Fair Stood the Wind for France

by H.E. Bates
Category: "Fiction - Historical"
Pages:230
Year of Publication:1944
Date Added:01/14/2025
Date Read:06/03/2025
Notes:In 1942, English pilot John Franklin is forced to land his damaged plane in France. He's injured, but the four men of his crew help him get to a farm where Francoise, a friendly girl, her father, and her grandmother, take them in. Franklin has to have his arm amputated. His four crew mates take off to try to get back to England, but Franklin is forced to stay and recover. He and Francoise fall in love, and when he's strong enough to leave, she goes with him. They make their way to Marseilles, where they wait for an opportunity to leave. Franklin meets O'Connor, one of his men, the the three of them try to get to Spain by trail. At the border, Francoise's papers aren't in order, and she's about to be taken away by the police. O'Connor sees what's happening and creates a disturbance, shooting at the police, which enables Francoise to get on the train and make it to Spain with Franklin.
My Rating: 7

Reviews for Fair Stood the Wind for France

Review - Fair Stood the Wind for France (Hoopla/Kindle)

A good story. Bates has an odd writing style where he'll have a section of sparse dialog, almost too lean to make total sense, then he'll follow that with a long paragraph on what Franklin was thinking, full of flowery language. I didn't care greatly for the style, but the story was good.

Reviewed by Roger on 2025-06-03 19:53:43

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