Eventually, Stephen is badly injured during a trip into No Man’s Land. Surviving but despondent, Stephen decides to write to Isabelle. His letter is deeply personal, expresses his fears of death, and the fact that Isabelle is his first and only love. Birdsong is a gem of a picture book. With minimalist, evocative illustrations of the Canadian countryside, this book is a joy read (or just look at). It highlights the warm friendship between a woman at the end of her life and a young girl. Birdsong is perfect for kids dealing with a move or struggling with the loss of a loved one. It’s also great to inspire anyone who’s ever been in a creative slump. Several episodes depict a downtrodden Stephen whose only respite is his friendship with Captain Michael Weir and his men. Stephen gains the reputation of a cold and distant officer. He refuses all offers of leave, because he is committed to fighting the war.

Winter, Jay M. (2006). Remembering War: The Great War Between Memory and History in the Twentieth Century. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press. p.40. ISBN 0-300-12752-9. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021 . Retrieved 29 October 2016.Think of the words on that memorial, Wraysford. Think of those stinking towns and foul bloody villages whose names will be turned into some bogus glory by fat-arsed historians who have sat in London. We were there. As our punishment for God knows what, we were there, and our men died in each of those disgusting places. I hate their names. I hate the sound of them and the thought of them, which is why I will not bring myself to remind you. If I am fighting on behalf of anyone, I think it is for those who have died. Not for the living at home. For the dead, over here." Bob – Irene's husband. He offers to translate the code used in Stephen Wraysford's war diaries for Elizabeth.

This is a lovely little picture book that spans the seasons and shows an intergenerational friendship between a little girl and her elderly neighbour. The final section is two generations later, Elizabeth is researching her family history, looking into her ancestors, in particular her grandfather, who left behind notebooks of his experiences.Another touching foray by Sebastian Faulks into life before and during WWI. Birdsong captures the drama of that era on both a national and a personal scale. It is the story of Stephen, a young Englishman, who arrives in Amiens in 1910. His life goes through a series of traumatic experiences, from the clandestine love affair that tears apart the family with whom he lives to the unprecedented experience of the war itself. His depiction of Stephen Wraysford's life during the war is very realistic, gut-wrenchingly so.

Birdsong is a 1993 war novel and family saga by the English author Sebastian Faulks. [1] It is Faulks's fourth novel. The plot follows two main characters living at different times: the first is Stephen Wraysford, a British soldier on the front line in Amiens during the First World War, and the second is his granddaughter, Elizabeth Benson, whose 1970s plotline follows her attempts to recover an understanding of Stephen's experience of the war. Bloomsbury Publishing". Bloomsbury.com. Archived from the original on 15 January 2008 . Retrieved 12 December 2010. Birdsong explored the nature of World War I, in particular, the visceral horrors of trench warfare. Scholars have noted that Birdsong is one of the best examples of a novel contending with the effects of PTSD after armed conflict, as Stephen definitely suffers from the psychological impact of the war.

a b c d Slade, Paul (1 January 1999). "Review of A Book That Changed Me: "Birdsong" ". BMJ: British Medical Journal. 319 (7224): 1583. doi: 10.1136/bmj.319.7224.1583a. JSTOR 25186653. PMC 1117289. PMID 10591744. The questions and discussion topics that follow are intended to enhance your group's reading and discussion of Sebastian Faulks's It is a shame that it is not possible to award six stars to any book that I review, for Birdsong would surely deserve such an award. This one definitely makes it into my lifetime favourite five.