When an American woman, Stella Bain, is found suffering from severe shell shock in an exclusive garden in London, surgeon August Bridge and his wife selflessly agree to take her in.
A gesture of goodwill turns into something more as Bridge quickly develops a clinical interest in his houseguest. Stella had been working as a nurse’s aide near the front, but she can’t remember anything prior to four months earlier when she was found wounded on a French battlefield.
In a narrative that takes us from London to America and back again, Shreve has created an engrossing and wrenching tale about love and the meaning of memory, set against the haunting backdrop of a war that destroyed an entire generation.
My Review: 2.5 stars
I was happy to pick up this book as the plot intrigued me…a woman on the front during WW1 that has amnesia. Sounds like the perfect scenario for a book, right? Well, it couldโve been, but I had a hard time with the narrator for the first half of the book. It was told in first person present tense which came off odd and unreliable as Stella has amnesia. Basically it was lacking depth and information, yet I was curious enough about Stella to turn the pages and learn more. I wouldโve liked a different point of view in this book to keep it even keeled especially when it came to the legal side of things. The plot kept me going, yet overall the book lacked the character development and complexity of plot I was looking for.
Quotes I liked:
The purest form of analysis, according to Sigmund Freud, is one in which the physician speaks not at all. Youโre familiar with Dr. Freud?โ
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– โI feel as though Iโm floating in a world in which I have no part. Itโs an extraordinary sensation, as if this were merely a dream, and at any moment I might wake up.โ
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– โHe will be her one-room cottage, her oasis.โ
Review:The Measure by Nikki Erlick was a book I waited far too long to read. I just couldnโt stomach the idea that everyone in the world would find out their relative life span. The whole idea of this scared me but when my book club chose to read it, I dug in with enthusiasm.Iโm so glad I did. This book is more about life and how we live it, rather than about dying. Itโs told by a cast of eight characters who are deeply affected by the strings they received. The length of the string parallels the length of your life. All the characters are struggling with their results because even if he or she gets a long string, there will still be people they know will be gone soon.How the world at large handles the strings was so well done. People are switching boxes hoping it could change their destiny. Support groups are offered. Protests occur. The world is in a very different place. Much of this book made me think about the differences between fate and destiny. This story offers many intertwined connections between the characters that makes for a powerful and meaningful ending. Iโm so looking forward to whatโs next from this author. @nikkierlick @williammorrowbooks William Morrow ๐ Would you open a box that told you how long your lifespan is?#themeasure #scifilight#bookreader #bookclubpick #goodbookfairy... See MoreSee Less