A review by beanie_bob
In Memoriam by Alice Winn
emotional
funny
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
I don’t want to make this the only value of the novel, but if you like Song of Achilles you must read this. War, loss of youth, love, beautiful writing - it’s all here.
I’m completely stunned by the fact that this is a debut novel. It’s so good. (To be fair, Alice Winn apparently wrote three unpublished novels before this, so we see that practice really does make perfect). I wish I had a physical copy to annotate. I can’t wait to see what comes next from Alice Winn.
I really love the the first third of this novel (even the first half). So much is brewing in this stage - we meet many of the main players, we witness and toil over unrequited love, we go to war, we experience tension and terror, and begin to accumulate death.
I love yearning. I love two people who believe they can’t be together, or that the other is uninterested, or who regret not being brave enough to say something, or who regret saying something and losing everything. Now do all of that under the pressure of a world war. Awful. Exquisite.
The last third of third works a little less for me, but I never lost my desire to follow the story to the end.
Gaunt: Thoroughly my type. Tall, broad, wide, quiet, serious but completely smitten on the inside. War changes everyone and by the end he’s no longer a closed fist.
Ellwood: His soul is eviscerated at some point. If Gaunt becomes who he’s meant to be (a leader, a kind man, an open man) Ellwood becomes what he never should have been, and then claws his way back from that.
They’re just boys. They’ll be in their 40s when WW2 starts. War is hell.
I’m completely stunned by the fact that this is a debut novel. It’s so good. (To be fair, Alice Winn apparently wrote three unpublished novels before this, so we see that practice really does make perfect). I wish I had a physical copy to annotate. I can’t wait to see what comes next from Alice Winn.
I really love the the first third of this novel (even the first half). So much is brewing in this stage - we meet many of the main players, we witness and toil over unrequited love, we go to war, we experience tension and terror, and begin to accumulate death.
I love yearning. I love two people who believe they can’t be together, or that the other is uninterested, or who regret not being brave enough to say something, or who regret saying something and losing everything. Now do all of that under the pressure of a world war. Awful. Exquisite.
The last third of third works a little less for me, but I never lost my desire to follow the story to the end.
Gaunt: Thoroughly my type. Tall, broad, wide, quiet, serious but completely smitten on the inside. War changes everyone and by the end he’s no longer a closed fist.
Ellwood: His soul is eviscerated at some point. If Gaunt becomes who he’s meant to be (a leader, a kind man, an open man) Ellwood becomes what he never should have been, and then claws his way back from that.
They’re just boys. They’ll be in their 40s when WW2 starts. War is hell.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Mental illness, and War
Moderate: Antisemitism, Violence, and Alcoholism
Minor: Suicide