Noonday by Pat Barker

The cover of this book heralds the authors' claim to fame, that she won the Booker Prize, and this book is very much what you would expect from an author who had won that prize.  She writes beautifully and it is all about the telling of the story rather than the story itself.  She has written extensively about love and loss as it relates to the British experience in Word War I and this book is no different except that it takes place in WWII.  It is linked to two other books that feature Paul and Elinor, completing the trilogy.  As you might expect, there is more to the story than the war, but rather it provides the back drop against which the action takes place, and some of the reality of war, the way it makes everyone feel that life is temporary and could end at any moment, play a role in the decisions that the characters make.  It is not necessary to read the other two books in order to enjoy this one, but having done so adds to the enjoyment of this one.