I picked up In Memoriam to give me a soldier’s view of life in the trenches of WW1 to complement the view from nurses at the Front which is the setting for my current release, The Gift of Belonging. I got a lot more than that.
To start with, the writing is beautiful, but it was the characters who made it for me. Every single one, from the main players to the bit parters, are drawn with care and depth, and I was there with them in all their emotional angst.
I have read some reviews which complain that we all know the trenches were horrendous and WW1 barbaric so why say so again? But I don’t believe you should stop reminding people of the fact. With In Memoriam, it all becomes extremely personal. While Winn spares us no gruesome detail, she does it in a way that simply made me deeply sad rather than superficially horrified. The love story is fine, and touching, but what made this book for me were the people and how they behaved and reacted to their circumstances. A highly recommended read.
Find In Memoriam here
And if you’re local to Gloucestershire, come and meet the author and listen to the story on April 18 at 3 pm at The Harvey Centre, Minsterworth. See all the details here.
More reviews here and my monthly round up of what I’ve read here.