by Graham Swift
First published 2025
In one story, a retired respiratory disease specialist reluctantly returns to work during the COVID pandemic, confronting both medical challenges and personal reckonings. Another tale follows an elderly woman who discovers her passport and finds herself transported back to age three, when World War II left her orphaned and alone. These twelve stories explore the lives of soldiers, doctors, veterans, spouses, lovers, and children whose paths have been altered by the conflicts that define our era. Swift moves between characters shaped by different wars and crises, showing how trauma ripples through families and communities across generations. A veteran struggles with memories that won't fade. A wife waits for news that may never come. Children grow up in the shadows of battles their parents fought. Each story captures a moment where past and present collide, where the weight of history presses against ordinary lives. The collection reveals how war changes people in ways both obvious and hidden, creating wounds that heal slowly and scars that remain forever.
Genres: short-stories, drama, literary-fiction, historical-fiction, contemporary
Vibes: intimate, introspective, melancholic, poignant, thought-provoking
Tropes: generational-trauma, multiple-perspectives, parallel-narratives, time-displacement
Period: World War II, COVID-19 pandemic, post-war era
304 pages · Paperback · Vintage
Content warnings: death, medical-trauma, war