
In a sun‑filled nursery that still holds the ghosts of a child’s laughter, the narrator drifts between the bright present and the lingering ache of loss. The house, with its rose‑trimmed curtains, painted walls and scattered toys, becomes a quiet stage for memories of a lover away at war and a brother whose return seems both hopeful and impossible.
Through vivid descriptions of light on polished floors and the gentle hum of everyday chores, the story captures the fragile balance between domestic comfort and the restless yearning for a soldier’s safe homecoming. As spring blossoms outside, the protagonist’s thoughts turn inward, haunted by dreams of battlefields and the desperate wish to pull her beloved back from the front. The opening invites listeners into a world where love, grief, and the ordinary intertwine, setting the tone for a poignant exploration of wartime longing and the quiet strength found in ordinary moments.
Language
en
Duration
~2 hours (159K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from scanned images of public domain material from the Google Print project.)
Release date
Aug 24, 2011
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1892–1983
A fearless British writer and critic, she brought sharp intelligence and moral force to everything from fiction to war reporting. Best known for books like The Return of the Soldier and Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, she wrote with unusual clarity about politics, society, and private life.
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