In Memoriam by Alice Winn

“In Memoriam is the story of a great tragedy, but it is also a moving portrait of young love.”—The New York Times

It’s 1914, and World War I is ceaselessly churning through thousands of young men on both sides of the fight. The violence of the front feels far away to Henry Gaunt, Sidney Ellwood and the rest of their classmates, safely ensconced in their idyllic boarding school in the English countryside. News of the heroic deaths of their friends only makes the war more exciting.

Gaunt, half German, is busy fighting his own private battle–an all-consuming infatuation with his best friend, the glamorous, charming Ellwood–without a clue that Ellwood is pining for him in return. When Gaunt’s family asks him to enlist to forestall the anti-German sentiment they face, Gaunt does so immediately, relieved to escape his overwhelming feelings for Ellwood. To Gaunt’s horror, Ellwood rushes to join him at the front, and the rest of their classmates soon follow. Now death surrounds them in all its grim reality, often inches away, and no one knows who will be next.

An epic tale of both the devastating tragedies of war and the forbidden romance that blooms in its grip, In Memoriam is a breathtaking debut.

This needs a movie adaptation!

Quite a beautiful book. So many wonderful moments, so much pain and suffering. Sometimes it's hard to relish the love when reading about such horror. The gore factor could have been scaled down. There were so many characters who die so it's hard to keep track and feel the death.

I guess the novel is realistic.

Powerful. A look at the destruction of innocence of some public schoolboys in the trenches of the First World War, whilst also dealing with societies then attitude towards homosexuality. This is playing with some really weighty topics, and it does them with an appropriate level of sensitivity whilst not backing away from the brutality of the events of the time. Even as the events of WW1 are fading into history we find a similar trench warfare building on the gates of Europe again at the moment which I think adds to the poignancy of the stories here.

The title refers to a section in the school newspaper, where the fallen old boys of the school are remembered, and as we start our main characters are all still in the school reading about former schoolmates who have gone to war and grasping with the ideas of glory that are still prevalent. As they gradually leave the safety of school and enlist we see the idealism gradually fade to be replaced by horror and lasting psychological trauma, and that descent provides the powerful backdrop to the whole novel.

Poignant, sad and heartfelt, a powerful read.

8.0This felt, in a lot of ways, like a British [b:At Swim, Two Boys 96200 At Swim, Two Boys Jamie O'Neill https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1439613291l/96200.SX50.jpg 956105]. Which reminds me I need to re-read that one as soon as possible. Alice nailed it, specially for a first time writer, gonna definitely keep an eye out for her.