The beginning of this trilogy deals with the sadness of returning home after the terrible effects of war and finding a totally different world, to adjusting to a son you don’t know, a wife greatly changed and a life difficult to pick up again. It’s an excellent portrait of the time, beautifully written, a lovely book.
Comparison: Sebastian Faulks, Andrew Greig, Simon Mawer.
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
| Other Genres: | |
| Recommendations: |
When Sam Richardson returns in 1946 from the `Forgotten War` in Burma to Wigton in Cumbria, he finds little has changed, as far as his own limited prospects go, but in his absence his young family has altered immensely. His wife Ellen has found a sense of self worth in her war time jobs, and their six-year-old son Joe, accustomed to his mother`s undivided love, doesn`t welcome the father he barely remembers. And Sam finds the traumatic scenes of Burma have changed him too, making the confines of this working class Cumbrian town stifling. The result is a family in turmoil, which reaches breaking point when Sam resolves to emigrate to Australia. Based on Bragg`s own family, this taut, powerful novel sits firmly in the tradition of his hugely popular Cumbrian novels.
The Soldier's Return features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Historical Fiction, eBooks of the Month, General Fiction, Fiction, Recommendations
The Soldier's Return is available in Paperback
The Soldier's Return was written by Melvyn Bragg and published by Hodder & Stoughton General Division
The Soldier's Return has 375 pages
£9.89
