The Crimson Portrait

A majestic English estate sees new use as a makeshift hospital for WWI's wounded in Shields's beautifully haunting second novel. After losing her husband, Charles, in WWI, Catherine honors his wish to turn their home over to the army's medical unit, and it is soon filled with men wounded in combat, such as Julian, who, though half his face has been destroyed by shrapnel, reminds her of Charles. Dr. McCleary, who left retirement to work at the hospital, bonds with Julian while trying to keep Artis, an aspiring doctor and former groundskeeper, from being drafted. Also on staff is artist Anna Coleman, who sketches the wounded for medical records and lends her artistic talents to an undertaking proposed by Dr. McCleary: he wants to create a mask for a patient with an irreparably damaged face; Anna is to paint the soldier's pre-injury face on the mask. When that soldier turns out to be Julian, Catherine secretly embarks on a plan to resurrect her husband through her new lover. Shields's writing weaves dark mythical symbolism with matter-of-fact medical nitty-gritty to reveal what happens when class, ignorance, hopefulness and despair coalesce. (Dec.)