Worthless Men

by Andrew Cowan

A novel about the First World War that is as mesmerising as it is unusual, a triumphant new work by one of the most acclaimed writers of the 90s.

It's market day in an English city two years into the Great War. The farmers are coming in from the country, the cattle are being driven through the streets and that evening a trainload of wounded soldiers is due to arrive.

At the local mansion, its new hospital tents to the ready, waits Montague Beckwith, himself a psychological casualty of the war. In the town's poorest quarter, Winnie Barley prays that Walter, her missing son, will be on the train (but that her violent husband is not). In the pharmacy, Gertie Dobson dreams of romance while her father keeps unsuitable men at bay. And everywhere is Walter, a ghostly presence who watches as the girl he loved from a distance is drawn into Montague's orbit.

Weaving together multiple viewpoints, Andrew Cowan creates a panoramic, extraordinarily vivid portrait of a place as individual as it is archetypal. Here is a community where the war permeates high and low; where the factory now produces barbed wire, the women are doing the men's jobs, and the young men are no longer so eager to answer the King's call. And here is the tragic story of a casual betrayal, and a boy who proved that those at the bottom of the heap - the worthless ones - could be the most valiant of them all.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, War, Literary Fiction

Hardcover

First published February 1, 2013

Reviews

[Sarah u · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an unusual novel in many ways. Firstly, it tells the story of one day; just one single day during a war that raged over four years. The main protagonist, Walter Barley, rarely speaks or even interacts with a single person in his village, and most of the action takes place offstage, in the form of memories. The points of view of several people are discovered during the day the book takes place; in addition to Walter, a serving soldier, there is a shell-shocked nobleman Montague Beckwith; Dobson, the chemist, and his daughter, Gertie; and Walter's mother, Winnie.

The book is entirely in the present tense, and told in the third person- something which I know many people don't get on with. The language, however, is extraordinary, and although it took a few chapters to really get into the book it was worth the effort when I did. The detail is shocking, the stories often sad, but the book really does paint an excellent picture about what life was like for those left behind during WWI- the women, the lame, the boys who were too young to enlist. There is also a supernatural twist, which was another unusual element in a novel of many, but very well done. This will be a favourite book of mine for a long time.

Walter Barley- "a young man who proved that those at the bottom of the heap could become the most valiant of all."

[Marion Husband · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gosh this was a depressing, disturbing read, no punches pulled...beautiful writing, however, and I very much liked the supernatural element, which was very well handled and moving.

[Cleopatra Pullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worthless Men transports the reader to an unnamed market town in England in the year 1916 where many of the men have gone to fight in World War I and the war has changed everyone's lives. This town could be anywhere in England with a butcher, a chemist, the wealthy family who dispense largesse to the poor, the crowded damp houses and the men who settle disputes in the pub or with their fists.

The book is split into very short chapters which link together in an almost whimsical way, following each of the five characters memories of the past, as well as showing us the present. This device means that as the book progresses the reader has built up a picture of the town and its inhabitants in a similar way we usually get to know people by putting the facts of what they say and do together with the `reading between the lines' for the unsaid.

The book is written in the third person and two of the five main characters are interested in eugenics. Eugenics was respected at the beginning of the twentieth century and it is shocking to realise that some thought that the war was a way of cleaning up the gene pool thereby removing the worthless men. The theme of worthless men is strong throughout the book and different types of worthlessness are scattered amongst its pages.

I loved the style of this book; the gradual building up of a picture was immensely satisfying with every page of this 260 page book adding detail to this well-known historical period. After finishing reading the book I discovered that Andrew Cowen had recorded some oral histories earlier in his career which is probably why the feeling of authenticity is so strong.

I think this book would be an excellent for a Book Club.

I received this wonderful book through Amazon Vine.

[Jonathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was ok, although I had to persevere to get into it. It is set on a hot summer's market day in and about Norwich in 1916. The plot concerns the return of wounded soldiers who are going to convalesce in the local stately home, owned by the Beckwiths, who run a factory which produces barbed wire, which the soldiers have become all too familiar with in France. At the house also is Montague Beckwith, suffering from a severe skin complaint brought on by psychological trauma in the battlefield. Gertie Dobson is the daughter of the local pharmacist, a girl who wants to find love, although most of the young men her age are away at the war, while her father does everything to prevent her from meeting men whom he considers not good enough for his daughter. The other main character is Walter Barley, a ghostly presence in the area, killed in the war, although still listed as missing in action, but quietly observing all that is going on. Flashbacks and memories fill in the time around the day's occurances, as the town awaits the news as to who will or will not be returning.

