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The Soldier's Return #1
The Soldier's Return
When Sam Richardson returns in 1946 from the "Forgotten War" in Burma to his hometown in northern England, he finds little changed. The war has changed him, however, broadening his horizons but also leaving him deeply scarred with traumatic, often hellish, memories. In addition, his six-year-old son Joe barely remembers him, and his wife has gained a new sense of independence from her wartime job. As all three strive to adjust, the bonds of love and loyalty are stretched to the breaking point in this taut and profoundly moving novel that captures what millions of families experienced in the aftermath of World War II.
360 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
84 people are currently reading
529 people want to read
About the author
Melvyn Bragg
135 books141 followersMelvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg, FRSL, FRTS (born 6 October 1939) is an English author, broadcaster and media personality who, aside from his many literary endeavours, is perhaps most recognised for his work on The South Bank Show.
Bragg is a prolific novelist and writer of non-fiction, and has written a number of television and film screenplays. Some of his early television work was in collaboration with Ken Russell, for whom he wrote the biographical dramas The Debussy Film (1965) and Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World (1967), as well as Russell's film about Tchaikovsky, The Music Lovers (1970). He is president of the National Academy of Writing. His 2008 novel, Remember Me is a largely autobiographical story.
He is also a Vice President of the Friends of the British Library, a charity set up to provide funding support to the British Library.
Bragg is a prolific novelist and writer of non-fiction, and has written a number of television and film screenplays. Some of his early television work was in collaboration with Ken Russell, for whom he wrote the biographical dramas The Debussy Film (1965) and Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World (1967), as well as Russell's film about Tchaikovsky, The Music Lovers (1970). He is president of the National Academy of Writing. His 2008 novel, Remember Me is a largely autobiographical story.
He is also a Vice President of the Friends of the British Library, a charity set up to provide funding support to the British Library.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 106 reviews
April 26, 2019
This is wonderfully perceptive account of front line warfare that evokes the trauma of military combat and the the mental and psychology damage caused by first hand combat, on the participants. Melvyn Bragg is a superb story teller and his writing gently teases out the damage that a marriage suffers when a soldier goes away to war and returns scarred by the conflict.
Sam Richardson returned from Burma in 1946 to discover not hero’s welcome but a poverty crippling austerity in Britain, where children were under nourished and experiencing malnutrition, and a son that he had never known, and who is suspicious of his father’s love and affection as it threatens at the very outset to alter the dynamics of the ‘happily family’ where young Joe has enjoyed seven years of having his mother to himself.
Ellen Richardson has been a good, loyal and dutiful wife to Sam in his absence, but the small Cumbrian town of Wigton has been plunged into rationing and unemployment, and the soldiers returning from the Far East get little time for recovery and convalescence, as wartime factories have been closed down, and work is scarce. Even if the creation of the National Health Service has allowed soldiers access to free medical help this is small compensation for soldiers traumatised by hand to hand combat. Relationships suffer and husbands seek out the company of each other to try and make sense of what they’ve lived through and how they must now adapt and come to terms with returning to their old lives.
But, life can never go back to where it once was and certainly there is no chance of ‘getting back to normal’ when work is hard to come by, and life is so very hard. Life in their small dwelling is claustrophobic, relationships are taut, and the tension between husband and wife makes for an uncomfortable but compelling read.
Sam Richardson returned from Burma in 1946 to discover not hero’s welcome but a poverty crippling austerity in Britain, where children were under nourished and experiencing malnutrition, and a son that he had never known, and who is suspicious of his father’s love and affection as it threatens at the very outset to alter the dynamics of the ‘happily family’ where young Joe has enjoyed seven years of having his mother to himself.
