Minh Dinh Dinh itibaren Bilpar, Assam 781365, Hindistan itibaren Bilpar, Assam 781365, Hindistan

A man climbs over his girlfriend in the aftermath of a plane crash potentially leaving her to die. The same man's great Grandfather goes over the top of the trenches on the first day of Passchendale, is assumed dead but is really a deserter. The question here, is if we were in either of these men's shoes could we say we would react differently; are we really in a position to judge? In amongst these two moral dilemmas that run parallel throughout the 492 pages of this novel we also have a nine year old with a crush on her teacher; a teacher suspected of terrorism; a counsellor with stalkerish tendencies; a sick and ageing father; a much desired missing symphony and a 'bad guy' so grotesque he's almost a caricature. Yup, there's a lot going on but somehow Farndale pulls it off, for the most part. The book never loses pace and all the characters with the exception of bad guy Wetherby are relatable too. The book moves from the present day to WW1 seamlessly and some of the description is so real it makes your heart race, particularly that of the first day of Passchendale. I do think at times it tried a little too hard to make it's point, was a little preachy and that at other times there was a little too much going on but overall I really liked it. (I also thought Daniel's Dad seemed more like a guy in his 80's than the 60+ he was supposed to be but that's a minor niggle really.)