Dover Beach

Summer 1940. Dunkirk has been evacuated. Dover is inundated with young soldiers, who wearily wander its streets, wondering what the future holds in store for them. Toby Hendry, a fighter pilot, is awaiting orders when he meets Giselle, a young Frenchwoman who has fled occupied France. Can their love affair withstand the forces of war? Reserve naval commander Paul Instow has been called up to fight in a war for which he feels too old. Distracting him from his worries is Molly, a young prostitute. Their relationship is tender and happy, but is this true love? In DOVER BEACH Thomas chronicles the lives and loves of ordinary people in besieged Britain during these tense, but curiously elated days.