I ‘m not necessarily drawn to novels set during wars but had heard such great things about In Memoriam that I wanted to try it. And I’m so glad I did. I finished In Memoriam last week and it’s constantly been on my mind since. Alice Winn crafts a beautiful, emotional love story against the brutal, heartbreaking backdrop of World War I.
Opening sentence: Ellwood was a prefect, so his room that year was a splendid one, with a window that opened onto a strange outcrop of roof.
Ellwood & Gaunt
Sidney Ellwood and Henry Gaunt meet when they are students at Preshute College, a public boarding school in England. They – and their friends – all come from privileged families, but they are not immune to the war. Due to their ages, they are prime for enlisting and becoming soldiers – and they do.
The shocking reality that was a whole generation of school boys being wiped out is highlighted by entries from The Preshutian – the school newspaper – scattered throughout with lists of the dead and injured students; the true devastation of how many young lives were lost.
The love story between Ellwood and Gaunt is so beautifully written. The golden rule at public school is you can do whatever you want as long as you don’t get found out. Homosexuality was illegal in Britain in 1913, so Ellwood and Gaunt had feelings that could literally get them put in prison.
‘If Gaunt had been a girl, I should have married him in an instant.’
They had expectations from society and coupled with the British stiff upper lip and their inability to express feelings (except through poetry – more on that later) and you have a melting pot of repressed desires.
The horrors of war
My knowledge of the wars isn’t expansive and while I had heard of the significant battles that are referenced in the book – Flanders Fields and the Somme – the scale of men who were killed in them is truly shocking. (‘You are here to be machine-gun fodder.’)
Alice Winn also made the true horrors of the trenches so explicitly clear to me. The descriptions of the trenches and the men rolling over the front into German fire is far more visceral than anything I’ve seen on TV.
He had become used to the idea that he would die. There wasn’t anything else to think. He only wished he wouldn’t have to see any more of his friends killed before it happened.
What’s also addressed so well is the PTSD that Ellwood and Gaunt – who were aged 18 and 19 only – and so many others experienced. And the fractured lives across the board that ricocheted out from those who died fighting.
For the love of Tennyson
The other thread running through In Memoriam is poetry. The book is named after the English poet, Tennyson’s poem, In Memoriam A.H.H. Ellwood is a poet himself and frequently recites Tennyson (and others). The poetry in In Memoriam is so important as it expresses what the men can’t.
‘Tennyson?‘ asked Gaunt, although he knew the answer.
‘Yes, in Memoriam A.H.H.‘
‘Poem written upon the death of a friend,‘ said Gaunt.
The whites of Ellwood’s eyes glittered like glass in the candlelight.
‘Will you write about me when I die, Elly?‘
The book also contains the full transcript of full poem – The Charge of the Light Brigade – written by Tennyson – to describe the soldiers on the front – so poignant to read it mid-story.
In Memoriam: a stunning read
There is a huge rug-pull moment midway through that had me gasping out loud, I was so invested in Ellwood and Gaunt and their love. When they are on the front line, you never know which way the story is going to go. The tension and drama is high throughout, making this literally an unputdownable read.
It was amazing all the different textures fear could have. He thought he would prefer to face machine guns than look at the papers and find Ellwood’s name there, permanent as a tombstone.
In Memoriam is just so beautiful and tender, while being brutal and upsetting. It’s an exceptionally memorable read. My heart was in my mouth, it was aching, it was bursting with joy for them – this was a wild ride, fantastic.
- Get your copy of In Memoriam here;
- Published by Viking 2023;
- 368 pages;
- My rating:
Books on the 7:47 
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