The story now moves forward to France in 1916, and the Western Front.Ĭommissioned from the ranks of his territorial battalion, Stephen finds himself, as a young lieutenant, with tunnellers on the Franco-Belgian border here the reader is introduced, briefly but dramatically, to the horrors of trench warfare and to the terrifying business of mining and fighting underground. Guilt ultimately causes her to leave Stephen, and he returns to England. Remy-de-Provence, where Isabella becomes pregnant. Stephen soon embarks upon a passionate relationship with Isabella, resulting in their leaving Amiens and taking up residence in St. The brilliant evocation of pre-war France is a forerunner of much superb writing to come. Amiens is clue enough to indicate the future content of the novel, and this is confirmed when Stephen accompanies the Azaire family on a fishing trip to the River Ancre, somewhere in the area between Beaumont Hamel and Thiepval in the summer of 1910. He lodges with Rene Azaire, owner of two textile factories, Rene's second wife Isabella and the two children from his first marriage.

It appeared in the Sunday Times best sellers list for many weeks during 1994.īriefly, the story opens in Amiens in 1910, when Stephen Wraysford, the principal character, takes up a position in the textile industry there. Works of fiction are not often referred to in Stand To !, but occasionally a work appears of sufficient character to merit a review.

Birdsong faulks