Tonight, the safety-curtain between the here and there had lifted; the breath of danger and sorrow travelled over freely from shore to shore.
The novel is set during the Second World War in London for the most part. It explores the psychological effect of the war on those who are standing at the edge and waiting for news or change of events to unfold. Stella at the center of the novel is a woman stuck between her dedication to her country and love. The night after traveling back from visiting Robert’s family, she notices the tension in the air that brings the war closer to them. This effect might also come from her suspicion of Robert, and the psychological toil it takes on her.
To be not seen was for her not to be. It was a phenomenon of wartime city night that it brought out something provocative in the step of most modest women; Nature tapped out with the heels on the pavement an illicit semaphore.
Louie is the second main female character of the novel, whose experience during the war is parallel to Stella’s that their meeting is expected, even inevitable. Louie’s character is contrasting to Stella. She comes across as a timid woman, whose stride doesn’t have the sensuality in it, it is described as a stride of a ten-year-old. It is clear that Louie wants to take part in the wartime city, but lacks the provocativeness needed for it.
You are right in one way in what you said just now: we are friends of circumstance-war, this isolation this atmosphere in which everything goes on and nothing’s said.
The novel’s main theme throughout is the theme of the psychological effect of war on the individuals. It begins with a seed of suspicion thrown in between the lovers thrown by the government spy called Harrison. Stella is in turmoil throughout the novel, being blackmailed by Harrison and suspecting her lover. After Robert confesses to her that he is on the side of the enemy, he also reveals that he tried to tell her about his truth. In this instance prior to that, his expression of bitterness over the helplessness in the war atmosphere could be seen as one of the attempts to confess.