Ellen Richardson has been a good, loyal and dutiful wife to Sam in his absence, but the small Cumbrian town of Wigton has been plunged into rationing and unemployment, and the soldiers returning from the Far East get little time for recovery and convalescence, as wartime factories have been closed down, and work is scarce. Even if the creation of the National Health Service has allowed soldiers access to free medical help this is small compensation for soldiers traumatised by hand to hand combat. Relationships suffer and husbands seek out the company of each other to try and make sense of what they’ve lived through and how they must now adapt and come to terms with returning to their old lives.
But, life can never go back to where it once was and certainly there is no chance of ‘getting back to normal’ when work is hard to come by, and life is so very hard. Life in their small dwelling is claustrophobic, relationships are taut, and the tension between husband and wife makes for an uncomfortable but compelling read.
August 17, 2019
I have read much more regarding WWI than WWII. Most of what I *have* read involves Hitler and the holocaust, not the Far East and Japan. The soldier of the title here has returned from Burma. Throughout the bulk of the novel there are but passing references to the fighting there, so I was somewhat surprised when one horrific scene is included late in the novel. Although it doesn't directly contribute to the basic premise of the novel, it does help the reader to better understand the emotional scars soldiers bring home.
The writing style appealed to me - neither over simplified as much is these days, but neither was it so complex that one could get lost halfway through a sentence or paragraph. Bragg was able to build tension and/or realistically portray conflict, which I think a novel needs to make it worth reading. While we come to know the main characters of Sam, Ellen and son Joe, I cannot rave about the characterizations. What I think was perhaps better portrayed was the marriage. Due to the separation of war, each had grown and changed outside of the knowledge of the other. Each, of course, wanted things as they once were.
This is the first in a series. Had I remembered that, I might have anticipated the ending. But I did not anticipate, and even so, I think Bragg could have found a way to write the next installment had the ending of this one been different. This is a very good 4-stars and some might even find a 5th.
The writing style appealed to me - neither over simplified as much is these days, but neither was it so complex that one could get lost halfway through a sentence or paragraph. Bragg was able to build tension and/or realistically portray conflict, which I think a novel needs to make it worth reading. While we come to know the main characters of Sam, Ellen and son Joe, I cannot rave about the characterizations. What I think was perhaps better portrayed was the marriage. Due to the separation of war, each had grown and changed outside of the knowledge of the other. Each, of course, wanted things as they once were.
This is the first in a series. Had I remembered that, I might have anticipated the ending. But I did not anticipate, and even so, I think Bragg could have found a way to write the next installment had the ending of this one been different. This is a very good 4-stars and some might even find a 5th.
June 26, 2023
Not perfect but very enjoyable. The characters really get in your head and there are some emotional moments. I didn’t realise it was a trilogy. This was a discarded book from my time in libraries, but I’ll definitely be hunting down the following book to see what happens to this family next.
January 3, 2016
I struggled a bit with this, but think it's rather better than my fractured enjoyment of it suggested.
I remember reading 'Lark Rise to Candleford' when I was at school (compulsory reading, small book, tiny print, story by which I was unriveted), and 'The Soldier's Return' affected me in something of the same way. I hazard that it's because they are both books that lie somewhere between the novel and a eulogy to a place. In respect of the latter, I thought 'The Soldier's Return' worked well, and the deep affection felt by Ellen and the the writer for Wigton and Cumberland and a sense of community was strikingly and convincingly described in prose that was simple and clear - unaffected, suiting the people (apart from Mr Kneale, perhaps, who struck me as a rather sinister, rather insensitive, rather unsettling presence) and the place they lived.
I liked the characterisation, though I found that towards the end Bragg spent more time than I was interested in examining the inner thoughts of Ellen and Sam. Joe's role in the narrative I was never easy with, though: whose point of view is being considered - Ellen's, Sam's Joe's? This shifting perspective didn't work for me.
Structurally, the novel struck me as a bit picaresque in order to accommodate not just the sequence of events in the lives of the Richardsons', but also the events in the post-war Wigton calendar. In this respect, I felt Bragg perhaps was slaved by it, and was not able ever to decide what his focus was. Did he have too many foci, perhaps? Perhaps the unsettling narrative is a reflection of the unsettled circumstances of post-war Britain?
