This is another one of those books which my son brought home from school, apparently it is part of his GCSE English curriculum. I wasn't really looking forward to it and I was thinking it was just going to be a war thiller.
Francis has come home from WW2 after suffering a horrendous disfigurement. He has his face covered in bandages and a scarf and goes back to the town where he grew up. Where other war veterans are thinking of ways to get their lives back together, Francis has other things on his mind. In his duffel bag is a gun and he has to use it on somebody.
This, my seventh read of the year, is a remarkable book, short and light but it packs an emotional punch.The story captures you from the start and we are left second guessing what is going to happen all the way through.It is brilliantly written and easily read.
There are some books that just grab you emotionally and this is one of them.
I was pretty amazed that the author Robert Cormier wrote this in his seventies and only got published in his forties. Bloody hell there's hope for me after all !
A pleasure to read 5/5
Incidentally my son wasn't too impressed, he didn't really like the ending. Having a 16 year old son is not easy at times and it was just good to have something to talk to him about ! Maybe I should buy him a few books.
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