In Memoriam

A novel

By: Alice Winn

Narrated by: Christian Coulson

GMA BUZZ PICK • INTERNATIONAL BEST SELLER AND AWARD WINNER • A haunting, virtuosic debut novel about two young men who fall in love during World War I • “Will live in your mind long after you’ve closed the final pages.” —Maggie O’Farrell, best-selling author of Hamnet and The Marriage Portrait

A Best Book of the Year: The New Yorker, The Washington Post, NPR

“In Memoriam is the story of a great tragedy, but it is also a moving portrait of young love.”—The New York Times

It’s 1914, and World War I is ceaselessly churning through thousands of young men on both sides of the fight. The violence of the front feels far away to Henry Gaunt, Sidney Ellwood and the rest of their classmates, safely ensconced in their idyllic boarding school in the English countryside. News of the heroic deaths of their friends only makes the war more exciting.

Gaunt, half German, is busy fighting his own private battle--an all-consuming infatuation with his best friend, the glamorous, charming Ellwood--without a clue that Ellwood is pining for him in return. When Gaunt's family asks him to enlist to forestall the anti-German sentiment they face, Gaunt does so immediately, relieved to escape his overwhelming feelings for Ellwood. To Gaunt's horror, Ellwood rushes to join him at the front, and the rest of their classmates soon follow. Now death surrounds them in all its grim reality, often inches away, and no one knows who will be next.

An epic tale of both the devastating tragedies of war and the forbidden romance that blooms in its grip, In Memoriam is a breathtaking debut.

Outstanding

I felt really lost with my thoughts when it was over.

Great performance, reading the names in the school newspaper was so bleak.

New all time favorite. 11/10 would recommend

I already want to reread this and annotate the physical copy I ordered.
I can’t believe this is a debut. The writing is beautiful and vivid without being flowery. So many lines were like an emotional gut punch, heart wrenching.
Excellent character work, tight pacing, evocative setting. And all impeccably narrated.

I feel like writing a thank you letter to Alice Winn

For years I’ve looked for exactly this book. Thank you thank you!! I’m
Going to go recommend it on TikTok now.

The vivid characters

I was surprised that I could be drawn in to a story about WWI with its grim description of the horrors of war. But the novel paints beautiful characters and I couldn’t resist!

Unforgettable love story and tribute to the young men who gave their lives in WW1

A great story that I will listen to again as well as reread. I loved the characters in this book. I look foreward to reading more from Alice Winn