Chris was shell-shocked in the war and has lost fifteen years of his life, thinking he is in his twenties. Along with this come his memories of Margaret, whom he loved at the time. His current wife does not exist in his memories, creating a strange situation. The doctors seem baffled until Margaret suggests a solution to cure his amnesia. So what is best for Chris? To stay in a past where he seems happy, or to bring him back to reality, where life is likely to be bleak? This short novel reveals profound themes about love that is not based on the outward appearance of a person, about escaping reality for a better world, about choosing what is right. I really enjoyed reading this book.
“Embraces do not matter; they merely indicate the will to love, and may as well be followed by defeat as victory. But disregard means that now there needs to be no straining of the eyes, no stretching forth of the hands, no pressing of the lips, because theirs is such a union that they are no longer aware of the division of their flesh.”