CAROLYN KIRBY
Award winning novelist
WHEN WE FALL
A TIMES AND SUNDAY TIMES BEST HISTORICAL NOVEL OF THE YEAR 2020
England, 1943. Lost in fog, pilot Vee Katchatourian is forced to make an emergency landing where she meets enigmatic RAF airman Stefan Bergel, and then can't get him out of her mind.
In occupied Poland, Ewa Hartman hosts German officers in her father's guest house, whilst secretly gathering intelligence for the Polish resistance. Mourning her lover, Stefan, who was captured by the Soviets at the start of the war, Ewa is shocked to see him on the street one day.
Haunted by a terrible choice he made in captivity, Stefan asks Vee and Ewa to help expose one of the darkest secrets of the war. But it is not clear where everyone's loyalties lie until they are tested......
Published in the UK to coincide with the 75th anniversary of VE Day and in Poland on the 84th anniversary of the WWII atrocity, the Katyn massacre, When We Fall is a moving story of three lives forever altered by one fatal choice
Praise for When We Fall
'A gripping novel about the moral choices faced during times of great peril.'
Antonia Senior The Times - selected When We Fall as one of the 10 Best of Historical Novels of 2020
'A poignant story of love, betrayal and impossible moral choices.'
Nick Rennison, Sunday Times
'A terrific World War II novel, which deals with complicated matters of love and loyalty when lives are at stake and choices are bleak... Tense and tender, it captures the terrifying frailties of truth and trust in brutal time'
Eithne Farry, Daily Mail
"An engaging and elegantly written novel on the grim realities of war, and the moral choices that can result. Highly recommended."
Roger Moorhouse, author of FIRST TO FIGHT
‘When We Fall is a powerful and moving novel told with skill and intelligence. Set in England and then occupied Poland during the Second World War, Carolyn Kirby tells the story of the Katyn Massacre of 1940. Through a complex and twisting plot, Kirby skillfully leads us through her novel, manipulating our emotions so that we remain unsure where out loyalties lie right up until the end. It’s a tale of tragedy and brutality, with characters that are so well-drawn they practically get up and walk from the page. Superb storytelling – a book I simply wanted to pick up when I had finished and start over again.’
Jenny Quintana, author of THE MISSING GIRL
"A meticulously researched novel of love, intrigue and betrayal reveals how in war truth so often falls victim to expediency. In a story where loyalties are called into question, she kept me guessing to the final page. Carolyn's writing is so vivid and so well researched - I was sitting in the cockpit with Vee and walking the streets of Poznan with Ewa!"
Anita Frank, author of THE LOST ONES
'Such a skillfully constructed novel about one of the less well trodden events of the war peopled by complex, sympathetic characters. Compelling and moving - it's a wonderful read which often sends the pulse rate into overdrive. I loved it.'
Annie Murray, author of CHOCOLATE GIRLS and GIRLS IN TIN HATS
WATCH CAROLYN TALKING ABOUT THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE COVER DESIGN (4 MINS)
WATCH CAROLYN TALKING ABOUT THE KATYN MASSACRES AND THE WRITING OF WHEN WE FALL (14 MINS)
