Blackout

Binnie and Alf Hodbin are probably the best characters I've read all year. They are peripheral characters in one of the plot strands, but they deserve their own novel. Cockney slum kids turned evacuees during the London blitz, they provide levity and humor while the world around them is blown to bits. While they are surrounded by proper Brits who maintain airs during one of the most horrific wars in history, their casual bluntness and frank morbidity are oddly refreshing and hilarious. If Dickens wrote about WWII, they would be the stars. Click the link below to read my full review!