Katie Reviews~ In Memoriam by Alice Winn

I know I'm late to the party and I have to admit I'd heard about this book but I'd never picked it up until one of our customers at Breakfast book club, described it beautifully and remarked on the amount of research that must have been completed as the parts of this book that are related to the German experience of World War One were written with respect and accuracy. Although intrigued I wasn't a hundred percent sold on trying it until I read a review that echoed what had been said and that it was “Beautiful, Moving, Gut-wrenching, Two boys, secretly in love, sent to war.” Having read the book this review is perfectly spot.

The beginning of In Memoriam starts with the use of mixed media in the form of a newspaper clipping of the ultimatum given to Germany by the British government that if they failed to comply it would mean war being declared. This is then followed by a local newspaper clipping of the In Memoriam section which details those who died from the local area.

The actual story starts in 1914 at an idyllic boarding school where the boys debate the war, attend history classes, and quote Tennyson’s poems. Henry Guant the only German speaking student is called out for being a spy by his school mates as he struggles with his forbidden love for his best friend Sidney Ellwood (homosexuality was made legal in 1967). As the war unfolds the local paper reports on the deaths of past and present students and when Guant's mother approaches him begging for him to sign up to stop the remaining family members being persecuted for their German heritage, Guant can't say no. During his training and his subsequent deployment to the Allies front line Guant sends Ellwood beautiful letters containing quotes from Tennyson, reminiscing of their time at school, their innocents and naivety.  The letters are really polarising the innocent boy back at the boarding school and the horrific things Guant is witnessing on the front line. The letters really bring light relief to the description of the conditions however slowly the mental toll of Guant's circumstances really become apparent in the letters as he describes some of the things he sees “ I have tried to keep things from you, Elly, you are so fresh and clean, and I did not want to be the one to open your eyes, but I must write, I must describe, I must tell you about the man I saw trying to claw open his own windpipe  without seeming to realise that he was missing a hand and was only succeeding in smearing blood and tendons of his blasted arm all over his blackening face … All No Man’s Land was beginning to yellow with gas. I plunged forward and suddenly realised I was alone. All my men, every last one, had been hit. I stood on the most God-forsaken patch of earth I hope ever exists and I thought: I wonder how Elly is.” This evident decline has a profound effect on Ellwood who can no longer sit safe in a boarding school and signs up for active service. He is eventually reunited with Guant on the front line where they have to fight side by side relying on each other to keep themselves safe, without the other knowing the full extent of eithers feelings for each other.

This novel beautifully highlights the love these men have for each other, but also the implications of their love being illegal and the consequence of being court marshalled and sentence to hard labour if anyone were to know. The horrific details and descriptions of the front line and the conditions these men had to live in are mixed with tender human moments between characters which is beautiful but harrowing at the same time. This book also highlights the conditions of prisoner of war camps in a way that you feel for both the prisoner who had very little to eat and the guards who had even less to eat than the prisoners. It also shows the determination of POWs and their constant attempts to escape the camps. Reminding me of the great escape. I particularly liked the part where all escape plans had to be authorised so that they didn’t interfere with each other in case one escape plan was foiled.

Ultimately this book breaks your heart and mends it all in one go and has led me to explore more Alfred Tennyson's poetry as the poetry is used so well to describe characters feelings and actions.

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