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In Memoriam

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

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In Memoriam

By: Alice Winn
Narrated by: Christian Coulson
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It's 1914, and talk of war feels far away to Henry Gaunt, Sidney Ellwood and the rest of their classmates, safely ensconced in an idyllic boarding school in the English countryside. At seventeen, they're too young to enlist, and anyway, Gaunt is fighting his own private battle - an all-consuming infatuation with his best friend, the dreamy, poetic Ellwood - not having a clue that Ellwood is in love with him, always has been. When Gaunt's German mother asks him to enlist in the British army to protect the family from anti-German attacks, he signs up immediately, relieved to escape his overwhelming feelings for Ellwood.

The front is horrific, of course, and though Gaunt tries to dissuade Ellwood from joining him on the battlefield, Ellwood soon rushes to join him. In the trenches, Ellwood and Gaunt find fleeting moments of solace in one another, but their friends are all dying, right in front of them, and at any moment they could be next.

An epic tale of both the devastating tragedies of war and the forbidden romance that blooms in its grip, In Memoriam is a breathtaking debut.

 20th Century Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Romance World War I Heartfelt Tear-jerking War
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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
Haunting depiction of First World War through the lens of forbidden love. The narrator is the best I’ve ever encountered, the book is most dialogue and he manages to give each character a distinctive voice. Difficult to believe this is a debut novel.

Brilliantly read, evocative

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Beautifully written book, the characterisation, the thoroughly researched depictions of the war, the relationships, all are painted clearly, with care and love. The beauty of the developing relationships though, against the awful backdrop of war and what it did to a generation of boys, is painful, but makes it all the more real and important to bear witness.

Devastating and beautiful

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Alice Winn….you had me totally submerged in this truly brilliantly written book!
I was spell bound by your characters and totally in love with Sidney and Henry.
I laughed, I cried. I did not want it to end!
Brilliant…..thank you…. Janet

Truly Brilliant

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A triumph of a novel, beautifully narrated. Evokes the period and the horrors of WW1 with poignancy and immediacy but the love story gives the novel its beating heart.

An absolute masterpiece

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war is atrocious, and it lingers everywhere; nothing remains unscarred. A phenomenal, yet horrid read.

Visceral.

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