Anyway, I certainly wouldn't wish to put anyone off reading a novel that deals with war, relationships, a small community making the best of itself, readjustment. For some reason, I and it didn't quite hit it off - that's all.
I remember reading 'Lark Rise to Candleford' when I was at school (compulsory reading, small book, tiny print, story by which I was unriveted), and 'The Soldier's Return' affected me in something of the same way. I hazard that it's because they are both books that lie somewhere between the novel and a eulogy to a place. In respect of the latter, I thought 'The Soldier's Return' worked well, and the deep affection felt by Ellen and the the writer for Wigton and Cumberland and a sense of community was strikingly and convincingly described in prose that was simple and clear - unaffected, suiting the people (apart from Mr Kneale, perhaps, who struck me as a rather sinister, rather insensitive, rather unsettling presence) and the place they lived.
I liked the characterisation, though I found that towards the end Bragg spent more time than I was interested in examining the inner thoughts of Ellen and Sam. Joe's role in the narrative I was never easy with, though: whose point of view is being considered - Ellen's, Sam's Joe's? This shifting perspective didn't work for me.
Structurally, the novel struck me as a bit picaresque in order to accommodate not just the sequence of events in the lives of the Richardsons', but also the events in the post-war Wigton calendar. In this respect, I felt Bragg perhaps was slaved by it, and was not able ever to decide what his focus was. Did he have too many foci, perhaps? Perhaps the unsettling narrative is a reflection of the unsettled circumstances of post-war Britain?
Anyway, I certainly wouldn't wish to put anyone off reading a novel that deals with war, relationships, a small community making the best of itself, readjustment. For some reason, I and it didn't quite hit it off - that's all.
August 15, 2015
It's many years since I read a Melvyn Bragg book and, since i have lived in Cumbria for decades now, I felt I should read more. I saw the excellent documentary on his life on TV recently and chose this book as the best one to take up now.
A soldier returns to his small Cumbrian town from Burma at the end of World War 2 to his wife and son. With the horrors of what he had witnessed still firmly in his mind, and yet unsettled from seeing so much more of the world than Wigton allowed, Sam finds domestic life difficult. Ellen, his wife, is overjoyed at his return and hopes for domestic bliss, a house of her own and a settled life in the town she is content to call home, but Sam soon realises he wants more.
The minor characters are, to me, one of the joys of this book: auntie Grace the domineering matriarch, Mr Kneale the insensitive retired schoolteacher and Sadie, Ellen's friend and neighbour, among others.
Bragg paints a detailed picture of what it was like in 1946 Cumbria, and so he should as this is based on his own life - he was Joe, the young son of Sam and Ellen. In fact, my quibble with the book is that the author's memories and descriptions of the area sometimes get in the way of the story, as if he was too determined to make the setting realistic and convincing and at times it was at the expense of suspense.
It is quite an easy read and I like the way we are manipulated to identify at times with Sam and at others with Ellen as their relationship goes through difficulties and strains. We certainly see both sides and understand how each felt in their clashing ambitions for the family.
A soldier returns to his small Cumbrian town from Burma at the end of World War 2 to his wife and son. With the horrors of what he had witnessed still firmly in his mind, and yet unsettled from seeing so much more of the world than Wigton allowed, Sam finds domestic life difficult. Ellen, his wife, is overjoyed at his return and hopes for domestic bliss, a house of her own and a settled life in the town she is content to call home, but Sam soon realises he wants more.
The minor characters are, to me, one of the joys of this book: auntie Grace the domineering matriarch, Mr Kneale the insensitive retired schoolteacher and Sadie, Ellen's friend and neighbour, among others.
Bragg paints a detailed picture of what it was like in 1946 Cumbria, and so he should as this is based on his own life - he was Joe, the young son of Sam and Ellen. In fact, my quibble with the book is that the author's memories and descriptions of the area sometimes get in the way of the story, as if he was too determined to make the setting realistic and convincing and at times it was at the expense of suspense.
