Book Synopsis:
World War One, and as shells fall in Flanders, a Canadian nurse searches for her brother believed dead in the trenches despite eerie signs that suggest otherwise in this gripping and powerful historical novel from the bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale.
January 1918. Laura Iven has been discharged from her duties as a nurse and sent back to Halifax, Canada, leaving behind a brother still fighting in the trenches of the First World War. Now home, she receives word of Freddie’s death in action along with his uniform -but something doesn’t quite make sense. Determined to find out more, Laura returns to Belgium as a volunteer at a private hospital. Soon after arriving, she hears whispers about ghosts moving among those still living and a strange inn-keeper whose wine gives soldiers the gift of oblivion. Could this have happened to Freddie – but if so, where is he?
November 1917. Freddie Iven awakens after an explosion to find himself trapped under an overturned pillbox with an enemy soldier, a German, each of them badly wounded. Against all odds, the two men form a bond and succeed in clawing their way out. But once in No Man’s Land, where can either of them turn where they won’t be shot as enemy soldiers or deserters? As the killing continues, they meet a man – a fiddler – who seems to have the power to make the hellscape that surrounds them disappear. But at what price?
A novel of breath-taking scope and drama, of compulsive readability, of stunning historical research lightly worn, and of brilliantly drawn characters who will make you laugh and break your heart in a single line, The Warm Hands of Ghosts is a book that will speak to readers directly about the trauma of war and the power of those involved to love, endure and transcend it.
My Review:
The Warm Hands Of Ghosts is an absorbing and emotional historical read with a touch of the paranormal.
The story is told from the point of view of siblings Laura, an ex nurse who was sent home early from the front and Freddie who is missing presumed dead. This was easy to follow on the audiobook as they had a female narrator for Laura and a male narrator for Freddie. I liked both siblings and enjoyed following them throughout the book but my favourite was definitely Laura. I really admired her strength and determination both in trying to find her brother and in her nursing skills that she uses to help injured soldiers – all while being injured herself. There are an amazing group of secondary characters in the book too who I enjoyed getting to know more about especially Pim who I initially dismissed, as many other do, as a bit of a ditzy blonde but who really surprised me as the story continued.
The author has clearly done her research so I felt fully transported to France in the last year of the war with all the horrors and heartache you’d expect from war. Some of the descriptions, especially the ones involving the injuries of some of the soldiers were quite gruesome and did turn my stomach in places. It was heartbreaking to learn more about the conditions of the trenches and how different the war was for the upper classes compared to the ordinary soldier.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be recommending it to others. The book had a great pace to it and there always seemed to be something happening to keep me reading. The two timelines gradually come together and I loved finding out what had happened to Freddie as well as learning more about the mysterious fiddler.
Huge thanks to Penguin for providing me with a ALC of this book via Libro FM.
About The Author:
Born in Austin, Texas, Katherine Arden spent her junior year of high school in Rennes, France.
Following her acceptance to Middlebury College in Vermont, she deferred enrolment for a year in order to live and study in Moscow. At Middlebury, she specialized in French and Russian literature.
After receiving her BA, she moved to Maui, Hawaii, working every kind of odd job imaginable, from grant writing and making crêpes to serving as a personal tour guide. After a year on the island, she moved to Briançon, France, and spent nine months teaching. She then returned to Maui, stayed for nearly a year, then left again to wander. Currently she lives in Vermont, but really, you never know.
She is the author of The Bear and the Nightingale.
Over The Rainbow Blog 
Wonderful review, Joanna. I have the audiobook coming up and am now getting excited to get to it.
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