ALSO BY CONNIE WILLIS
Lincoln’s Dreams
Doomsday Book
Impossible Things
Uncharted Territory
Remake
Bellwether
Fire Watch
To Say Nothing of the Dog
Miracle and Other Christmas Stories
Passage
Blackout
All Clear is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Any resemblance to actual persons, living or
dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2010 by Connie Willis
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Spectra,
an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group,
a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
SPECTRA and the portrayal of a boxed “s”
are trademarks of Random House, Inc.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Willis, Connie.
All clear / Connie Willis.
p. cm.
eISBN: 978-0-345-52269-6
1. Time travel—Fiction. 2. Historians—Fiction.
3. World War, 1939–1945—England—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3573.I45652A79 2010
813′.54—dc22 2010030197
www.ballantinebooks.com
v3.1
TO ALL THE
ambulance drivers
firewatchers
air-raid wardens
nurses
canteen workers
airplane spotters
rescue workers
mathematicians
vicars
vergers
shopgirls
chorus girls
librarians
debutantes
spinsters
fishermen
retired sailors
servants
evacuees
Shakespearean actors
and mystery novelists
WHO WON THE WAR.
You will make all kinds of mistakes; but as long as you are generous and true, and also fierce, you cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her.
—WINSTON CHURCHILL
CONTENTS
Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
London—26 October 1940
London—7 May 1945
London—26 October 1940
Bethnal Green—June 1944
London—26 October 1940
Kent—April 1944
London—27 October 1940
London—November 1940
Kent—April 1944
Golders Green—July 1944
London—November 1940
Kent—April 1944
London—November 1940
London—November 1940
Oxford—April 2060
Bletchley—November 1940
Dulwich—Summer 1944
London—November 1940
Bletchley—December 1940
Dulwich—Summer 1944
London—December 1940
Oxford—April 2060
London—December 1940
Saltram-on-Sea—December 1940
London—December 1940
London—December 1940
London—29 December 1940
St. Paul’s Cathedral—29 December 1940
St. Paul’s Cathedral—29 December 1940
Ludgate Hill—29 December 1940
Blackfriars Tube Station—29 December 1940
St. Paul’s Cathedral—29 December 1940
The City—29 December 1940
St. Bartholomew’s Hospital—30 December 1940
St. Paul’s Cathedral—30 December 1940
Croydon—October 1944
London—Winter 1941
London—Winter 1941
Croydon
London—Winter 1941
London—7 May 1945
London—Winter 1941
London—Winter 1941
London—Winter 1941
London—Winter 1941
Kent—April 1944
Imperial War Museum, London—7 May 1995
Dover—April 1944
Imperial War Museum, London—7 May 1995
Wales—May 1944
London—Spring 1941
London—May 1944
London—Spring 1941
Imperial War Museum, London—7 May 1995
Kent—June 1944
Imperial War Museum, London—7 May 1995
Kent—October 1944
Kent—October 1944
London—Spring 1941
Croydon—October 1944
London—Spring 1941
London—Spring 1941
London—Spring 1941
Imperial War Museum, London—7 May 1995
London—19 April 1941
London—19 April 1941
Imperial War Museum, London—7 May 1995
London—7 May 1945
London—19 April 1941
About the Author
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I want to say thank you to all the people who helped me and stood by me with Blackout and All Clear as one book morphed into two and I went slowly mad under the strain: my incredibly patient editor, Anne Groell, and my long-suffering agent, Ralph Vicinanza; my even longer-suffering secretary, Laura Lewis; my daughter and chief confidante, Cordelia; my family and friends; every librarian within a hundred-mile radius; and the baristas at Margie’s, Starbucks, and the UNC student union who gave me tea—well, chai—and sympathy on a daily basis. Thank you all for putting up with me, standing by me, and not giving up on me or the book.
But most especially, I want to thank the marvelous group of ladies who were at the Imperial War Museum the day I was there doing research on the Blitz—women who, it turned out, had all been rescue workers and ambulance drivers and air-raid wardens during the Blitz, and who told me story after story that proved invaluable to the book and to my understanding of the bravery, determination, and humor of the British people as they faced down Hitler. And I want to thank my wonderful husband, who found them, sat them down, bought them tea and cakes, and then came to find me so I could interview them. Best husband ever!
Well, he hasn’t come yet, sir, he’s more than a bit late tonight.
—LONDON PORTER TO ERNIE PYLE, REFERRING
TO THE GERMAN BOMBERS
London—26 October 1940
