What Happened to the Corbetts

What Happened to the Corbetts (US title: Ordeal) is a novel by

The novel addresses the issues of the aftermath of bombing, such as the spread of disease from lack of clean water, and what may be done to relieve the distress of those affected by it although the author concedes he "overlooked the importance of fire" as a consequence of bombing raids.[1] On the initial day of publication, a thousand copies of the novel were distributed free of charge to members of the Air Raid Precautions team to inform them of what they might expect.^[2]

The novel does not say which nation is bombing Southampton and many other towns in England. France and the United States are neutral, but the

Plot

War begins for the United Kingdom after a surprise aerial bombing of 20 cities, the first of many attacks. Young solicitor Peter Corbett, wife Joan, and their three young children leave Southampton after their house and Corbett's offices are damaged, friends are killed, and a cholera epidemic begins. They move aboard their small yacht, kept on the river Hamble, but as disease spreads and supplies diminish, flee the area. They sail to the Isle of Wight, but because of the fear of disease, other ports require them to provide a certificate of health or wait in quarantine; the Corbetts do not want to risk being bombed during the three weeks of quarantine.

In the

References