All Clear (2010) (edit title/settings)

Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit

Write a ridiculously simplified synopsis.

Characters edit see section history

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• Polly Churchill: A history student at Oxford who traveled back to study London shopgirls during the Blitz, where she goes by the name Polly Sebastian. Her employment at Townsend Brothers and her established residence in London, along with her previous experience as a time traveler, makes her the informal leader of their group.
• Michael Davies: A history student at Oxford who traveled back to Dover in 1940 in the guise of an American reporter order to study the heroism of ordinary people.
• Merope Ward: A history student at Oxford who traveled back to the past in order to study England during the Blitz under the name Eileen O'Reilly.
• James Dunworthy: A history professor at Oxford University in 2060. He is in charge of granting students their assignments and scheduling their trips into the past.
• Alf Hodbin: A young boy from London's East End, he is one of the evacuees sent to Denewell Manor in Warwickshire.
• Binnie Hodbin: Alf Hodbin's 11-year-old sister, she has been evacuated along with her brother to Denewell Manor.
• Godfrey Kingsman: A Shakespearean actor, he is one of the regular occupants of Polly Churchill's shelter.
• Colin Templer: A 17-year-old student at Eton in 2060. An aspiring historian, he nurses a crush on Polly Churchill.
• Paige Fairchild: A lieutenant in the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry detachment stationed in Dulwich. The youngest member of the unit, she nurses a longtime crush on Stephen Lang, whose family lived next to hers in Surrey.
• Reverend Goode: A vicar from Warwickshire who serves as a chaplain in the army.
• Marjorie Hayes: A shopgirl at Townsend Brothers, she is a friend and coworker of Polly Churchill's.
• Miss Snelgrove: Polly's supervisor at Townsend Brothers.
• Miss Laburnum: A forty-something spinster in 1940 London, she is one of the regular occupants of Polly Churchill's shelter.
• Reardon: A FANY.
• Mrs. Rickett: The operator of a boardinghouse in 1940 London, she is Polly's landlady.
• Miss Hibbard: A spinster in 1940 London, she shares a place with Miss Laburnum and is one of the regular occupants of Polly Churchill's shelter.
• Louise Talbot: A FANY, she is an ambulance driver stationed in Surrey in 1944.
• Maitland: A FANY, she is an ambulance driver stationed in Surrey in 1944.
• "Jitters" Parrish: A FANY, she is an ambulance driver stationed in Surrey in 1944.
• Cynthia Camberley: A FANY, she is an ambulance driver stationed in Surrey in 1944.
• Lady Caroline Denewell: Add a description of this character.
• Stephen Lang: A Flight Officer in the RAF.
• Cess: Works with Michael Davies in the a section of ministry of misinformation.
• Prism: A lieutenant in the British Army, he is a member of the Fortitude South deception effort.
• Montcrieff
• Chausable: Works with Michael Davies in WWIi
• Viv
• Lila
• Mr. Dorming: A middle-aged Londoner, he is a boarder at Mrs. Rickett's and one of the regular occupants of Polly Churchill's shelter.
• Mrs. Wyvern
• Eddritch: Dunworthy's assistant in Oxford.
• Badri Chaudhuri: He is the main operator of the "Net" (Oxford's time-travel installation) in 2060.
• Linna: A technician in the Oxford lab from which students travel into the past.
• Mrs. Jolsom: A landlady in 1940 Bletchley Park.
• John Bartholomew: An Oxford historian from an earlier period, he was sent to London in 1940 to participate and observe the fire watch at St. Paul's Cathedral.
• Daphne: A former barmaid at a pub at Salton-on-Sea.
• Theodore Willett: a child sent away during the blitz
• Dr. Cross: A doctor working at St. Bartholomew's Hospital during the Blitz.
• Mr. Tabbitt: Manager of the Alhambra Theatre.
• Hattie: A chorus girl working at the Alhambra Theatre.
• Mr. Humphreys: Verger at St. Paul's Cathedral in London during the Blitz.
• Colonel von Sprecht: An ailing German officer who is repatriated back to Germany in 1944.
• Ann Perry: A contemporary historian living in postwar England.
• Denys Atherton: A historian.
• Jonathan
• Agatha Christie: The famous mystery writer. Merope is a fan of her novels.
• Moncrieff
• Mavis
• Nelson
• Hardy: A solider saved by Michael Davies, later saves 512 additional soliders
• Mrs. Leary
• Mr. Hobbe: A man Polly meets in St Paul's Cathedral
• Mr. Simms
• Mrs. Sentry
• Phipps
• Elspeth
• Mrs. Brightford

Quotes edit see section history

• “As much as the Alllies cherish the value of surprise, I very much doubt they will invade by way of Baghdad”

  Balding Man

• Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers

• To do something for someone or something you loved—England or Shakespeare or a dog or the Hodbins or history—wasn’t a sacrifice at all. Even if it cost you your freedom, your life, your youth.

