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A review by breanneporter
In Memoriam by Alice Winn
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This is stunning. I generally stay away from anything to do with war, and I only picked this up due to a glowing review by a bookseller I trust, not really believing I would be able to finish it, but boy did it hook me and engage me and devastate me and teach me until the very end… I’m so so glad I gave it a shot. In Memoriam follows two high school best friends, Henry Gaunt and Sidney Ellwood, attending a wealthy public school in England when WW1 breaks out in 1914. Both boys are secretly in love with the other, but believe it’s unrequited. They each end up at the front of the war and confront the horrifying realities of trench warfare, losing friends and parts of themselves along the way.
This novel is not for the faint of heart: it is heart wrenching and painful and describes in visceral detail the terrible gore and tragedy of war, as well as the long term effects, both physical and mental, on those who manage to survive. I listened on audio, which was excellent, but at times very difficult to picture.
As many other reviewers note, however, there is levity and humor and romance interspersed in the horror. There are triumphs, big and small, and there are beautiful depictions of acceptance and found family. One of my favorite parts of the novel wasthe friendship between Gaunt, Pritchett and Devi, the latter two of which demonstrate unflinching devotion and acceptance of Gaunt, despite how criminalized and stigmatized homosexuality was at the time.
Throughout the novel I kept googling WWI history based on Winn’s writing, and I feel like I re-learned so much from this novel that I’d long forgotten, and I’m so grateful for that. I would highly recommend to all historical fiction and LGBTQ fiction fans (even if you’re war-wary like me)!
This novel is not for the faint of heart: it is heart wrenching and painful and describes in visceral detail the terrible gore and tragedy of war, as well as the long term effects, both physical and mental, on those who manage to survive. I listened on audio, which was excellent, but at times very difficult to picture.
As many other reviewers note, however, there is levity and humor and romance interspersed in the horror. There are triumphs, big and small, and there are beautiful depictions of acceptance and found family. One of my favorite parts of the novel was
Throughout the novel I kept googling WWI history based on Winn’s writing, and I feel like I re-learned so much from this novel that I’d long forgotten, and I’m so grateful for that. I would highly recommend to all historical fiction and LGBTQ fiction fans (even if you’re war-wary like me)!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Xenophobia, Gun violence, Grief, War, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Racism, Sexual content, Antisemitism, Alcoholism, and Homophobia