Black Bethlehem

Three long short stories, two of which are backgrounded by the war and the now familiar bombing of London, and introduce a great deal of war motivated episode and debate. The first concerns wounded, discharged and returning war hero, Alan Marriot, who can find no political certainty, no personal stability; the second, Lucy Meadows, who takes in a refugee woman who is always to remain an alien, who rewards her generosity by seducing Lucy's longstanding lover; and the third tells of a small boy's tension and hatred after the arrival of a new baby.