In Memoriam by Alice Winn

In 1914, war feels far away to Henry Gaunt and Sidney Ellwood. They’re too young to enlist, and anyway, Gaunt is fighting his own private battle – an all-consuming infatuation with the dreamy, poetic Ellwood – not having a clue that his best friend is in love with him, always has been.

When Gaunt’s mother asks him to enlist in the British army to protect the family from anti-German attacks, he signs up immediately, relieved to escape his overwhelming feelings. But Ellwood and their classmates soon follow him into the horrors of trenches. Though Ellwood and Gaunt find fleeting moments of solace in one another, their friends are dying in front of them, and at any moment they could be next.

I certainly don’t intend this to be a review blog but I will be reviewing books that capture me wholeheartedly. They will be tagged book-hangover and this right here is the first one.

In Memoriam by Alice Winn is a debut novel and absolutely stole my heart. It was one of those books I just couldn’t put down. I’m not a huge fan of heartbreaking stories, I’m not a reader who looks to have my heart wrenched out with every other word but when it’s done well…well it’s a blessing to read.

In this book, the author brings two very emotional storylines together. The first; the brutality of the first world war. Not just the physical gruesome horror of the frontline but the way the war was peddled. The chance to be a hero for your country, the hatred of cowardice and objectors. The lies told to make the grimmest deaths seem peaceful and honourable. To appease those at home; the parents who lost their sons, the fiancées, the wives, the sisters. Was it crueller or a kindness? I still don’t know.

The endless deaths of the men, and (as highlighted in this book) boys, who were fighting are documented on memorials up and down the country, we remember them yearly, but reading a book like this truly brings home how utterly destroying war is. The author has done such a good job. She shows the trenches for what they were, yet there was still some humour and even some joy to be found.

The second storyline is a love story. A love story between two beautiful and fearless protagonists that was seen as worse than the mass killing of the war. This storyline was what I couldn’t put down and couldn’t walk away from. It was beautiful. It was hopeful and gut-wrenching. It was beautiful and yet made ugly. It was everything.

I promise you will love Gaunt and Ellwood; it would be impossible not to. I can’t promise you will get through the book with your heart intact but I do promise it is worth the emotional rollercoaster ride. Please, do yourselves a favour and read this book.