It is quite an easy read and I like the way we are manipulated to identify at times with Sam and at others with Ellen as their relationship goes through difficulties and strains. We certainly see both sides and understand how each felt in their clashing ambitions for the family.
January 21, 2016
The story for the most part concerns that of a man returning to his wife and son after serving in Burma during WWII. No doubt like many of his generation, the central character feels suffocated by life in small town Wigton (in Cumbria, just out of Carlisle). For mine, Bragg effectively captures the inner turmoil and unrest that must have troubled men like Sam Richardson. Those who didn't serve have a tendency to ask too many painful questions (and would not doubt not really want to hear the answers), and the vivid memories rob Sam of sleep. The shift back to the daily grind of work and home is mundane and demeaning, and the difficulties of rebuilding life with his wife and young son (who he barely knows), is fraught with unease, misapprehension, and an inevitable (but silent) frustration.
Without giving too much away, the book is a thoughtful, sensitive, and sympathetic to the ache and difficulties of relationships under repair. In the creation of the central character, Bragg writes with tremendous delicacy yet significant force about the desire and futile effort to return to a past that time and the war has ensured can never happen. Surprisingly unsentimental (almost gloomy in parts), it is however a magnificent mediation on the key themes of love, responsibility, obligation, pain and healing. The book offers a tremendous insight to those of us who had grandparents who must have experienced similar trials and experiences, and a great work of fiction. Recommended most highly.
Without giving too much away, the book is a thoughtful, sensitive, and sympathetic to the ache and difficulties of relationships under repair. In the creation of the central character, Bragg writes with tremendous delicacy yet significant force about the desire and futile effort to return to a past that time and the war has ensured can never happen. Surprisingly unsentimental (almost gloomy in parts), it is however a magnificent mediation on the key themes of love, responsibility, obligation, pain and healing. The book offers a tremendous insight to those of us who had grandparents who must have experienced similar trials and experiences, and a great work of fiction. Recommended most highly.
July 25, 2015
A really enjoyable, moving and thought-provoking look at everyday life for one family when the husband (Sam) returns from serving in World War Two. The story shows how lives change and expectations are unfulfilled for all the family and their friends /neighbours. Ellen and Joe (Sam's wife and son) had got into a routine of living which is turned upside down with Sam's return. Ellen waited so long for him to return safely, but then reality doesn't match her expectations as Sam seems to have changed. He is battling his own inner daemons from the war, which are revealed later with one 'flashback' chapter. The novel is told mostly in chronological order which gave a beautiful simplicity to the tale, although this style can be seen nowadays as old fashioned. It also jumps around into the minds of several characters but this gives the reader an overview of all the main characters. It's a very emotional drama and at times I found myself empathising with Ellen, but later switching to empathise with Sam. I loved it all except the last page! I felt that the author should have put the final idea into the reader's mind but left the finale open ended.
August 28, 2019
A fantastic read which I found thoroughly enjoyable from beginning to end. Although this is mainly a sad and “hard-life” story, the wonderful research and detail given in it makes the characters and lifestyle really come to life from this small Cumbrian town straight after WW2, very believable indeed. Therefore, I am definitely going to award Mr Bragg 5 stars for his first rate effort which I trust my 89 year-old mother will also do when she too reads the book - it should certainly bring back some memories and a real sense of reality for her of the hardships most people had to endure in the uk after rhe Second World War. Captivating.
November 17, 2021
A hard read, not enjoyed particularly
March 17, 2023
The idea of reading about a young soldier who, after years spent in the traumatizing Asian theatre, comes back home to his wife and young child that can hardly remember him, was what attracted me to the book.
Unfortunately, I didn't like it. The plot was underdeveloped and predictable, the characters flat and schematic, and the writing clunky.
Unfortunately, I didn't like it. The plot was underdeveloped and predictable, the characters flat and schematic, and the writing clunky.
