[b:The Skylarks’ War|39903894|The Skylarks’ War|Hilary McKay|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1530694826l/39903894.SY75.jpg|61748760] is an outstanding novel (see my 5 star review). So I was super excited to see that Hilary McKay had written a companion story. The Swallows’ Flight follows alternating story lines, until they inevitably cross paths. We meet Erik and Hans in Berlin in 1931 as boys who love to watch the swallows fly, and who will eventually become pilots for Germany, fighting in a war they want no part of. Without sermonising, McKay shows her reader how ‘soldiers’ on both sides were more often than not unwilling participants. We also follow Ruby and Kate, and the story of ‘Dog’ an ill-treated dog in London.
Unfortunately, I found myself confused by all the different characters, and kept referring to the family tree at the back of the book to make sense of what I was reading. These trees should be positioned at the front, so readers can find them easily. Because there were so many characters, it was hard to form a bond with any of them, unlike the bond I felt with Clarry in The Skylarks’ War, which is such a pity.
Even with these faults, McKay is a wonderful author, who always writes with a sense of hope, which is so important, particularly in these dark times.

The Skylarks’ War is a beautiful book. I immediately fell in love with Clarry, her difficult older brother Peter, and their charismatic cousin, Rupert.
Clarry and Peter can’t wait for the summer holidays, when they can escape the confines of boarding school (for Peter) and living with their distant father (Clarry) to stay with their grandparents, running wild in Cornwall with Rupert. These summers are idyllic, and take on an almost mythical hue in the face of the looming dark cloud of World War One. McKay has a gift for describing not only landscape, and the emotions it can engender, but also fully-developed characters. How could the reader not fall in love with Rupert:

Rupert had a curving smile and lazy green-gold eyes, completely unlike Peter’s wary grey glance. His jokes were the best, his tennis balls flew the highest, his stories charmed the most listeners, cats strolled over and sat beside him, dogs regarded him with comradely affection, the sunlight tanned him apricot-gold and rain rolled off him in silver drops. He was recklessly kind. For Clarry he was the centre of summer, the light on the water, the warmth in the wind, the welcome-back song of the bee-humming moor.

On either side of the line were the armies. Neither was winning, although not because they didn’t try. They tried very hard and when one way didn’t work they tried another. There Germans were the first to use poison gas, and the British were to first to use tanks. Perfectly reasonable people, the sort who in their previous lives let wasps out of windows; read storybooks to children, doing all the proper voices; flinched at flat notes; and hardly ever shouted, got drunk or forgot their mothers’ birthdays - absolutely ordinary people - made considerable efforts to kill other absolutely ordinary people whom they had never even met.

As I read this book I felt I was being embraced by a warm, loving fairy godmother! The Casson family are chaotic and disorganized, but also kind and generous. They don’t care about silly stuff like what’s for dinner! They are all too busy caring for each other and following their creative whims. Saffy’s journey, both physical and emotional , is honest and heartwarming. I’m looking forward to reading the further adventures of this wonderful family. Hilary McKay’s Casson Family would get on famously with Glenda Millard’s Silk Family. I highly recommend this series to all young readers.