I first read these novels separately, however I recently re-read all three back to back. As a “complete” novel I found them if anything even more searing. This is undoubtedly a masterwork of contemporary fiction, an unflinching, compassionate and beautifully written account of the psychological and indeed physical damage inflicted by the horrors of the 1914-18 war.
The trilogy’s most recurrent characters are a fictionalised portrait of the real-life Dr William Rivers, presented as a tireless, enlightened and yet haunted figure who is grimly aware that his main job is to “heal” soldiers simply so they can be sent back to the very environment that precipitated their collapse; and Billy Prior, an ambiguous and ambivalent working class soldier who is a fascinating mix of unreconcilable traits. He and Rivers enact an uneasy dance across the three novels.
Written in a direct yet deeply elegant style, this trilogy of novels in simply unforgettable. Pat Barker is one of the great contemporary stylists and everyone should make time for this wonderful, brave and often disturbing work.
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