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Soldier
148 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1976
About the author
John A. Lee
37 books4 followersThere is more than one author with this name in the Goodreads database.
John Alfred Alexander Lee DCM was a New Zealand politician and writer. He lost an arm in WW1.
Was married to Marie (Mollie) Lee who died in 1976. They had no children but they raised three of Lee's nephews after his sister died.
Lee died in Auckland in 1982.
extra bio info summarised from Wikipedia.
John Alfred Alexander Lee DCM was a New Zealand politician and writer. He lost an arm in WW1.
Was married to Marie (Mollie) Lee who died in 1976. They had no children but they raised three of Lee's nephews after his sister died.
Lee died in Auckland in 1982.
extra bio info summarised from Wikipedia.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 30, 2014
Private John Guy is an ordinary New Zealand soldier in the midst of World War I. He is in London on leave from the trenches, half-way to being shell-shocked and trying to make his meagre funds last until he has to go back to the front.
After spending a while shacked up with a young prostitute, new enough to the job to not be hardened by it, his money runs out and he alternates between walking the streets of the famous city until he's worn out and sickened by it, and hanging out at a canteen for soldiers. It's there he meets a young Kiwi girl, stuck in England and unable to get home due to shipping being unsafe, and doing her bit to help out to fill in time.
He's attracted to Hawea immediately, though she takes a while to soften and let him into her life - and once she does, there's no going back. But they both know this is the equivalent to a holiday romance, and he will have to go back to war, where he is unlikely to survive.
This is a story not only about war-time romance, but the hard facts of life in the trenches to which John returned. It's a tough read at times, but very enlightening.
The novel was first published in the 1970s, but Lee wrote the first draft in 1918 while he was recovering from his own wounds in an English hospital. He went on to become a famous politician and novellist.
After spending a while shacked up with a young prostitute, new enough to the job to not be hardened by it, his money runs out and he alternates between walking the streets of the famous city until he's worn out and sickened by it, and hanging out at a canteen for soldiers. It's there he meets a young Kiwi girl, stuck in England and unable to get home due to shipping being unsafe, and doing her bit to help out to fill in time.
He's attracted to Hawea immediately, though she takes a while to soften and let him into her life - and once she does, there's no going back. But they both know this is the equivalent to a holiday romance, and he will have to go back to war, where he is unlikely to survive.
This is a story not only about war-time romance, but the hard facts of life in the trenches to which John returned. It's a tough read at times, but very enlightening.
The novel was first published in the 1970s, but Lee wrote the first draft in 1918 while he was recovering from his own wounds in an English hospital. He went on to become a famous politician and novellist.
Displaying 1 of 1 review