The author of The English Patient has written a very fine novel about a secret side of London after World War II.  Warlight begins in 1945. Fourteen year old Nathaniel and his sixteen year old sister, Rachel, learn that their parents are leaving for Singapore for an indefinite amount of time.  They will be taken care of by a man they have never met who they nickname The Moth.  The Moth brings many intriguing, mysterious visitors into their home.  These characters, the siblings’ parents’ whereabouts and the secret war being carried out after World War II, are part of what makes Ondaatje’s novel so fascinating.

When I read The English Patient, I felt the prose was fog-like, hard to penetrate.  Warlight has some foggy patches, but it is easier to decipher than The English Patient.