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Chris Baldry, a British soldier in World War I, was sent home suffering from shell shock. Although he was not physically wounded, he had a fifteen year memory loss. He was remembering life as a young man at age 21. One wonders if he is better off in a mental state outside reality. If he is "cured", he will be sent back to the front--to flooded trenches, cannon fire, and dead bodies. Which situation is really a state of madness?
Rebecca West also reminds us that the families of the soldiers are de ...more
Rebecca West also reminds us that the families of the soldiers are de ...more
I am struck with the depth of understanding of this debut novel when the author was just 26 years old. Actually, I am often struck with an author's insight, my own being close to zero.
It is 1916, and very early in the novel we learn a man is in hospital in France and has lost his memory of the last 15 years. In so few pages, Rebecca West well draws the characterizations of the three women: a cousin who was also a childhood friend of Captain Chris Baldry and in whose first person voice the story ...more
It is 1916, and very early in the novel we learn a man is in hospital in France and has lost his memory of the last 15 years. In so few pages, Rebecca West well draws the characterizations of the three women: a cousin who was also a childhood friend of Captain Chris Baldry and in whose first person voice the story ...more
While Captain Chris Baldry is away fighting in France in 1916, his wife Kitty shares their beautiful house with his female cousin, the narrator of this novella. One day a woman they don't know comes to tell them he has been injured--or not exactly injured--he has amnesia. He has forgotten Kitty and all of their life together, and remembers only this other woman, whom he loved when he was young.
I was glad of the preface that pointed out that although we're so used to amnesia stories these days th ...more
I was glad of the preface that pointed out that although we're so used to amnesia stories these days th ...more
just way too sad... ):):):
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