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The Grass Memorial
The Grass Memorial Harrison, Sarah
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 26, 2021
Overly wordy which I felt, in many ways detracted from the story. Not a bad read, just a long read!!
June 17, 2026
I want to stand up for this epic and immersive historical saga against the other reviews. It was a random charity shop find for me and it swept me away. There are 3 main characters: Harry who we see from the start dies in the Crimean War with chapters from his life leading up to that point; Spencer, who we see as an old man at the beginning, his chapters following his life from childhood in Wyoming to his time in England as a fighter pilot in WW2 and beyond; and Stella, a rather troubed but self-indulgent singing star in the 1990s. Even her sections read as historical now!
The book blurb reads: "Stella, Spencer, Harry - each marches to the tune of a different drum. Their stories are separated by many miles and generations, but profoundly connected in ways they can never fully understand " Discovering those connections as this 600-page (original old school paperback) novel ties their story threads together at the end, it felt satisfying and bittersweet. The Times reviewed it as follows: "Harrison's writing is lively, crisp and full of humour." Woman & Home: "An evocative read." Good Housekeeping: "Ambitious... an epic that takes enduring love as its theme." Choice: "An epic tale of love and war."
I loved Harry's story most. The trauma and gore of the Crimea was shocking. I've never come across novels set in this war before. His love story and family ties were heartbreaking. Spencer leads an interesting life with his lovelife as fraught with highs and lows as his war duty. Stella's story was harder to get into but I did get into the flow of her own minorly tragic tale too eventually. I found the ending redemptive.
Imagery of horses runs throughout in varied and creative ways. Many sentences are quite beautiful, often small moments captured with children that felt so real. This is a clever book, worth the effort. It felt like 3 separate stories for a long time, but it does come together very satisfyingly. If you happen to find it too, try it. I hope you find it a rewarding, engrossing read like I did. As I finished it just now, I read the first chapters again, admiring the author's craft.
The book blurb reads: "Stella, Spencer, Harry - each marches to the tune of a different drum. Their stories are separated by many miles and generations, but profoundly connected in ways they can never fully understand " Discovering those connections as this 600-page (original old school paperback) novel ties their story threads together at the end, it felt satisfying and bittersweet. The Times reviewed it as follows: "Harrison's writing is lively, crisp and full of humour." Woman & Home: "An evocative read." Good Housekeeping: "Ambitious... an epic that takes enduring love as its theme." Choice: "An epic tale of love and war."
I loved Harry's story most. The trauma and gore of the Crimea was shocking. I've never come across novels set in this war before. His love story and family ties were heartbreaking. Spencer leads an interesting life with his lovelife as fraught with highs and lows as his war duty. Stella's story was harder to get into but I did get into the flow of her own minorly tragic tale too eventually. I found the ending redemptive.
Imagery of horses runs throughout in varied and creative ways. Many sentences are quite beautiful, often small moments captured with children that felt so real. This is a clever book, worth the effort. It felt like 3 separate stories for a long time, but it does come together very satisfyingly. If you happen to find it too, try it. I hope you find it a rewarding, engrossing read like I did. As I finished it just now, I read the first chapters again, admiring the author's craft.
November 29, 2017
After initially reading a couple of chapters I put this book aside because it was too confusing with the rapidly changing POVs and timelines, although two of the three main characters were interesting (I could not warm to Stella for a very long time). But I picked it up again later and found it more interesting (except for Stella).
It’s about two wars, the Crimean War and WWII, and as such is disturbing, for it is often graphic. In contrast, it is also tender in describing the love stories. The author seems to love animals also, and there are numerous side stories about them which are touching.
But I could not really figure out the direct links between the past and future characters. Are they meant to be reincarnated or just parallel? I felt this was left unclear. I don’t want to have to reread the book to fill in those details. So I’ll remain in the dark.
To sum up, it was a satisfying read. In the Crimean War you know what’s coming, so you know it will be rough, in WWII, well the protagonist is looking back, so you know he survived, and as for Stella (her again) she’s never in any danger, other than from her self (and we never find out why). And what’s this about Stella ‘s Mom at the end? (Spoiler alert) Who is this other man in her life? Is this supposed to be a reference to the situation of Janet, Spencer’s wartime girlfriend? Also, I have a problem believing Spencer and Rosemary would actually have a fling in the end, and jeopardize the relationships they have. Not to mention all the unexplained loose ends with Stella and Robert (who but a Stella would even want him?).
It’s about two wars, the Crimean War and WWII, and as such is disturbing, for it is often graphic. In contrast, it is also tender in describing the love stories. The author seems to love animals also, and there are numerous side stories about them which are touching.
But I could not really figure out the direct links between the past and future characters. Are they meant to be reincarnated or just parallel? I felt this was left unclear. I don’t want to have to reread the book to fill in those details. So I’ll remain in the dark.
To sum up, it was a satisfying read. In the Crimean War you know what’s coming, so you know it will be rough, in WWII, well the protagonist is looking back, so you know he survived, and as for Stella (her again) she’s never in any danger, other than from her self (and we never find out why). And what’s this about Stella ‘s Mom at the end? (Spoiler alert) Who is this other man in her life? Is this supposed to be a reference to the situation of Janet, Spencer’s wartime girlfriend? Also, I have a problem believing Spencer and Rosemary would actually have a fling in the end, and jeopardize the relationships they have. Not to mention all the unexplained loose ends with Stella and Robert (who but a Stella would even want him?).
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 23, 2019
Didn’t read it
July 27, 2020
Sometimes hard going
May 27, 2013
niet uitgelezen.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews