Before I started reading this book, I got confirmation that it wasn't a Tragic Gay book, that while it took place during WWII and therefore contains a lot of the hardships typical of a war story, it's not a book that ends poorly for our protagonist and others simply Because They're Gay. And I'm glad I did, both because I didn't actually want to read a tragic ending, but also because even with that assurance, the tension in the final couple of chapters was so much to deal with.
This book focuses on Laurie, a young man who was injured and now convalescing in the early days of WWII just post-Dunkirk at a military hospital in England. While at the hospital he meets Andrew, a Quaker and conscientious objector who is supporting the war effort by working at a hospital, and who many of the soldiers judge harshly for his choices. They have a relationship that is deeper and more romantic than a friendship, but which never crosses a line, a line that Andrew seems unwilling to ever acknowledge even exists.
Laurie is also reunited with Ralph, his Head Boy from his public school days, who had been expelled for a relationship he had with another boy at school. Ralph was also injured in the war while a captain on a ship, and they each struggle to cope with the permanence of their injuries. But unlike Laurie, who is isolated by his sexuality, he has a large community of mostly gay men for friends, which Laurie both desires and fears.
The book is in many ways a classic love triangle, but the choice Laurie has to make goes deeper than which man he wants to be with: it's which life he can imagine for himself, one that is contained and safer and emotionally satisfying, as long as it's kept within limits, or another that involves much greater risk and expression. It's a story that has stayed with me, one that I keep thinking about.
Grade: A
This book focuses on Laurie, a young man who was injured and now convalescing in the early days of WWII just post-Dunkirk at a military hospital in England. While at the hospital he meets Andrew, a Quaker and conscientious objector who is supporting the war effort by working at a hospital, and who many of the soldiers judge harshly for his choices. They have a relationship that is deeper and more romantic than a friendship, but which never crosses a line, a line that Andrew seems unwilling to ever acknowledge even exists.
Laurie is also reunited with Ralph, his Head Boy from his public school days, who had been expelled for a relationship he had with another boy at school. Ralph was also injured in the war while a captain on a ship, and they each struggle to cope with the permanence of their injuries. But unlike Laurie, who is isolated by his sexuality, he has a large community of mostly gay men for friends, which Laurie both desires and fears.
The book is in many ways a classic love triangle, but the choice Laurie has to make goes deeper than which man he wants to be with: it's which life he can imagine for himself, one that is contained and safer and emotionally satisfying, as long as it's kept within limits, or another that involves much greater risk and expression. It's a story that has stayed with me, one that I keep thinking about.
Grade: A
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