June 26, 2020
It is 1946 and Sam is back from the Burma Campaign of the second world war. Post war England is richly described by the author, although the story itself is a bit by numbers. It reminded me of one of those kitchen sink dramas of the 1950's, important that it reflected the times, but the hardship of those days does not make an entertaining read. Lots of domestic stuff ( at times unremitting drudge) but very little plot. Or is it that my own father returned from Burma and the story is too close to home?
The pot is completely linear, with very small episodes when Sam remembers his experiences in Burma. I thought these would be far more important, but they are very short. at one point Sam is in a pub, sitting on his own in a corner with his pint, but nothing about what is going on in his head. This is typical of the prose that is easy to read, but of little literary merit.
The characters are all a bit one dimensional, all except Sam's wife Ellen. Almost too good to be true, the story is always at it's best when she is in it. The opposite goes for their boy Joe. His passages are mostly depressing. Which is a shame, as although I was a few years younger than Joe at the time, and lived with my parents at the house of my grandmother, there was a warmth that never came across in the book. Then at Joe's age, I still remember the smell of my father's uniform hanging in the wardrobe, and the cap he still kept. Yes, there was an outside lavatory with cut up newspaper for loo roll.
I just felt that Melvyn Bragg wanted desperately wanted to tell the story of a returning soldier, and the struggle he would have with his family and friends. It's just that this didn't make an interesting book, important though it was to describe the times.
The pot is completely linear, with very small episodes when Sam remembers his experiences in Burma. I thought these would be far more important, but they are very short. at one point Sam is in a pub, sitting on his own in a corner with his pint, but nothing about what is going on in his head. This is typical of the prose that is easy to read, but of little literary merit.
The characters are all a bit one dimensional, all except Sam's wife Ellen. Almost too good to be true, the story is always at it's best when she is in it. The opposite goes for their boy Joe. His passages are mostly depressing. Which is a shame, as although I was a few years younger than Joe at the time, and lived with my parents at the house of my grandmother, there was a warmth that never came across in the book. Then at Joe's age, I still remember the smell of my father's uniform hanging in the wardrobe, and the cap he still kept. Yes, there was an outside lavatory with cut up newspaper for loo roll.
I just felt that Melvyn Bragg wanted desperately wanted to tell the story of a returning soldier, and the struggle he would have with his family and friends. It's just that this didn't make an interesting book, important though it was to describe the times.
March 11, 2016
World War 2 has been the subject of many films, articles, shows, musicals and books. The Soldier's Return isn't just another piece of writing to be added to that expanding list. Melvyn Bragg undertakes an epic canvas, to reveal the fall-out of a soldier's return home, after a six year absence, where he -Sam- has been fighting in Burma. Things look the same, the houses, the landscape, the smells, the sounds - as before he went away. But Sam quickly discovers how much has changed, without as well as within society, his family and himself. Sam isn't alone. Those men or neighbours who went with him to that same war, in the same unit and survived to come back, have to confront many demons. Dreadful images and situations encountered, which leave them mentally scarred, unable to talk about, which impact heavily on everything they do. Particularly the desire to start afresh. The Soldier's Return is beautifully written. Every emotion can be found. It has a real authenticity of time and place. It is a powerful read, in an understated way which portrays superbly, a world on the verge of a new era. A rarerity.
July 2, 2019
Sam returns to his home town after several years of war in Burma. He has seen some terrible things he does not want to talk about, but he has also had his horizons broadened and Wigton feels constricting. His wife still loves him, but finds it difficult to connect with this new version of Sam and unable to make him understand her strong attachment to her home, which only became stronger in his absence. His son does not remember him, only the mother's idealised version and is upset by the disruption.
All these tensions and adjustments play out at length in this book and, apparently, two more. It is not badly done and each of the three main characters are sympathetic at times. I could not help feeling it would have been a better book with a few judicious edits.
