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    The Good Pilot Peter Woodhouse
    The Good Pilot Peter Woodhouse
    The Good Pilot Peter Woodhouse
    Audiobook6 hours

    The Good Pilot Peter Woodhouse

    Written by Alexander McCall Smith

    Narrated by David Rintoul

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Val Eliot is working on an English farm during the war when she meets Mike, a U.S. Air Force pilot stationed nearby. The two become close, and after Val rescues a border collie named Peter Woodhouse, who is being mistreated by his owner, she realizes the dog would actually be safer with Mike. Soon Peter Woodhouse settles into his new home on the air force base, and Val and Mike fall deeply in love. But when a disaster jeopardizes the future of them all, Peter Woodhouse brings Ubi, a German corporal, into their orbit, sparking a friendship that comes with great risk but carries with it the richest of rewards.

    Infused with Alexander McCall Smith’s renowned charm and warmth, The Good Pilot Peter Woodhouse is an uplifting story of love and the power of friendship to bring sworn enemies together.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateApr 10, 2018
    ISBN9781501991387
    The Good Pilot Peter Woodhouse
    Author

    Alexander McCall Smith

    Alexander McCall Smith is the author of the award-winning series The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency, and he now devotes his time to the writing of fiction, including the 44 Scotland Street and the Isabel Dalhousie series. He is the author of over eighty books on a wide array of subjects, and his work has been translated into forty-six languages. Before becoming a full-time writer he was for many years Professor of Medical Law at Edinburgh.

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    Reviews for The Good Pilot Peter Woodhouse

    3.5/5

    65 ratings7 reviews

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    • 2/5
      This was a bit of a disappointment. Very little in the way of character development, huge gaps in the storyline, and what you would think were major plot developments glossed over in seconds.
    • 4/5
      “Very few people imagine their own future accurately. And then they're often pleasantly surprised.” — Alexander McCall Smith, “The Good Pilot Peter Woodhouse”A good novel, like a good life, is one that offers pleasant surprises, and Alexander McCall Smith's 2017 stand-alone novel “The Good Pilot Peter Woodhouse” certainly does this. His first surprise is that Peter Woodhouse turns out to be neither a pilot nor even a man but a dog.The story covers nearly 40 years and several countries, beginning in England during World War II. Val Eliot joins the Women's Land Army, meaning that she takes work on a farm while most of the young men are fighting the war. She proves a good worker for Archie, an elderly farmer. She soon falls in love with Mike, an American pilot stationed nearby.As for Peter Woodhouse, he belongs to a nearby farmer who mistreats his animals. Val's simple-minded cousin Willy works for this farmer and steals the dog after a beating, taking him to Archie's farm. So the other farmer won't find him, Peter Woodhouse is passed on to Mike at the base. Mike begins taking the dog on his reconnaissance flights over Germany, the reason for "the Good Pilot" part of the title. When Mike is shot down over the Netherlands, Peter Woodhouse goes down too.By then the war is nearly over, and Ubi, a German soldier who never liked fighting anyway, finds the pilot and the dog but protects them both, leading to a postwar friendship.The plot moves quickly, with numerous sudden turns along the way, not all pleasant ones. Yet with the possible exception of surviving the plane crash without benefit of parachutes, they seem realistic ones. And as with Forrest Gump's box of chocolates, readers never know what they are going to get. It proves a pleasure finding out.
    • 4/5
      It is the time of WWII. Val Eliot is helping the war effort in England by working on a local farm. The men have been called off to war and the women fill in for them. She lives with her Aunt who runs the post office, and Willy, a boarder who works at another farm.Mike Rogers is an American pilot who is stationed in Val's area. They meet when she delivers eggs to the base. The attraction between the two is immediate.The owner of the farm Willy works at is a mean and cruel man. After Willy witnesses the man beating one of the dogs, Willy steals the dog and brings it to Val to rescue. Val convinces the farmer she works for to keep the dog in hopes the other farmer won't find him. The dog is given the name Peter Woodhouse and things seem to be going fine, until the mean farmer gets wind of the dog being hidden. Val convinces Mike to take the dog to the base so he will be safe and out of the mean farmer's reach.Peter Woodhouse becomes the base mascot and a regular member of the team, to the extent they take him with them when they go on their missions.This is not a simple book, but one with a number of story lines that intermingle. It is a story of love, humour, friendship and loss. A book to take your time reading and enjoying.
    • 4/5
      Great book club book, discussion was interesting.
    • 2/5
      I never emotionally connected with this book. I found that the time frame was far too long for such a short book and the characters were dull, insubstantial and uninspiring, especially Val. There were basically two stories, Vale and Mike's and Ubi's. I never really understood why the author felt it was necessary to give the German Ubi his own parts, and as for the dog, Peter Woodhouse, he just mysteriously vanished from the book about midway through and was only mentioned again at the end.My favourite character was Willy. Although he struggled intellectually, he was kind, gentle and had personality. This was my first Alexander McCall Smith book and, after this, I don't think I'll be in a hurry to read another one.
    • 4/5
      Oh, thank you, Alexander McCall Smith, for introducing a new character, a charming dog and the humans in his life. I doubt this will become a series, but as in all Alexander McCall Smith books, you’ll end up loving all the characters, except for the villain of course.
    • 4/5
      The Good Pilot Peter Woodhouse by Alexander McCall Smith, is set mainly during WWII and is a deceptively simple tale about love and life during wartime. The story is divided between three main characters: Valerie (Val) Eliot, a member of the Women’s Land Army; Mike Rogers, a US pilot; Ubi, a German soldier. Mike and Val meet and fall in love. When a sheepdog, curiously named Peter Woodhouse, is rescued from an abusive farmer, Val is determined to find him a safe home. Mike takes him to the American base where he quickly becomes mascot and even goes on flights with Mike. When Mike’s plane is brought down, Peter Woodhouse acts as catalyst to bring the American pilots together with Ubi, the young German soldier who never wanted to be one and he decides he will protect them. As heartwarming as their romance is, I found Val and Mike’s separate stories more interesting. But it is the images of the deprivation caused by war first in Britain and later, of war torn Europe and the starvation and destruction that are seemingly all that remain of much of Germany that kept me reading long into the night. Smith also gives an interesting contrast between the later fortunes of Britain and Germany as Britain’s place in the world falls as Germany’s rises. As I said, this is a deceptively simple tale but it is this very simplicity that shows in stark relief the realities of war, the destruction, the deprivations, the pointless loss of lives, but, most of all, its futility. Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Random House Canada for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.