ANAESTHESIA by Adrian Horn

Note: I am not a paid reviewer, and I have purchased this title to read for my personal enjoyment.

It is early 1915 in London and Jan, the fun-loving son of a prosperous timber merchant, is under increasing pressure to join up and do his bit. He finds a measure of refuge in his hasty marriage to girlfriend Lucy, the sheltered daughter of a stiff postmaster. But Jan succumbs to public opinion and enlists, and this novel hits its stride as Jan suffers horrific war wounds from a shell blast and teeters on the edge of life and death. Jan’s need for pain relief is painted in vivid strokes, as is the grip morphine has on him when he becomes over-medicated. The dangers of opiates were just being understood during WW1, and this story has a unique focus on how easy it must have been for medicals faced with treating a sea of maimed and wounded to over-rely on morphine in the field. That over-reliance of course led to problems as men attempted to re-engage in their former lives, and we feel his wife’s and his family’s agony during Jan’s descent to being a pathetic junkie and raging alcoholic. Short, declarative sentences make for steady pacing as Jan’s likeable, but flawed, pre-war character is juxtaposed against the suffering and incapable, wounded ex-soldier he cannot overcome. Anaesthesia is a fine, self-published debut of a quality that measures up to many war fiction titles easily found in bookstores. I have the sense that Mr. Horn’s next work will be even better, and one to look forward to.