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.

Epic Gay Romance during WW1 Trench Warfare

Worth every hour of listening. Lost myself completely in this book; completely transported to wartime Europe in 1914.

A brilliant book

The horrors of trench warfare in WWII had me trembling with horror at the insanity of that war. I fell in love with more than a handful of vibrantly portrayed characters

Haunting. Unforgettable.

I just finished Alice Winn’s “In Memoriam” and it is a moving novel that takes you back to a time when the world was on the brink of unimaginable change. The book is set during World War I, it tells the story of two young men, Henry Gaunt and Sidney Ellwood, whose friendship at an English boarding school grows into a forbidden romance. It’s a story of love, loss, and resilience in the midst of a war that reshaped the world forever.
What stands out for me is how honestly it portrays the horrors of war. Winn doesn’t sugarcoat anything. The boys are so enthusiastic to get into the war - there is almost a boyish naïveté about what war actually is. It’s as if they believe they are going off to play capture the flag. Then there are the the trenches which are described in graphic detail—mud, blood, and all. You can feel the fear, the cold, and the sheer exhaustion of these young soldiers, and yet there’s always a note of hope and humanity that keeps the story from becoming overwhelming.
“In Memoriam” is a haunting, unforgettable book that will linger in my memory for a long, long time. Alice Winn has written a story that is both a tribute to the power of love and a stark reminder of the toll of war.
If you love historical fiction - you will love this book! This one is well worth your time!

Beautiful and haunting

A vivid and devastating story about how love survives — or doesn’t — the horrors of war. Winn is a master of prose and character, and she weaves bright threads of hope and humor through a tapestry of chilling violence and bleak despair. This book will haunt me for a long time.

Brilliant

A story that needed to be told & debut novelist Alice Winn tells it so brilliantly. A profoundly moving tale of love and war I won't soon forget.