Dear girl, I escaped -

An absolute gem. Anne has taken letters written by her parents during world war one, plus the memoir her father wrote on medical advice, as a means of dealing with his post war depression, and turned them into a simple, understated, yet page-turning account of the experiences of two ordinary young adults struggling to maintain their faith, and good humour, whilst their worlds fell apart. Arthur (in the RAF) was shot down behind enemy lines, left for dead, then ended up in a prison camp from which he attempted escape. Emmeline served as a VAD in northern France tending young men dying from appalling wounds. This beautiful book tells us as much by what is not said, as by what is said. A 'must read'.