Gutless book. ( )

This is not a fast paced novel by any stretch of the imagination. However it is one filled with rich characters and strong sense of place. Together these components made for an evocative and moving story of both war and the pain of making the peace that stayed with me after completing the book.

Plot in a Nutshell
The story opens in 1920 and follows Lieutenant Alexander Lucas, Captain James Reid and their men who have the unenviable task of locating and identifying British war dead and the transfer and burial of those dead in what will become one of many War Grave sites. The story is driven by a number of events. The arrival of 2 women at Morlancourt – one a young woman seeking her fiancé’s grave and the second an older experienced nurse looking to oversee the internment of 24 nurses killed during the war. Against this backdrop we also see Reid and Lucas struggle with being asked to overlook what appears to be the identification of a war crime site and them come to terms with the burial of a young soldier executed for cowardice. The culmination of the story is a ceremony put together for dignitaries and journalists which offers a sharp comparison with the reality of the work being undertaken

Thoughts
I have been to France and also Belgium to visit a number of the war graves and memorials (French, UK and Commonwealth as well as German) scattered across the landscape and on each visit have found myself very moved. I had never however given a great deal of thought to how they were created and the effort involved. Nor had it occurred to me that like Reid, Lucas and Drake much of this effort would have been undertaken by soldiers not demobbed at the end of the War and as such living in a sort of limbo continuing in France. Edric captures this sense of limbo incredibly well – perhaps because the novel is not fast paced or full of complex plot and story lines but rather focuses predominantly on the ordinary routine of the men with only small every day interruptions.
Both Reid and Lucas are well drawn and realistic characters. Both have fought during the War before their current postings although it is clear both have been impacted in very different ways. I however particularly enjoyed the interactions between both men and a cast of secondary characters. I found many of Reid and Beniot scenes, the French station master – struggling to come to terms with the death of his son and the changes to his village, particularly moving.
There is something a little stereotypical in the characterisation of Wheeler, Reid and Lucas’ commanding officer who is shown to be disconnected with the work his men are undertaking heavily political and bureaucratic. Guthrie an army chaplain who appears midway through the story is also cut from the same cloth although both men are used to great effect to create and underline a sense that for our main characters the War is yet to really end.
Anything but stereotypical is the inclusion of Caroline Mortimer the nursing sister who enters the story awaiting the arrival of the bodies of a number of female nursing casualties. I did not see Caroline as a love interest at all but rather another clever and well researched way to highlight the impact of the War across society where women are not only impacted by their losses at home but also through their more active involvement in theatres of war. ( )