by Pat Barker
First published 1995
As World War I nears its savage conclusion, psychologist William Rivers grapples with his role in treating the war's mental casualties, including the cynical officer Billy Prior. Meanwhile, Prior and poet Wilfred Owen return to the French trenches, their bonds tested by the horrors of combat. Across the gulf, Rivers' own memories of a South Pacific tribe's ethos of death force him to confront the true nature of warfare. In this Booker Prize-winning masterpiece, Barker weaves gritty realism, biting humor, and profound tragedy into an unforgettable meditation on the costs of conflict.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, historical-fiction, 20th-century, war, academic
Vibes: dark, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-study, war-trauma
Setting: Great Britain
Period: 20th Century
278 pages · Hardcover · E. P. Dutton
Content warnings: death, graphic-violence, mental-illness