Why a Booktrail?
1940s: A journey through the turbulent history of Malta during World War Two,
The Dust of Melita
What you need to know before your trail
Frank Nixon, a raw 19-year-old army private, finds himself serving in Malta in 1940, which is about to endure the most prolonged and destructive assaults of its colourful and violent history. Soon aerial bombardments batter the small island and the defenders struggle to withstand the increasingly relentless attacks. Despite the dangers of life on the besieged island, Frank becomes fascinated by its history as a tiny strategic territory, for centuries at the mercy of powerful warmongers.
In the midst of the horrors and privations, Frank discovers both his vulnerabilities and his strengths, through the pain and pleasure of his love for a local widow and the increasing demands of his duties. As the siege becomes more brutal, the island population, threatened with the prospect of starvation or surrender, have their courage and resilience tested to the extreme as they await relief in the war-torn Mediterranean.
Travel Guide
The island of Malta
We go all over the island in this novel and spend time in places that were only there during the war such as the airfields. However there is a good aviation museum to visit and you can see the vestiges of the places mentioned today.
Valletta
-the capital of the island and somewhere that Frank likes in the novel:
“Frank liked Valletta, with its elegant streets of white-yellow limestone houses, several storeys high, and coloured, glazed-in balconies jutting out over the street. From these windows, the gentry of old could survey the passers-by wthout suffering the sun and dust that would spoil their complexions and their clothes. Some of the buildings were a bit crumbling and old, but this made them more interesting to Frank’s eyes.”
Upper Barrakka Gardens
Frank stands on the parapet of this amazing look out and you can see the harbour from here.
BookTrail Boarding Pass: The Dust of Melita
Destination/location: Malta, Valletta Author/guide: Clare Hawkins Departure Time: 1940s
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