novel Award in Great Britain. In her sophomore effort, she deploys the same coolly dispassionate style in a novel about how the demands of war warp human emotions, both for the soldiers and the women who love them. Hal Treherne is a major in the British Army transferred to Cyprus in the 1950s, where he is joined by his wife, Clara, and their twin daughters. Although Hal is eager to enter the fray after years spent performing routine training exercises, he is unprepared for the moral quagmire that is Cyprus. In a war resonant of the current conflict in Afghanistan, homemade roadside bombs are the weapons of choice, and they are often planted by preteen boys. Torturous interrogation methods, brutal retaliation by frustrated British soldiers, and an inflexible army hierarchy conspire to undermine Hal's dedication. Meanwhile, Clara becomes increasingly afraid of her husband, whom she no longer recognizes. A thought-provoking meditation that powerfully evokes both the costs of waging war and the loving bonds of marriage.--Wilkinson, Joanne Copyright 2009 Booklist

Worlds away from the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, this stunning new novel from Jones (after the highly regarded The Outcast) set in 1956 Cyprus might just as easily describe the present. In the lead-up to the Suez Canal crisis, the British occupational forces find themselves amid a terrorist campaign conducted by the EOKA, a group of Greek Cypriots set on independence at any cost via pipe bombs, rock throwing, land mines, and roadside ambushes. For their part, the British employ equally familiar counterinsurgency torture and interrogation measures to maintain order. Against this backdrop, career officer Hal Treherne and his family settle into life on the base, where Hal is charged with routing out terrorists. The daily skirmishes take a toll on Hal and undermine his marriage. VERDICT This richly imagined and warmly atmospheric story convincingly demonstrates that small wars, like all wars, are hell. This is historical fiction at its best. Highly recommended. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 9/15/09.]-Barbara Love, Kingston Frontenac P.L., Ont. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved