The Soldier's Return

The Soldier's Return
First edition
AuthorMelvyn Bragg
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
SeriesThe Soldier's Return
PublisherHodder and Stoughton
Publication date
1999
Media typePrint (Paperback)
ISBN978-0-340-76727-6
Followed byThe Soldier's Return 

The Soldier's Return is the first novel in a quartet written by Melvyn Bragg.

Plot summary[edit]

Sam Richardson returns to the small Cumbrian town of Wigton after fighting in Burma during the Second World War. The war has given Sam’s wife Ellen a newfound confidence and Sam is a stranger to his son Joe. Sam is plagued by memories of the war and wants a new life, for himself, his wife and his son.

The book won the WH Smith Literary Award in 2000,[1] and was followed by three sequels.

Sequels[edit]

A Son of War (2001)[edit]

Sam Richardson is still struggling with effects of World War Two and to re-establish his relationship with his wife Ellen and young son Joe. Sam wants to become his own boss and start a business.

Crossing the Lines (2003)[edit]

Joe Richardson is changing from an immature schoolboy into a confident student at Oxford who has the world at his feet. His parents Sam and Ellen have reconciled some of their difficulties and are drifting into middle-age.

Remember Me... (2008)[edit]

Joe, still at Oxford, meets French art student Natasha. The story of their love and lives has been described as both "semi-autobiographical"[2] and "nakedly autobiographical".[3]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Melvyn Bragg banks book award". BBC News. 11 May 2000. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
  2. ^ Bainbridge, Beryl (19 April 2008). "True remembrance". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 March 2015. ... not entirely fiction, for in this fourth novel of a semi-autobiographical series, Bragg is recording a true remembrance of time past
  3. ^ Robson, David (30 March 2008). "Melvyn Bragg, nakedly autobiographical". The Telegraph. Retrieved 9 March 2015.