  Highlighted by 29 Kindle customers

• “But the vital thing is that we act. We do not rely on hope alone, though hope is our bulwark, our light through dark days and darker nights. We also work, and fight, and endure, and it does not matter whether the part we play is large or small. The reason that God marks the fall of the sparrow is that he knows that it is as important to the world as the bulldog or the wolf. We all, all must do ‘our bit.’ For it is through our deeds that the war will be won, through our kindness and devotion and courage that we make that better world for which we long.

  Highlighted by 25 Kindle customers

• “By our deeds here on earth, in this world so far from the one we long for, we make heaven possible. We not only live in the hope of heaven but, by each doing our bit, we bring it to pass.”

  Highlighted by 23 Kindle customers

• But even in a chaotic system, good deeds and good intentions—and courage and kindness and love—must count for something, or else history would be even worse than it already is,”

  Highlighted by 17 Kindle customers

• “ ‘They shall not speak of this, from this day to the ending of the world, but we in it shall be remembered, we few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.’ ”

  Highlighted by 16 Kindle customers

• so many lives saved and so many sacrificed— so much courage, kindness, endurance, love—must count for something even in a chaotic system.

  Highlighted by 16 Kindle customers

• No one person or thing won the war. People argue over whether it was Ultra or the evacuation from Dunkirk or Churchill’s leadership or fooling Hitler into thinking we were invading at Calais that won the war, but it wasn’t any one of them. It was all of them and a thousand, a million, other things and people. And not just soldiers and pilots and Wrens, but air-raid wardens and planespotters and debutantes and mathematicians and weekend sailors and vicars.”

  Highlighted by 15 Kindle customers

• It seemed impossible that compassion and kindness should be the weapons of destruction, that just the opposite should be true. It was true that in a chaotic system, good actions could have bad consequences, but why—?

  Highlighted by 15 Kindle customers

• Maybe England was the front, and the real heroes were the Londoners sitting in those tube stations night after night, waiting to be blown to smithereens. And Fordham, lying there in the hospital in traction. And everyone on this train, waiting patiently for it to begin moving again, not giving way to panic or the impulse to call Hitler and surrender just to get it over with. He was going to have to rethink the whole concept of heroism when he got back to Oxford.

  Highlighted by 13 Kindle customers

• You will make all kinds of mistakes; but as long as you are generous and true, and also fierce, you cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her. —WINSTON CHURCHILL

  Highlighted by 11 Kindle customers

Setting & Locations edit see section history

• London
• Bethnal Green
• Kent
• Oxford
• Bletchley Park: Home of cryptography and other related war efforts.
• Dulwich
• Saltram-on-Sea: A port in southeastern England.
• Dover
• Croydon
• Bracknell
• England
• Holborn
• Trafalgar Square
• St. Bart's: A hospital.
• Notting Hill Gate
• Backbury
• Portsmouth
• Kensington
• Stepney
• Biggin Hill
• Brixton
• Whitehall
• Coventry
• Blackfriars
• Worthing
• Hampstead Heath
• Bristol
• Piccadilly Circus

First Sentence edit see section history

Themes & Symbolism edit see section history

• Heroism: Describe this theme.

Series & Lists edit see section history

Preceded by Blackout.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

1. Connie Willis (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Awards edit see section history

• Hugo (August 2011: Best Novel)
• Nebula Award (2011: Best Novel)

Classification edit see section history

• Library of Congress: Add the Library of Congress Classification.
• Dewey: 813

Subjects edit see section history

• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Authors, A-Z › ( W ) › Willis, Connie
• Books › Literature & Fiction › Genre Fiction › Historical
• Books › Science Fiction & Fantasy › Science Fiction

More Books Like This edit see section history

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history