The heroes' welcome

Well-written but very somber short novel about the characters from My Dear I Wanted to Tell You as they recover from the First World War. Don't know why I am so fascinated with this time period - maybe because it is now a full century since this war that devastated much of Europe yet that most Americans know little about. The titular “heroes welcome” is meant ironically; the two male characters find support in the ways that they need it most - either financially or emotionally. Riley is fortunate to have his beloved Nadine, but that famous British “stiff upper lip” reticence means that they are afraid to be honest about their feelings at first. Peter has not suffered physically as much as Riley but he experiences what we would now label as full-blown PTSD, which his beautiful self-centered wife is unprepared to handle. Some characters are able to move on while others are not, and the next generation will feel the impact of the war well into the next decade of fragile peace.

Looking forward to Devotion, Louisa Young's final book in the trilogy about these characters. Their lives haven't been easy but I have grown to care about them all.