Melvyn Bragg was born in 1939 and grew up in Wigton and has used some of his own experiences in the book, which adds an extra level of authenticity. He was inspired to write it by the death of his father, but the book is fiction using real life, not a memoir.
All these tensions and adjustments play out at length in this book and, apparently, two more. It is not badly done and each of the three main characters are sympathetic at times. I could not help feeling it would have been a better book with a few judicious edits.
Melvyn Bragg was born in 1939 and grew up in Wigton and has used some of his own experiences in the book, which adds an extra level of authenticity. He was inspired to write it by the death of his father, but the book is fiction using real life, not a memoir.
April 30, 2023
A painful tale of the return of Sam with his horrific experiences of life as a soldier in WW11 Burma. The horriors stay with him unexpressed as he returns to the post war hardships of life in Wigton. His wife Ellen and son Joe do not experience the homecoming they wished as a sad tale of life wih scars ensues. The characters were not as fully drawn as I would wish and tension ran deep throughout.
June 15, 2023
I wasn’t sure what to expect of Melvyn Bragg. Although I liked the sound of the book, and went as far as to read the first few pages before I went ahead and nominated it to the rest of the group, I was concerned that it might be a bit heavy going, but on the contrary, it was a very easy read. In fact, in some places it reminded me of the Catherine Cookson books that I couldn’t get enough of in my teenage years!
Don’t get me wrong - I did enjoy it, but I somehow expected a bit more substance to it.
I was staggered that it won the ‘WHS Literary Award 2000’. I would have thought there were other, more substantial books, which might have taken that award, but maybe Mr Bragg’s name helped!
All in all, and enjoyable read, but not anything special.
Don’t get me wrong - I did enjoy it, but I somehow expected a bit more substance to it.
I was staggered that it won the ‘WHS Literary Award 2000’. I would have thought there were other, more substantial books, which might have taken that award, but maybe Mr Bragg’s name helped!
All in all, and enjoyable read, but not anything special.
September 9, 2018
This was an interesting account of what life was like in England immediately after WWII. It covers the issues some of the men faced on their return - poverty, lack of good jobs, lack of housing, PTSD, women who now had a sense of independence, children who didn't know them.
One thing I found disappointing was that not much was made of Ellen having started several jobs while Sam was away at war. In those times, working mothers were unheard of. Even in the 1970s, when my mother decided to go back to work after over 15 years being a stay at home mother, my dad had big issues with it. But Sam hardly makes more than a passing mention of it.
This was a little slow in places but picked up towards the end. I found the ending a bit of a disappointment.
One thing I found disappointing was that not much was made of Ellen having started several jobs while Sam was away at war. In those times, working mothers were unheard of. Even in the 1970s, when my mother decided to go back to work after over 15 years being a stay at home mother, my dad had big issues with it. But Sam hardly makes more than a passing mention of it.
This was a little slow in places but picked up towards the end. I found the ending a bit of a disappointment.
January 30, 2016
This was best described as a 'nice' book. It was beautifully written and lovingly described by an author who knows his locations and his people, but disappointingly it was all a bit 'Sunday evening TV drama' for me - it didn't really go anywhere. As nicely written and pleasant as it was, a soldier returning from the war finding things difficult, and his family finding it tough to adjust too - it just didn't feel like enough of a story for me, merely some reminiscing and some misunderstanding and some sentimentality.
August 5, 2017
This brought back childhood memories of my parents tales recounting my father's return from the war in Europe (not Burma), and the need to now become a family and for him to support a wife and four children. (There was only one when he first left with the BEF for France) - however I found the book rather uneven, and was disappointed in the denouement. In fact I found the ending hard to believe.
Want to read
December 26, 201526 DEC 2015 - notice of this book on sale came through via email. I see Geevee rated this a 4. I am certain I will enjoy reading this one, too.
November 7, 2023
Where do I even begin? This was a novel filled with raw emotion, giving me insight into the impacts of the war on families at the time. We rarely learn about the effects of post-war trauma so this was quite confronting.
