#BlogTour When I Come Home Again by Caroline Scott

 

Today it's an absolute pleasure to take part in the BlogTour When I Come Home Again by Caroline Scott. From the highly acclaimed author of The Photographer of the Lost, a BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick.

About the Author

Caroline completed a PhD in History at the University of Durham. She developed a particular interest in the impact of the First World War on the landscape of Belgium and France, and in the experience of women during the conflict – fascinations that she was able to pursue while she spent several years working as a researcher for a Belgian company. Caroline is originally from Lancashire, but now lives in southwest France. The Photographer of the Lost was a BBC Radio 2 Book Club pick.

Follow @CScottBooks on Twitter, on Goodreads, on Amazon, Buy When I Come Home Again

About the book

They need him to remember. He wants to forget.1918. In the last week of the First World War, a uniformed soldier is arrested in Durham Cathedral. When questioned, it becomes clear he has no memory of who he is or how he came to be there.

The soldier is given the name Adam and transferred to a rehabilitation home where his doctor James is determined to recover who this man once was. But Adam doesn’t want to remember. Unwilling to relive the trauma of war, Adam has locked his memory away, seemingly for good.

When a newspaper publishes a feature about Adam, three women come forward, each claiming that he is someone she lost in the war. But does he believe any of these women? Or is there another family out there waiting for him to come home?

Based on true events, When I Come Home Again is a deeply moving and powerful story of a nation’s outpouring of grief, and the search for hope in the aftermath of war

Review

1918 - Wandering aimlessly through streets is a man they later call Adam. He is has no memory of who he is, where he is from and where he is going. Or is it because he just doesn't want to remember what he has been through?

An ad in the newspaper seems like the perfect way to find someone who might be able to identify him, but what no one expects is multiple desperate grieving women to turn up, because they are all certain Adam is their lost loved one.

What Scott does with an uncanny accuracy is capture the pain and emotional turmoil of those involved in war, especially when they have been in the midst of battles. The trauma and PTSD, which at the time was still unknown territory to medical experts, was often dismissed as fake. All those lives and families destroyed by the war to end all wars. 

What is even more heartbreaking and at the heart of this story is how many of those brave men remain without an ending to their story and in equal measures the loved ones who also search every face, report, rumour and story for an ending.

The thousands of men who remain nameless and unaccounted for - even now in the 21st century remains from WW2 for instance are being identified via DNA and families are finally getting closure after so many decades. 

Aside from the excellent writing, I really do enjoy the way Scott seems to have her finger on the pulse when it comes to the despair, the endless searching and the lack of understanding for the trauma war brings with it. Even now can someone who hasn't been in the midst of open warfare and battle ever really understand the inner torment of those who have?

It's an emotional and at times extremely sad read, but also one that gives readers the hope we can do better going forward. Simultaneously it speaks to the humanity, empathy and the belief that someone can leave their presence behind in so many ways, which is a comfort in itself. 

Buy When I Come Home Again at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher Simon and Schuster: Publishing 29th October 2020 | Hardback | £14.99. Buy at Amazon com.