What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
Query abandoned by poster
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ABANDONED. Historical fiction. Returned war vet is missing part of his face, wears scarf, falls in love with dancer who is later raped by her instructor.
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About when was it published?
U.S. on both accounts. He lives in a small town in middle-America somewhere I think.
I can't remember the publication date unfortunately.
Mod
How about what year you read it?
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Pat: any of these?World War I - Historical Fiction
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/b/book...
50 Essential Historical Fiction Books
https://www.abebooks.com/books/featur...
Actually, it sounds like it might be this one: Heroes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroes_...
"Francis Cassavant: the main protagonist of the book. He narrates the story in a series of flashbacks, after throwing himself on a grenade to supposedly save his fellow soldiers in the war. This disfigures his face badly; his skin being burnt, 'no ears to speak of except for bits of dangling flesh', his teeth being blown out by the explosion but replaced by dentures, his hair has also been described as falling out. Francis's nostrils are often spoken of as the physical disfigurement which plagues him the most, as they often run and have caused him to wear a bandage over them, secured with a pin at the back of his head which makes it difficult for him to clean. Francis tells how his unsightly appearance often shocks and disturbs passers-by, and as a measure to prevent this wears a white, silk aviator's scarf around the lower half of his face given to him by his hospital friend Enrico, and a Red Sox cap lowered down over his face. Whilst at school he met Nicole Renard and instantly fell in love with her, and continues to be so until at the end of the book. Francis is skilled at table-tennis after having been taught by Larry LaSalle at the 'Wreck Center', and in his Wreck Center days won a trophy for winning a series of table-tennis matches, culminating in the winning match against Larry LaSalle, despite LaSalle 'letting him win'. Although Francis did not enlist as he was not of age when the war began, after Nicole Renard was sexually assaulted and he, mentally traumatized, decided to 'kill himself'. He decided against jumping off the chapel top, and instead lied into the army and some time in the war threw himself on top of a grenade. His plan backfired as this did not kill him, merely mutilated him horribly, and his actions were seen as bravery for defending his comrades and he was given a Silver Star medal for outstanding courage. Throughout the book Francis's main mission is to wait for Larry LaSalle to come back to Frenchtown so he can shoot with a gun he carries in his duffel bag in revenge for LaSalle assaulting Nicole. However he leaves that job to Larry who kills himself anyway.
Nicole Renard: Nicole moves to Frenchtown from Albany and immediately becomes the subject of Francis's attention. Later she is involved in the events concerning Larry LaSalle, who taught her dancing in the 'Wreck Centre'. At the end of the novel, she returns to Albany in an attempt to escape the traumatic memories of her ordeal with LaSalle. Nicole has clearly moved on from the experience with Larry, when Francis visits near the end of the novel the love between the two has disappeared, something which deeply upsets Francis."
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It's about a returned war veteran, WWI I think, who is missing part of his face. He wears a scarf to hide his face from people around his home town. He falls in love with a ballerina/dancer from afar, who is later raped by her instructor. I forget the ending but I really hope someone can set me straight.