The Burning Blue

James Holland Press Reviews

‘With this novel James Holland, an up-and-coming military historian of the second world war, fictionalises facts he has absorbed while wearing his historian's cap - most obviously from First Light by Geoffrey Wellum, a belated Battle of Britain survivor's memoir that was an unexpected bestseller last year, and which Holland's enthusiastic advocacy helped get into print.

Holland's hero, Joss Lambert, is a Wellum-like fighter pilot with more than his share of problems on the ground. It is only when he "slips the surly bonds of earth" that the perplexities and complexities of his personal life slide away; alone in the cockpit he is at one with the sky and his beloved plane - with only the "Hun in the Sun" to worry about.

Life, however, is not quite that simple. Joss carries with him a shameful secret about his own origins that he discovers and shares with us as the plot unfolds. Meanwhile, pre-war life in a dreamy Cambridge's Air Training Squadron, all shaved lawns and Grantchester teas, is beautifully and nostalgically described.

Holland skilfully turns the screw of tension as the last months of peace slip away, and his male characters realise that they will be required to put their lives on the line for their country. Joss and his friends face the prospect with equanimity, even excitement. After all, they are public school chaps with jaws and emotions suitably squared. There is always a danger, when writing about "the Few", of falling into pipe-smoking, spotted-cravat clichés. Holland manages to avoid this - if narrowly - by elaborating on the far from simple offstage lives of his characters - for example, the plight of Joss's mother as a single parent in the 1930s.

When war comes the book roars into life, demonstrating the author's love of and knowledge in the flying sequences. The Burning Blue is traditional fiction, saved from Boys' Own Paper sentimentality not only by the swearing and sex, but also by Holland's total immersion in the period. He has joined the few who can bring history to life.
Guardian