It was heartbreaking to see how much of a divide Sams return caused within the family. How they each prayed time and silence would do them better than talking. Things like this really did happen after the war, and Jackie’s story also was quite a sad reality.
It’s interesting to see how much the culture around smoking has changed quite considerably. Chain smoking was the norm, as normal as a cup of tea which is completely juxtaposed against attitudes towards it now.
WW2 had significant impacts on women’s liberation and ultimately changed family dynamics to a huge extent. Throughout the book Ellen battles her conflicting thoughts of if she should obey Sam or rather fight back and share her own view. She felt she was betraying him by suggesting other options and pointing out flaws in his beliefs. It’s quite interesting as women at the time were indeed battling these views - male validation and gratification was important as they were the sole financial providers for women at the time but the prospect of freedom, security etc. from having a place in the workforce changed this.
Just found out it’s a trilogy so i’ll be hunting down the next few books. I found this one at a free book stall on the side of the road so hopefully i don’t have too much trouble!
It was heartbreaking to see how much of a divide Sams return caused within the family. How they each prayed time and silence would do them better than talking. Things like this really did happen after the war, and Jackie’s story also was quite a sad reality.
It’s interesting to see how much the culture around smoking has changed quite considerably. Chain smoking was the norm, as normal as a cup of tea which is completely juxtaposed against attitudes towards it now.
WW2 had significant impacts on women’s liberation and ultimately changed family dynamics to a huge extent. Throughout the book Ellen battles her conflicting thoughts of if she should obey Sam or rather fight back and share her own view. She felt she was betraying him by suggesting other options and pointing out flaws in his beliefs. It’s quite interesting as women at the time were indeed battling these views - male validation and gratification was important as they were the sole financial providers for women at the time but the prospect of freedom, security etc. from having a place in the workforce changed this.
Just found out it’s a trilogy so i’ll be hunting down the next few books. I found this one at a free book stall on the side of the road so hopefully i don’t have too much trouble!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 12, 2025
“Ellen was a bit apprehensive about this man who was different in ways she did not want to recognize from the man who had marched away those years ago.”
a very moving book. it was about a family trying to reconnect after the war. post-war stories are the most complete genre in my opinion because it is filled with broken minds trying to humanize themselves again, with the pain of the memories being so heavy inside of the mind. I am indeed a big fan of psychological stories indeed.
Joe was such a young kid and I am so sad his own father turned out like this. I understand that Sam was struggling into finding his place back again, but I agree with Ellen, he is too young to be able to meet and handle his father’s expectations. in my opinion, Ellen was not exaggerating at all when she said sad was going too far with his education.
four stars because it was meticulously singular and planned.
a very moving book. it was about a family trying to reconnect after the war. post-war stories are the most complete genre in my opinion because it is filled with broken minds trying to humanize themselves again, with the pain of the memories being so heavy inside of the mind. I am indeed a big fan of psychological stories indeed.
Joe was such a young kid and I am so sad his own father turned out like this. I understand that Sam was struggling into finding his place back again, but I agree with Ellen, he is too young to be able to meet and handle his father’s expectations. in my opinion, Ellen was not exaggerating at all when she said sad was going too far with his education.
four stars because it was meticulously singular and planned.
February 2, 2025
Not for the first time, I’ve been reading a trilogy in the wrong order. In this case it’s going to be in the 3-1-2 order, having already given Crossing The Lines the maximum rating.
The Soldier’s Return chronicles the relief of repatriation of Sam Richardson from a long and terrifying Burmese campaign in 1945, bringing with that relief guilt, rage, love, frustration, and uncertainty. Bragg’s characters are splendidly drawn, their dialogue natural, and the issues they each have to face, individually and collectively, worked out (or not) as the realities of peacetime see the euphoria of victory fade.
A Son Of War, the middle part of the trilogy, bodes well and is already on its way from eBay.
