Jonathan Hull

The nightmare of World War I, a brief interlude in Paris, losing friends and family, winding up in a nursing home with a failing body and a million memories: Patrick Delaney is the central character in this story of a man's life told in three time periods. The narrative moves smoothly from the end of Delaney's life back through his war experience in the trenches in France forward through a short time in Paris in the late 1920s where he meets the beautiful girlfriend of his dead army buddy, Daniel. Julia and Patrick find love, which becomes more intense and romantic by the complications of Patrick's wife and child.… (more)

This is the best historical romance novel I’ve read. The story is narrated by Patrick Delaney, a veteran of WWI who lives in a nursing home; he's in his eighties and slowly dying of stomach cancer. He knows he’s old but doesn’t feel that way. Most of Patrick’s memories focus on a woman named Julia, the fiancé of his war buddy, Daniel. Part of the story is about the Great War, and how he came to lose his friend Daniel; the other part of the story is about Patrick finally meeting Julia at a war memorial service, and how he fell in love with her. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a bittersweet love story.… (more)