The Return of the Soldier

“The Return of the Soldier” is British author Rebecca West’s remarkable 1918 novel of the struggle of a World War I veteran and the three women who love him as he returns home and tries make sense of the life that he had before he went to war. Told from the perspective of his cousin Jenny, who lives with him and his wife Kitty, it is the story of British soldier Chris Baldry, who has just returned home from fighting in France. Chris has amnesia and does not remember the last 15 years of his life, his marriage to Kitty, or the young son they tragically lost before the war. Instead, he believes he is 20 years old again and still courting Margaret, an inn-keeper’s daughter and his first love. While Kitty feels powerless to save her husband, Jenny enlists Margaret to help Chris and the two must face a tragic and difficult choice: to let Chris remain happily unaware of his true life or help him remember his tragic past. Heartbreaking and affecting, West’s classic dramatically exemplifies the lasting psychological effects of war on both soldiers and their families.