"An unforgettable story of the horrors of war and the heartbreak of forbidden love."
January 2025 Book of the Month
This is so much more than the love story proclaimed by the title, it is also a remarkable work of historical fiction and a valuable addition to the canon of World War One novels and from an author that we are more used to producing fantasy, dystopia or crime stories. But it is certainly a compelling, lyrical, tender and important queer love story because it depicts so vividly the added dangers that forbidden love brought to the trauma of warfare and life in the trenches.
The story is told by 19 year old Lieutenant Stephen Wraxall and set in the summer of 1916 leading up to the Battle of Somme and centring on the dangers and utter stupidity of The Big Push.
Returning to the front after recovering from a crippling injury and following the devastating heartbreak of discovering that his childhood friend and first love, Michael has been killed, only to have the irrepressible 18-year-old Private Danny McCormick installed as his soldier-servant. Stephen is determined to preserve the life and innocence of Danny where he could not save Michael and the developing chemistry between the two of them is so vividly drawn that the reader is kept in a state of almost unbearable tension as they face both death and discovery.
The author does not flinch from portraying the brutality of war and the dedication of his research can be judged by the extensive bibliography and useful glossary at the end of the book, but the research never overwhelms the writing and the superb characterisation. In his acknowledgements the author states he wanted the story to be a testament to those men who lived and died ‘defending a country that for the most part despised them.’ This he has most memorably and poignantly achieved in magnificent fashion.
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