The Soldier’s Return chronicles the relief of repatriation of Sam Richardson from a long and terrifying Burmese campaign in 1945, bringing with that relief guilt, rage, love, frustration, and uncertainty. Bragg’s characters are splendidly drawn, their dialogue natural, and the issues they each have to face, individually and collectively, worked out (or not) as the realities of peacetime see the euphoria of victory fade.
A Son Of War, the middle part of the trilogy, bodes well and is already on its way from eBay.
November 21, 2020
The author portrays the complexities of reuniting a family when everyone in it has altered with time and experience. The characters are interesting and nuanced and believable, and it is easy as the reader to feel their pain. That said, it's mostly a glum read, as the topic probably deserves, but lacking even the fewest lightening sparks of humor or hope along the way. And, I don't feel like my perception of what it must be like to be in this situation is any different than I understood before reading the book. There isn't anything about this that enthused me enough to recommend it, but I would try other books by this author.
July 9, 2025
This is a cracking read. It mattered not that I managed to read the three semi-autobiographical Bragg novels in reverse order but it did perhaps reduce my anxiety about Bragg dad's wartime trauma and wee Bragg's struggles with big bullies. Bragg mamma comes out of the Soldier's Return as a brave, almost heroic figure as she tries to drag her menfolk into touching distance of their emotions. The human cost of war and the cohesive inner strength of Northern working class communities in the group of rapid social change are beautifully rendered. I was sobbing by the final page right enough.
November 30, 2025
I understand what the author was trying to do in writing this quiet and unassuming novel -- quite like the hero himself -- but I cannot recommend it and, in fact, I skimmed through large portions in order to come to the end. It was just becoming drudgery with all the tedious details of domestic life . A positive point -- an authentic sense of place of a small town near Carlisle. You can see that the author knows what he is writing about and that came through to me, even though I grew up thousands of miles from Cumbria.
November 7, 2017
Narrated by the author, Melvyn Bragg.
This *could* have been quite a nice little story but Mr Bragg simply does not know how to narrate a tale!
Monotonous, no change between characters’ voices, he actually sounded rather bored having to read his story to us. I persevered and the ending was nice but it was a slog and a very long three hours which I had to break into chunks. I shan’t be holding onto this audiobook.
This *could* have been quite a nice little story but Mr Bragg simply does not know how to narrate a tale!
Monotonous, no change between characters’ voices, he actually sounded rather bored having to read his story to us. I persevered and the ending was nice but it was a slog and a very long three hours which I had to break into chunks. I shan’t be holding onto this audiobook.
September 15, 2022
A vivid and sad story of how the soldier returning from war and those he left behind cannot understand each other, and struggle to make a life. The soldier feels constrained and in a dead end of boredom after his wartime experience. The wife enjoys and relishes the role she has carved out for herself while the men were away. These two irreconcilable views give us an insight into gender roles and class in the middle of the last century. But have things changed that much since then?
September 30, 2025
A heavily fictionalised memoir of part of Melvyn Bragg’s early childhood in Wigton in Cumbria. Like the father in the story, Bragg’s father was away serving in the armed forces for some years of his early childhood. A key focus of the story revolves around the impact which the trauma of war combat has on those serving in the armed forces and how that affects them on their return to civilian life after the war.
October 10, 2025
I’ve never read anything by Melvyn Bragg before but was very pleasantly surprised. This is a fictional account of the impact of wartime service on the armed forces, their families and communities. Set in the aftermath of WW2, long before PTSD was recognised or diagnosed, it demonstrates the seismic shift in society that 6 years of war created. Also lots of local flavour from that part of North East England and life in the 1940s.
May 6, 2017
I enjoyed this book. It's set in a time following the Second World War when times were changing and women were often not equal partners in marriage. The depiction of family life is absorbing and engaging. The relationships between characters are portrayed very well. Coming to terms with life together after a long separation caused by war must have happened a lot.
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