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Product Description
Product Description
John Hilliard, a young subaltern returning to the Western Front after a brief period of sick leave back in England, finds his battalion tragically altered. His commanding officer finds escape in alcohol, there is a new adjutant and even Hilliard's batman has been killed. But there is David Barton. As yet untouched and unsullied by war, radiating charm and common sense, forever writing long letters to his family. Theirs is a strange meeting and a strange relationship: the coming together of opposites in the summer lull before the inevitable storm.
About the Author
Susan Hill's novels include I'm the King of the Castle and Mrs de Winter, a sequel to Du Maurier's Rebecca. She is also well known for her children's books (including Can It Be True?, which won the Smarties Prize). She has written non-fiction and autobiography and is a regular broadcaster and reviewer. She is married to the Shakespeare scholar Stanely Wells, and they live in a Gloucestershire village from which she runs a small publishing company called Long Barn Books. You can see her website at www.susan-hill.com.
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First Sentence
He was afraid to go to sleep. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
He was afraid to go to sleep. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
52 of 52 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
The theme of this novel is friendship, a friendship between two English soldiers, set against a background of the atrocities of the battlefield during the First World War.
John Hilliard, a young officer, returns to his battalion in France, after a period of sick leave in England. In the mean time a new officer has arrived. It's David Barton, 21 years old and slightly younger that Hilliard.
Hilliard, who is rather stiff and reserved and has been lonely all his life, feels that he is changing under the influence of the open, easy-going and cheerful Barton, who can express his feelings so easily.
The great merit of this book is that Susan Hill shows us what it means to people to be intimate friends, to share feelings and to be happy in each other's company. Under normal circumstances this friendship might never have developed to such an extent. In this war it could.
The nightmare world of the front line trenches is depicted so vividly, that we realize that this war was not only terrible, but also senseless; it only led to enormous loss of lives.
A wonderful story - sad and moving.
For further reading I recommend "All Quiet on the Western Front" (1929) by E.M. Remarque. It's a beautifully written and very moving story of German trench soldiers in WWI.It's the best anti-war novel I've ever read and has become world-famous.
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
A beautiful and intense novel. John Hilliard is distant and repressed, swallowing words and following orders. Always the glacial outsider he meets David Barton who's open, friendly and warm, full of stories and family and smiles. Their relationship is so natural, not contrived, just a gradual understanding, a slow clarification. Of course there's the senseless horrors (shockingly pointless), the rats and corpses and mud and tradegy. But this is essentially a love story. An eloquent expression of the gay experience, but much more than that too. Spare, poetic and wonderfully lucid, the tears will come. Utterly transcendent.
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I read this in year 11 (please dont be put off in any way by my age) at school and was completely blown away by it. Seriously-you HAVE to read this. The relationship is so emotional that you will find it difficult to put the book down. I wouldn't say this about any random book. The ending is so sad i cried for an hour.
DONT let this put you off-you HAVE TO READ IT!
My favorite WW1 book (so far...!)
DONT let this put you off-you HAVE TO READ IT!
My favorite WW1 book (so far...!)
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Highly recommended
A very moving and beautiful story of love and friendship between two soldiers at the Front during the First World War. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mr. R. F. W. Freeman
Strange Meeting, Susan Hill
This book captures the impact on individuals, at home and at the front, during World War 1, bringing together two men at almost different ends of the personality spectrum. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Faze
SUPERB HAUNTING BOOK
I am not going to give a long literary analysis of this book. I will just say that I am already a fan of Susan Hill and this slim book gives all the reasons within its covers. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Leona Frayling
Understated but powerful
My only adverse criticism of this book is that I would have liked it to be considerably longer. Hill tells of a friendship between two soldiers fighting at the front in the first... Read more
Published 7 months ago by piscator
Heaven in hell
Two men of completely contrasting character meet during active service in the First World War. At first it seems that the difficult and repressed John Hilliard is the only... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Clive A. H. Still
Wonderful touching novel
This is a wonderful novel, its a touching tale and has some wonderful characters that keep you wanting to know more about them. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Mr. R. N. Lock
probably the best of it's kind
A book about relationships, family and friendship during the 1914-18 war. The book, though a novel, describes life and experiences, as I would imagine life might have been in the... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Mrs. Gail C. Hurst
Absolutely fantastic.
Such an absolutely beautiful story, and - as Susan Hill herself notes - not only about war, but, perhaps more importantly, about love. Read more
Published on 9 Feb 2010 by Menna
HAunting
This little book is profound in its impact. the characters and exploration of relationships is ahunting.
Published on 30 Jan 2010 by Deniflo
A small action packed and thought provoking book
This book had me thinking more deeply about the 1st World War and the conditions that many of my family had died in. Read more
Published on 27 Oct 2009 by browneyes, brandon
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