The First of July by Elizabeth Speller

The First of July by Elizabeth Speller

On July 1st, 1913, four very different men are leading four very different lives.

Exactly three years later, it is just after seven in the morning, and there are a few seconds of peace as the guns on the Somme fall silent and larks soar across the battlefield, singing as they fly over the trenches. What follows is a day of catastrophe in which Allied casualties number almost one hundred thousand. A horror that would have been unimaginable in pre-war Europe and England becomes a day of reckoning, where their lives will change forever, for Frank, Benedict, Jean-Batiste, and Harry.

Elizabeth Speller once again sublimely captures the dangerously romantic atmosphere of war-torn Europe in her latest novel that will leave critics and readers astounded.

“Utterly gripping and completely immersingAs the war progresses, the soldier's stories converge in a pointillist portrait of the trench-riddled landscape and those upon whose frail shoulders the battle depends. Gritty, disturbing, moody, and intensely real, the novel’s psychological impact is like those of Mary Doria Russell’s A Thread of Grace and Denis Johnson’s Tree of Smoke and asks readers to consider war’s high costs. Great book-club fare.” -- Booklist, STARRED REVIEW
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Praise for the novels of Elizabeth Speller

Speller combines a Ruth Rendell-like psychological realism and a Dickensian feel for life's roulette.

” -- The Wall Street Journal
“An elegant, moving read.” -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“World War I history buffs will enjoy this mystery, as will fans of period pieces. Readers who like Jacqueline Winspear’s Maisie Dobbs series will savor this novel.” -- Library Journal
“Intriguing. A captivating wartime whodunit.” -- The Boston Globe

Elizabeth Speller studied Classics at Cambridge University. She is the author of The First of July, The Return of Captain John Emmett, and The Strange Fate of Kitty Easton. She lives in England.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781605984971
ISBN 10	1605984973
Title	The First of July
Author	Elizabeth Speller
Condition	Unavailable
Publisher	Pegasus Books
Year published	2013-12-12
Number of pages	352
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.