A British biographer of Anne Frank (Rose of the Earth
), Lee opens her fiction debut with an enormous 1920 London funeral procession for the remains of an unknown soldier. The narrative then jumps back a few months as Alex Dyer, a journalist in his early 30s, tells his story to an albino grave digger in devastated post-WWI Ypres, Belgium. At the outbreak of war in 1914, British correspondent Alex ships off to France. Ted Eden, Alex's boyhood friend and now an army officer, writes to Alex that he's married Clare, a young British nurse, after a whirlwind courtship. Upon their introduction, Alex instantly falls in love with the ethereal but troubled Clare. As the two come together, the horrors of war, including the inhumane gas attacks and brutal frontal assaults told in stark detail, rumble in the background. By turns passionate and intricate, Harper's first historical novel exhibits top-notch writing and a trio of solid characters. (Oct.)
