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When I Come Home Again

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About this listen

 From the highly acclaimed author of The Photographer of the Lost, a BBC Radio 2 Book Club Pick

They need him to remember. He wants to forget.

1918. In the last week of the First World War, a uniformed soldier is arrested in Durham Cathedral. When questioned, it becomes clear that he has no memory of who he is or how he came to be there.

The soldier is given the name Adam and transferred to a rehabilitation home. His doctor James is determined to recover who this man once was. But Adam doesn’t want to remember. Unwilling to relive the trauma of war, Adam has locked his memory away, seemingly for good.

When a newspaper publishes a feature about Adam, three women come forward, each claiming that he is someone she lost in the war. But does he believe any of these women? Or is there another family out there waiting for him to come home?

Based on true events, When I Come Home Again is a deeply moving and powerful story of a nation’s outpouring of grief, and the search for hope in the aftermath of war.©2020 Caroline Scott (P)2020 Simon & Schuster UK 20th Century Family Life Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Medical Military War & Military World War I Solider War

Critic reviews

‘A superb and quietly devastating novel about grief, hope and the horrific aftershocks of war’ (Antonia Senior)
‘When I Come Home Again is a heartbreaking read which reveals the far-reaching tragedies of war. My heart ached for the three women and for Adam… I highly recommend it – and I very much look forward to Caroline Scott’s next novel’ (Anita Frank, author of The Lost Ones)
‘A powerful story that’s achingly moving and most beautifully written. Readers of Maggie O’Farrell and Helen Dunmore are likely to enjoy When I Come Home Again’ (Rachel Hore, author of The Love Child)
All stars
Most relevant
While the ending had some sense of resolution I found much of this story understandably very sad. Like James I wanted to fit the pieces together tidily but life often doesn’t work that way.
The characters felt very real and I will miss them.

A sad reality of post war experience

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A tale of heart wrenching sorrow, hopeful future and remembered past. Beautifully written and narrated, I was sad to reach the end.

A beautiful tale of forgotten past's!

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