Lilibet Bombshell's Reviews > Two Storm Wood

I’m not usually one for military fiction (I love military non-fiction, though), but the blurb for this book caught me with its premise of a British woman who is unwilling to sit by and accept her fiance had simply gone missing at the Battle of Somme (during WWI, for those who aren’t in the know) and decides to spirit herself away without telling her family to travel to France in order to keep the promise to return his body to England. At the same time, there is a concurrent and intertwined storyline about a British military captain who, along with Amy (our female protagonist), stumble upon the scene of what would be considered an egregious war crime on the part of the British Army while seeking a possible spot where Amy’s missing fiance might be found.

The blurb makes it sound like the main storyline and interest lies with Captain Mazkenzie and his endeavor to get to the bottom of what happened at Two Storm Wood, but in truth it’s Amy and her indefatigable, determined, and tenacious search for the truth about her missing fiance and what happened at Two Storm Wood that truly carry this amazing book. Stalwart with love and burdened by guilt, Amy marches through sodden battlefields, sees the worst horrors of war, endures horrible conditions among hostile and period-typical misogynistic males because she simply cannot accept the word “missing” when it comes to the man she loves.

The narrative in this book pulls no punches. We get to see the horrors of war and the aftermath both through the eyes of the soldiers and through what Amy sees in her travels: war hospitals filled the sick, the damaged, the dying, and the dead. We get detailed and well-researched sections of the book that put us readers directly in the trenches, dugouts, and battlefields as the Battle of Somme rages on. Most of all, we get to see the horrors and wreckage of war without varnish. This isn’t a pretty book, but it’s a dang good one.

Last of all? This book is indeed thrilling. It’s tense, driven, and does manage to keep surprising you. And what is war if not thrilling all on its own? WWI was horrifying, and this book won’t let you forget it.

Thanks to NetGalley and W. W. Norton for early access to this title in exchange for a fair and honest review.