Per Ardua Ad Astra

Lately I've been finding excellent reads in the most unexpected of places, my own library. Who knew? This is a lovely story of two young Englishmen who meet and recognize their person in the other and become a couple, one in with decided D/s dynamics. The year is 1912 and being together isn't much of a problem being as they form part of the nascent RAF. What can tear them apart is the coming war. If you know anything about WWI, [b:Parade's End 777824 Parade's End Ford Madox Ford https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1450231478l/777824.SY75.jpg 2244425] is a good primer, you'll know that it wasn't a cake walk. That this author managed to encompass the span of Freddy & Hughe's relationship (including the BDSM aspect), a bit of RAF history, and some social commentary that wasn't dismal in a few economical pages just floored me. I love how irrespective of what modern readers might think or want he renders the voices of the characters true to nationality, class, and time period, while keeping the story utterly romantic without ever even tiptoeing into sentiment or sap. I loved it. Why not 5 stars? My greedy self wanted more but there's no hope of that. Sigh.