The Light from the Dark Side of the Moon

A Novel

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Pub Date 21 May 2019 | Archive Date 07 Feb 2020

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Description

A remembrance of love in a time of war. 92-year-old Henry Budge defies most of his family by escaping a rehab hospital to make his way to France for the ceremonies of the 70th observance of D-Day. Before he dies, he hopes to at last address a grief he has allowed to simmer for decades and to rekindle memories of Élodie Bedier, the French Resistance fighter with whom he fell in love 70 years earlier, as a way of confronting his grief at losing her. During his return journey, he relives events of 1944: being wounded as he parachutes into Normandy; falling in love with Élodie who nurses him back to health; fighting the Germans alongside her and her resistance companions; and finally abandoning the war to rescue a group of children from the Holocaust, choices that leave Henry at risk of a firing squad for desertion and Élodie vulnerable to fatal condemnation from her compatriots. When he arrives back in France, Henry makes several shocking discoveries that shake the very foundations of the memories he's had of Élodie all these years and he is left to wonder about the love he has had for Élodie: what rests on true memory vs. what is based on countless imagined conversations over the decades?

A remembrance of love in a time of war. 92-year-old Henry Budge defies most of his family by escaping a rehab hospital to make his way to France for the ceremonies of the 70th observance of D-Day...


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ISBN 9781943075614
PRICE $28.00 (USD)

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Average rating from 26 members


Featured Reviews

Emotional ~ Historic ~ Consistent

tl; dr: Old WWII vet still feels the horrors of war

I almost didn't give feedback on this book. This is a book people will love. It is well-written and takes a different angle at WWII. There are love and plenty of sadness. There is even a dog. The main character is well-drawn. So, why was I going to avoid reviewing this one? Well, I feel a little done with WWII. The story is interesting enough and very well-written. But, the material felt familiar. I think I am just over WWII. So, if you don't have my bias, you will love this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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An intriguing fictional study of a man's history, driving forces, loves, delusions. Compellingly written and threaded with haunting themes.

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“If prayers are truly made of sound, the air will be filled with the splash of waterfalls and the joyful cries of free children gamboling in the surf and the singing of the women gathering bananas and hibiscus flowers….. this is just one little excerpt to show you how beautiful the writing is. What a sweet sweet gem of a book.
G.H. Budge (Henry) and Elodie stole the show in this home run of a book. I immediately fell in love with Henry, this 92-year-old cantankerous kind hearted sweet man. His only wish is to attend the 70th Anniversary of the D-Day invasion in Normandy, and to find closure after a lifetime of dreaming and yearning for the love of his life. Not that his wife, Anna, of many years was also not a true love, but Henry shows us that it is possible to have two loves in a lifetime.
The entire story is told by Henry, he switches between remembering his time in the war and his present circumstances. His time during the war is one of the best descriptive versions of war-time that I have read. I loved the way this story was told; it was like we were right there with Henry all the time. I highly recommend. This story has it all, love, loss, heartache, fun, laughter, humor and most of all, hope….
This one gets 5*****’s. I was given an advanced copy from Blank Slate Press and Net Galley for my honest review.

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