The Verdun Affair

Nick Dybek's "The Verdun Affair" is something I probably wouldn't have chosen to read by looking at the back cover. However, upon diving in, I realized it was so much more than a romance. The mysterious undertone throughout the novel kept my hooked from the beginning, and made it hard for me to put this book down. While at times the story seemed a little slow, especially in the beginning, the writing made it seem like I was right there with the characters on their journey to find the truth. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone looking for something that keeps them on the edge of their seat.

Thanks to Simon & Shuster and Nick Dybek for providing me with an advanced reading copy.

Nick Dybek presents a beautifully written and memorable novel about a great love beginning on the outer edges of one of the most bloody battles of World War One at Verdun. Tom is a young American traveling to Europe at the end of the war. He stays on after driving an ambulance during the fighting in order to help with the labor of identifying the dead and possibly uniting families looking for their relatives after the war. We find him in a job collecting bones from the battlefield and bringing them back for possible identification and burial. Lonely, he is attracted by Sarah, a beautiful American woman visiting the area in search of her husband who disappeared after wandering off from his division and not being seen since. The two fall into an affair, and later meet again at an Italian hospital where a shell shocked soldier dubbed "Douglas Fairbanks" (the American silent screen star) is in the psychiatric ward. The patient has no memory of who he is and what happened to him. Sarah feels that the soldier has enough resemblance to her missing husband to possibly be him. Tom and Sarah are joined by Paul an Austrian journalist who has his own motives for wanting to meet the amnesiac known as "Douglas Fairbanks"
The novel shifts to the 1950s in Hollywood where Tom has become a successful screen writer. He again encounters Paul who has continued to fight the demons of how to live and function again after the trauma that he has gone through. They talk and attempt again to come to terms with the events that have caused so much pain for them and for Sarah. The story ends at this point with everything still up in the air; a situation most likely to occur in real life after facing the horrors of modern warfare. A very captivating novel drawing in the reader and immersing them into emotions and actions of the characters facing horrors that should never be faced by human beings.

Some books are like cotton candy, you quickly devour them and while the experience was pleasant it does not stay with you. This is not one of those books. This book is more like a rich chocolate ganache cake, to be savored bite by bite over an extended period of time. While reserved there is a great deal of emotion here. it begins in the aftermath of the Great War at Verdun, a repository of the never to be identified remains of people’s loved ones. It deals with the yearning for those lost, the unintended results of kindnesses and the need to find a way to go on.

A twisty, richly researched and beautifully peopled novel which gorgeously captures a time and place.

Nick Dybek has chosen to write a novel about a period of war that is sometimes overlooked. It is the time after the battle: what has become of the town, its people, and its daily life? More importantly, what is the impact on those who must somehow pick up the pieces of their lives to create a place in a devastated world?

Tom is a young man, former ambulance driver, now collecting bones for an ossuary to commemorate all the war dead of Verdun. Sarah comes to Verdun seeking any news that her husband may still be alive. After an unexpected but brief affair, they part. The action then shifts to Bologna where Tom (now a writer) and Paul, a fellow journalist meet. They are in pursuit of a silent, wounded amnesiac, nicknamed Douglas Fairbanks, after the famous silent film star. Sarah also arrives, hoping that perhaps this man may be her husband.

The book has mystery, danger, and romance. Observations about places are beautifully written. The characters attempt to make connections but the fragility of forming deep relationships eludes them.

Holding the narrative together is the over-arching secondary narrative that takes place in 1950s Los Angeles. Paul and Tom (now a screen writer) meet by chance in Hollywood. Over several days, wine and dinners they recall their European days and learn only now what they were thinking and what went unshared.

This is a well-written novel that may have been improved by tighter editing. Some interesting details and anecdotes could have been shortened or omitted to move the action along at a stronger pace. But this is a story that will linger after the book is over. Recommended.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.