In Desolate Heaven

by Robert Edric

'It is extraordinary that Robert Edric's fiction isn't more widely acclaimed . . . true to its title this is a work of bleak accomplishment' Peter Kemp, Sunday Times

Autumn 1919. In a Swiss spa town, Elizabeth Mortlake, companion to her widowed sister-in-law, meets Jameson and Hunter, ex-officers striving for some new measure of peace and order amid the ever-lengthening shadows of the First World War. One is hospitalized awaiting court martial, the other seeks a more personal atonement for his unimaginable sins. In mourning herself, Elizabeth is drawn increasingly into their lives, gradually understanding how fragile is the peace they each inhabit and how the bonds and ideals which once sustained them now threaten to destroy them completely.

Genres: Fiction, Historical Fiction

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Robert Edric (b. 1956) is the pseudonym of Gary Edric Armitage, a British novelist born in Sheffield.

Reviews

[Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Filled with grief, loss, guilt, and self-harming fill this book. This is a reading experience.

[Debbie Robson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Initially I felt that Edric did a wonderful job of recreating a Swiss spa town in 1919. Elizabeth is trying to help her sister-in-law recover from the death of her brother. Their relationship is strained yet somehow Elizabeth manages to be overly curious about a man called Jameson who also seems to reside at their hotel. I was drawn in quickly and enjoying the book until Elizabeth kept acting like a young woman from the late 20th Century. She was constantly pushing boundaries but I had no idea why. After another of her "sticking her nose in" and being very forward as I believe no woman in her position would have done once, let alone several times, the illusion of being in 1919 was shattered. I just couldn't go on reading. Abandoned at page 112.

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the aftermath of the first world war, this is an extremely emotional and pain-filled book.

Focusing on a female character who has been left at home and is mourning the death of her brother with her widowed sister-in-law, this explores the trauma of war from a different perspective than the usual WW1 horrors of the trenches (important as that is) viewpoint.

Grief, loss, guilt, and self-harming fill this book making it a difficult but important read. The restraint of the writing matches perfectly the chilly and frigid Swiss air where the two women meet surviving army officers and re-enter the horrors of war.

Edric is a hugely under-rated writer and this, for me, is his best book.

[Rick Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in a lakeside spa town in Switzerland just after the First World War, this is a quiet but unsettling novel about people trying to cope with the aftermath of trauma. Elizabeth, the main character and observant narrator, watches over others while dealing with her own grief and confusion.
The writing is clean and economical, with strong visual detail. Edric focuses closely on people’s gestures and silences.
There are moments of insight, and the symbolism adds depth without being trite - the lake with its hidden depths for example. But I would have liked more access to Elizabeth’s thoughts and feelings. She, and Jameson too, the main male character, remained too distant for me, which made it harder to fully connect.
A bleak and sad book, with no easy resolution. It stays with you.

[Karim Lalani · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Highly accomplished novel! Robert Edric's post WWI novel set in Switzerland, resonates with concise and deeply affecting prose, which draws the reader inexorably into the world of troubled minds shattered by the realities of war and the haunting reality of their physical injuries. From the war widow Mary to the young soldier Mitchell, coming to terms with the realities of the war's cruel aftermath is a thread running through this well written novel It will effect all who read it in a way that such a novel should effect you as it truly portrays the price paid for the gift of freedom over a century on from a conflict which helped to define the generation which ultimately paid it. Utterly compelling!!

[Lyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

An intriguing and thought provoking book about the long shadow cast by WW1 as civilians and soldiers came to terms with loss, trauma, disfigurement and grief.
However somehow I never connected with the central characters (and maybe that was intentional in order to show their disassociated state of mind?) but it meant that I didn't engage or care properly, despite the horror of the subject.
So I thought it a flawed piece and was disappointed; I had much looked forward to reading it.