The Return of the Soldier

The Return of the Soldier, the debut novel of one of the most lauded writers of the twentieth century, delves into the complex relationships between three women who are bound by friendship, family, and love to one soldier whose fate becomes their shared concern. When returns from the trenches of World War I, his mental trauma and amnesia testify to the horrors of war while simultaneously shedding light on the constraints in class-conscious England on the quest for happiness. A study of the human heart, The Return of the Soldier explores eternal themes with profound perception and insight. This Warbler Classics edition includes a detailed biographical timeline.

Rebecca West (1892–1983) was an English author, journalist, literary critic, and travel writer whose books include her masterful two-volume opus on the history and culture of Yugoslavia, Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, and A Train of Powder, which gathers her coverage for The New Yorker of the Nuremberg trials.

“Brilliant…[West was] an artist who wrote wonderful prose, who took chances with language and cadence, and who wrote poetically, even of prosaic subjects.”
—The New Republic

“Rebecca West was one of the giants and will have a lasting place in English literature. No one in this century wrote more dazzling prose, or had more wit, or looked at the intricacies of human character and the ways of the world more intelligently.”
—William Shawn, The New Yorker