There Will Come Soft Rains

De: Briana Gervat

Narrado por: Briana Gervat

In 1914 a war began that destroyed nearly everything in its path: lives, countries, empires, and the world as it was known until that moment. And while destruction could be found almost everywhere around the world in its aftermath, nowhere was more marred than that of the Western Front; the scars of which still haunt us to this day.

In 2022, one woman set out to walk across the ruined landscape of the Western Front in search of peace; finding it in the mountains of Alsace, in the forests of Verdun, in Gothic cathedrals, and nights spent sleeping under the very same stars that the soldiers slept, in want of the very same thing: PEACE.

This is not just a story about the Great War.

It is the story about what it means to walk through the remnants of history to feel its reverberations, to listen to its echoes, and with hope, to learn something along the way.

©2025 Briana Gervat (P)2025 Briana Gervat

Excellent writing and narration

I loved this book. Normally when the author also does the voiceover, I don’t like it, but the author has an excellent voice and cadence. The writing is so good at times it feels like poetry, but not pretentious or self absorbed. The letters were very powerful. There’s lots of interesting fun historical facts about things like the bear that became Winnie the poo and the origins of Pilates. I also like that she mentioned the Northern Irish troops as they are usually left out. She capture both the horror and insanity of places like Verdun, and the harvest of bones and unexplored ordinance. She also clearly loves the local crème brule and the culture. Not being a French speaker, occasionally she will use French without translating but the meaning can be largely inferred. And I’m not sure I would ever sleep in a cemetery. She does refer to some sort of personal anger, trauma or broken pieces that’s she’s putting back together without going into details. I thought it was kind of nice that she didn’t tell us what that was. We don’t need to know the whole sad story because this was a journey of healing and culture amidst sheer savage insanity!
Definitely worth a listen