BIRDSONG by Sebastian Faulks

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

A journey through time following young Brit Stephen Wrayford’s exhilarating, yet hopeless, affair with married Frenchwoman Isabelle before WW1, the doomed existence of British soldiers who serve with Stephen during WW1 mining operations, and Stephen’s granddaughter’s discovery of a diary that unlocks his story. While the first 50 pages or so were admittedly slow to capture me, Birdsong has become one of my favorites in the genre. What does it? Perhaps the depth in Stephen’s character. A dutiful, impetuous youth who pursues a forbidden romance, endures a descent to booze-fueled, trench veteran numb to the gore around him, and yet ultimately makes redemptive efforts to save his charge. Stephen’s contemporary point of view characters are drawn with care as to their hopes and motivations, though all become tragic figures in the end. The hard-hitting war events that shape Stephen are most memorable, and sensitive descriptions of Isabelle’s torment about her forbidden love are moving. Birdsong is a rare book I find myself picking up from time to time just to reread a chapter or two.