I was interested in the book because it was a different perspective on the First World War, looking at a mostly rural, working class home front at the height of the war. I think it was this that actually made it difficult to get into at first, but I'm glad I did.

[Mirren Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a gem of a book by an author new to me. Set in a market town just two years into the First World War, it's an intimate, very vivid portrait of the town and its people, polarised into the majority working class and a few of the 'toffs' - the Beckwiths, who own the local factory and a country house estate.

The war has affected everyone, and the way they must now live. Times are hard, and people are resourceful. One of the main characters is Walter Barley - a soldier who was killed in the trenches and has come back as a ghost. The way that Cowan weaves Walter's supposed interactions with others into the story is masterful, even though Walter's a ghost one gains a real sense of his personality.

Cowan most definitely has his own voice - he has the ability to write about what could be mundane and make it into rich and engaging description. He's a master of long sentence construction - some of them extending into big paragraphs, which normally I would not like. Here it works to build insight or tension, and very well too.

I found one of the other characters - Gertie Dobson - the pharmacist's daughter, annoying at times, and not altogether believable. But otherwise the book works on lots of levels and I shall be seeking out this author's other books for my bookshelf pdq. (Elaine)

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was our BookChat Group read of the month, it was an okay read for me but nothing outstanding. It tells the tale of Walter Barley, a soldier who has been killed in a World War I battle but returns to his home city as a ghost. He tells what he sees and also reminisces about the past - his family, the girl he loved and his early life. There are also sections narrated by other characters - Walter's mother Winnie, his would-be girlfriend Gertie, her father Dobson and one of his officers Montague (invalided home with shellshock). There are some surprising events and shocking revelations and I liked the way the author was able to tell the characters' different stories in appropriate language but overall the book didn't really grip me. 7/10.

[Caroline Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the most impressive novels that I’ve read in 2014. Such a powerful conjuring of time and place. I could smell 1916.

[Azu Rikka · Rating 3 out of 5]

nformative and thoughtful novel about men's lives (soldiers and civilians) before, during and after warexperience in England. I take it that it is well researched and it paints a squalid picture of working class life at that time which really chilled me. The descriptions of the atmosphere in town and the mundane daily tasks were brilliant and pulled me in. I was less impressed with the plot, although it was not bad nor boring.
3.5☆

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the haunting tone throughout this book and the simple observations of the main character Walter Barley who now sees the hustle-bustle of life in his home town, though noone sees him since his return from World War I. Where I felt it fell down was in the changing of narrators with each chapter. Although I've seen this done before and very effectively, in this case I felt it disrupted the flow of the book so much so that it felt I wasn't reading a "story" but rather lots of separate but loosely linked chapters. Overall, I enjoyed it and I'm glad I read it as it was interesting to read something where the author is obviously trying something different, but it's not a favourite.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each short chapter was about a person mainly the son of a poverty stricken family, the daughter of the pharmacist and the son of the big house. It was about poverty, the brutality of war juxtaposed with the scenes from market day, eugenics and love. So authentic that I had to read in chunks and think, which wasn't always pleasant - did any of my ancestors live like that? Everything builds to the train with injured soldiers coming home - a good ending both in the literary sense and for the characters who had become quite real by the end of the book.

[Dave McBain · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to get into and although some lovely turns of phrase, it felt telegraphed from the first couple of chapters. Not for me - others I am sure will love it.

[Colin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because it was on Corby Library Reader's Group list, and I think they only added it because Cowan grew up in Corby. It was quite readable, nice and easy, and flows well. No gripping insights into human nature, and a great deal of description taken from historical non-fiction, but not bad. I wouldn't personally recommend it.

[Michael Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cracking little book and unusual too-highly recommended!

[Colemore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting perspective.

[Wilde Sky · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't engage with ‎this WWI story - I found the writing clunky, the story didn’t feel complete or have a strong central theme and at the end I hadn’t gained anything.

[Peter Jowers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would just add to the excellent reviews that I thought he captured the social conditions for many living in the period of the book very well.

[Ryan Joswiak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well-written with beautiful (sometimes gruesome) imagery. Prime choice for a film or BBC adaptation given the WWI setting. I'm happy I happened to read this right around Remembrance Day.

[Ian Durant · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is probably my fault but although i found the writing well crafted i simply couldn't get into the characters and after 3 months I have given up, having read about 1/3 of the book.