Black Bethlehem

This tripartite novel, published in 1947, is set in London, where the author lived, during the Second World War. The narrative opens and concludes with a blitz scene in February 1944 in which John Everyman, an air-raid warden, is injured:
“He was crossing the road when the ground heaved under him. The last thing he saw was the red light in the northern sky. Then all light and sound ran together and vanished, and he fell down, down into darkness.” He and other characters in the novel express a sympathy not only for those being bombed in London but also those being bombed in Berlin: “The whole thing: this war — the bombing here — the awful bombing of Berlin — the lives wasted — the goodness wasted.”

The author, Lettice Cooper (born 3 September 1897), was born near Manchester and grew up in Leeds. She began writing fiction aged 7. Her brother, Leonard, was invalided out of the army and also took to writing fiction. Her first novel, The Lighted Room, was published in 1925. She went on to write as many as 20 novels. During the Second World War, she met Eileen Blair, wife of George Orwell. She and Orwell feature in Black Bethlehem as Ann and Christopher Drake.

In Part I of the novel, set in April 1945, the main character is Lieutenant Alan Marriot, recently invalided after a battle siege in the Dutch countryside. In a visit to his Aunt Hilda they discuss the war and she recalls the First World War:
“ ‘My friends have mostly been killed.’...
‘Some of them I know, and I'm very sorry. But not all. You mustn't exaggerate. Thank heaven the casualties in France haven't been nearly as bad as we all expected.’
‘Those are just numbers!’
She blinked at what must seem to her nonsense.
‘If you remember, as I do, the terrible slaughter in the last war.’
He said wildly, ‘It's a pity everybody didn't remember it.’ ”
He tells her about his friend Justin, who had recently been killed in action, and she reveals that her fiancé had been killed in the First World War:
“I don't know whether anyone has ever told you, I was engaged to be married just at the beginning of the last war. His name was David, David Nicholls. He was at school with your father. He was killed at Paschendale. After that I felt I must do everything I could to see that he hadn't died in vain, that it wasn't all wasted.”