A group of soldiers entered a bar shortly after World War II had ended. They drank themselves into a stupor and, once they’d had their fill, discovered an officer dead under the bar where he had fallen after succumbing to the amount of alcohol he’d consumed. The soldiers found this hilarious.

Chris Cleave, a British two­-time New York Times bestselling author, recounted this story to the audience present at his reading of his new novel, “Everyone Brave is Forgiven,” on Saturday, May 7, 2016, at the La Jolla Riford Library.

This story of the soldiers in the bar was not an excerpt from his novel on World War II, as one may expect, but a relation of events experienced by Cleave’s grandfather and is “the saddest thing” his grandfather could remember of the war.

It was this close relationship to the war that sparked the creation of his novel, which can be described as a tragicomedy of sorts.

“Comedy and tragedy are the same. They share the same timing. The only difference is that one ends with a punchline and the other in a landmine,” Cleave said.

Cleave’s conception of his newest novel, “Everyone Brave is Forgiven,” began with a question: “How does bravery differ in peacetime, than in war time?”

“In peacetime,” Cleave said, “knowing when to speak out against the ills of society is brave. But during war, it’s the opposite. You’ve got to know when to shut your trap and follow orders.”

Cleave’s reading of his novel was awe­inspiring and made everyone present think hard on the implications of bravery and the effects of that bravery once it has been spent. “Everyone Brave is Forgiven” may just earn Cleave another mark on the Bestseller’s List.