This an emotional and harrowing story about World War I, the physical and emotional toll it took on individuals as well as the changes it wrought on civilization itself. In some ways, this war marked the end of the world–and the start of a new one.
The chapters of this book alternate between following combat nurse Laura in 1918, and her brother Freddie beginning the year prior, before the army sent her his effects saying that he was missing and presumed dead. Laura decides to return to the field to attempt to discover what happened to her brother.
Freddie’s chapters are heart wrenching, and the bond he forms with another soldier when the two have only each other left was very touching. The nightmare these people are living is what allows the author to introduce her signature mythological/magical realism seasoning to the story. It begs the question, “Was remembered agony better than feeling nothing at all?” and allows Arden to address the idea she puts into words in the Author’s Note: “What would a devil of the old world do if he found himself in the hell of a new one?” War stole away the pleasure of shattering human hearts.
This story was full of great characters, from the indomitable Laura herself, to German soldier Hans Winter, and the genteel woman whose “bright sweet nature” may be hiding the true darkness of her own grief. (I’m not sure I found Freddie that likable, but the whole point is that after the things he’s been through, there’s not much left to like or not).
The book ends with things wrapped up a little too pat for Laura, but overall I was pleased with this historical fantasy with its heavy and moving themes.
Jessica Crawford 