The Autumn of the Ace by Louis de Bernieres

 

I love family sagas and the Daniel Pitt trilogy culminating with The Autumn of the Ace by Louis de Bernieres is up there with one of my all-time favourite series, The Cazalet  Chronicles by Elizabeth Jane Howard. The first two books of the trilogy, The Dust That Falls From Dreams and So Much Life Left Over, should be read before The Autumn of the Ace to fully appreciate the story of Daniel Pitt and the many friends and relatives who inhabited his life.

Daniel was a flying ace in the First World War and a spy in the Second. This book now tells the rest of his story as well as the stories of his family, friends and lovers. His passion for all things mechanical began with the planes he flew in both world wars and carried through to cars and, most importantly, motor bikes which led to his partnership and long lasting friendship with his old mate, ‘Oily’ Wragge, another beautifully drawn character throughout the three books. Daniel indulges his love of flying with his friend, Gaskell, and has an unconventional relationship with her and his sister-in-law, Christabel. Although his marriage to Rosie broke down after they returned from Ceylon his abiding love all through his life is for his children.

Daniel Pitt is an officer and a gentleman, brave, daring, warm and witty. Louis de Bernieres has written an absorbing, wonderful story in three volumes and I would love to follow the lives of Daniel’s descendants any time he wants to write some more. My only criticism of this book is that it ended.

5 out of 5, of course!

Published by Harvill Secker, London

Penguin Random House UK