On the desolate battlefields of northern France, the guns of the Great War are silent. Special battalions now face the dangerous task of gathering up the dead for mass burial. A fast paced thriller set in the immediate post war period of World War One where a young aristocratic women against her families advice goes to the battlefields of France to look for the body of her fiancé who has been reported missing in action. Amy was a fantastic character and I loved seeing her come to life throughout the book, I very much doubt I could do half of what she achieved in this one. Yes, I will admit that it gave a bit at the end, but the story is very strong. And then, I’ve read an ARC. There’s a chance the end will be revised again before publication. The characters were well and sympathetically drawn and the excitement was ratchet up as the plot developed.

I can’t say whether Two Storm Wood really existed, but I do know that Chinese labourers were indeed emplyed in the trenches. I too read an ARC. I never thought about the ending possibly being changed. I just thought it was a little abrupt. My father had two uncles who fought at Ypres, one was discharged with trench foot , one of which had to be amputated and the other returned home very briefly after the war and emigrated to Australia and no one heard from him again.Atmospheric and meticulously researched, Two Storm Wood sheds light on the horrors and the trauma that continued even after the Armistice. It is that most wonderful of creations—a novel that informs while keeping you on the edge of your seat." Abir Mukherjee During her time in the battlefield she encounters two army officers.One who is tasked in coordinating the retrieval of the thousands of bodies left in the battlefields of France and the second one who is a detective tasked with investigating a horrific find relating to a massacre that was perceived as not a war crime but murder. Some warned that the descriptions of battle, while a realistic portrayal of the horrors of war, may be upsetting for those sensitive to violence and gore.

The world has been waiting for a worthy successor to Sebastian Faulks’s Birdsong—now Philip Gray has delivered it." David Young Philip Gray's writing style and descriptions are powerful, and sometimes graphic, so you can almost feel the goosebumps and sodden discomfort of the cold downpour of rain, or the frightening echoes of those that were lost in the brutal trench warfare (Mary F). One thing that piqued my interest was the fact that Edward became addicted to cocaine and opium during his military life… This led me to discover that use of mind-altering substances was often widely sanctioned and encouraged in both World Wars (see Beyond the Book). This and other aspects of the book will prompt many discussion areas for book clubs (Virginia M). Having read many novels based on WWI, I had never read any dealing with the subjects raised in this title. I won't mention those that are spoilers, but I honestly had never thought about who was responsible for retrieving the thousands of soldiers lost in the war (Renee T). Two Storm Wood follows the stories of three British people whose lives have been affected by war in very different ways: a young woman who boldly sets out to find out what happened to her fiancé, who went missing in action; a soldier tasked with co-ordinating the retrieval of the dead; and a detective sent to investigate what appears to be a series of murders in the empty, devastated landscape.Atmospheric and meticulously researched, Two Storm Wood sheds light on the horrors and the trauma that continued even after the Armistice. It is that most wonderful of creations-a novel that informs while keeping you on the edge of your seat." - Abir Mukherjee Westbrook sighed. ‘In the face of extreme violence, men either become resolute or they submit. They muster their dread – feed on it – or it breaks them. Moral outrage is quite useless, I’m afraid.’ Powerful historical fiction and a testament to war’s insanity.Powerful historical fiction and a testament to war’s insanity. The world has been waiting for a worthy successor to Sebastian Faulks' Birdsong - now Philip Gray has delivered it' David Young, author of Stasi Child . It took me a while to realise. Then I saw the shape of one and it hit me: what was under the canvas.'

A] splendidly realised historical thriller….its achievement lies in Gray’s finely worked portraits of the pity of war — those damaged by conflict and those who have to deal with its mind-altering consequences." The Times - James Owen The haunting way in which this is described meant I could actually feel the eyes of the dead on me while reading, and that takes a lot for me to feel something like that, and you know it’s a great book when this happens. Hellfire, this is seriously good! It is well researched, with accurate descriptions , not only of the horrors of trench warfare, but very sympathetic to the family members left in limbo, where are their loved ones? If reported missing, that doesn’t give closure, if dead, where has the body been buried, was there enough body to identify, is there a marked grave or was it left to rot on the battlefield. The horror elements of the book were amazing, the feeling of being watched by the millions of dead on the battlefields was always with you, as the mystery of the story unfolded. I found myself picturing how I would act and be there, in those situations, and truly I could never picture the 40 year old me doing what Amy does. Immersive and eerily atmospheric, Gray's novel delivers vivid historic detail and gripping suspense." Booklist (starred review) - Christine Tran

Inspired by David Copperfield, Kingsolver crafts a 21st-century coming-of-age story set in America’s hard-pressed rural South. A war story, a thriller, a love story and a critical look at the British class system and the pain and havoc it wrought at the time - all expertly woven into a terrific novel.