In Memoriam cover art

In Memoriam

The must-read, Sunday Times bestselling First World War love story

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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.
WINNER OF THE WATERSTONES NOVEL OF THE YEAR PRIZE 2023

THE TOP FIVE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

In 1914, war feels far away to Henry Gaunt and Sidney Ellwood. They're too young to enlist, and anyway, Gaunt is fighting his own private battle - an all-consuming infatuation with the dreamy, poetic Ellwood - not having a clue that his best friend is in love with him too.

When Gaunt's mother asks him to enlist, he signs up immediately, relieved to escape his overwhelming feelings. But Ellwood and their classmates soon follow him to the front. Ellwood and Gaunt find love in the trenches – but just as war brought them together, it can tear them apart…
An epic, unforgettable love story between two soldiers in the First World War, In Memoriam is a breath-taking debut.
‘If you haven’t read it, you’re missing out’ Bonnie Garmus, bestselling author of LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY

'One of the best debuts I've read in recent years . . . please rush out and buy it' ELIZABETH DAY

'A genuine page-turner' Sunday Times
'BIRDSONG for a new generation' JOANNA QUINN, author of THE WHALEBONE THEATRE
'I can't remember the last time I was this invested in a love story' Sunday Telegraph
'Assured, affecting and moving' MAGGIE O'FARRELL, author of HAMNET
‘Will smash your heart to smithereens' Daily Mail
©2023 Alice Winn (P)2023 Penguin Audio

 20th Century Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Romance World War I Heartfelt Tear-jerking War

Critic reviews

It's hard to believe that In Memoriam is a debut novel as it's so assured, affecting and moving. Alice Winn has written a devastating love story between two young men that moves from the sheltered idyll of their public school to the unspeakable horrors of the Western Front during the First World War. Gaunt and Ellwood will live in your mind long after you've closed the final pages. (Maggie O'Farrell)
One of the best debuts I've read in recent years: immersive, rousing, tender and devastating. In Memoriam is both a deeply moving love story and a visceral evocation of the Great War, impressively free of cliche. Winn makes such important points about class, destruction and the loss of innocence. I loved it with a startling ferocity (Elizabeth Day)
An instant classic (Sara Collins)
A tender, affecting debut . . . Winn strikingly evokes the torment and brutality of life of the front
If you haven't read it, you're missing out (Bonnie Garmus)
A vivid rendering of love and frontline brutality in the first world war . . . In Memoriam is at once epic and intimate, humorous and profound, a vivid rendering of the madness and legacy of the first world war as seen through the lens of a schoolboy love affair . . . Acts of revenge, moonlit escapes from POW camps, serendipities just wild enough to be credible - all bound from the page with a clarity best described as cinematic, while even in the direst moments Winn's dialogue thrums with mirth and furious intelligence. Throughout, she artfully switches perspectives and settings, leaving the reader in desperate suspense over fates and fortunes.
In Memoriam is the story of a great tragedy, but it is also a moving portrait of young love, and there is often a lightness to the book, even humor. It's a difficult balancing act, but one that Winn, who is erudite, fast talking and very funny, pulls off . . . Winn was 26 years old when she began it, but "In Memoriam" doesn't read like its author was still finding her footing as a writer
Alice Winn's propulsive, visceral and heartrending debut takes an all-too-familiar setting and brilliantly reframes it via a feverish gay love story . . . Winn skillfully uses the school as a microcosm, making us feel the loss of each boy, each friend, each brother . . . but what keeps you turning the page is the tender central romance . . . I can't remember the last time I was this invested in a love story - all the while seeing our darkest history brought wrenchingly to life
Alice Winn's devastating debut will smash your heart to smithereens . . . as thousands of young men die in the most horrific of ways, Gaunt and Ellwood attempt to survive the slaughter and keep their love alive
First love, class, male camaraderie and the horrors of the war are all explored in this quietly heartbreaking epic with the unforgettable appeal of Birdsong
All stars
Most relevant
Loved this. It absolutely brought home the horror of war . Loved the characters and couldn’t stop listening.
Amazing read.

Amazing

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Beautiful book. Exquisitely written, expertly narrated. Distressing but important, and written so tenderly. I was so invested in these characters, I just had to keep listening to find out what happened.

More than 5 stars

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Aspects of my life enabled me to connect with the characters in all theaters of this story. It made me think beyond the story and helped me understand how and why those bonds developed so widely in those times. My best book for 2023 by far.

Emotionally brilliant

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An incredible portrayal of two characters at the front. Exceptional writing, excellent narration. Perfect.

utterly beautiful

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Beautiful poetic writing of a grizzly part of WW1 history and the young men involved.

Shockingly grafic descriptions of war alongside sweet gentle words of love.

Narrated perfectly by Christian Coulson.

Touching

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