5 must-read Canadian novels about the Great War

Canadian novels about the Great War

There certainly isn’t a shortage of books about war—the battles fought during it and its long-lasting repercussions. But in this, the first year of the centenary of World War I, we take a look at books about the Great War, written by Canadians about Canadians. Moving and insightful, these fierce reads offer a glimpse into the conflict on the front lines and at home.

War and deafness in 20th century Belleville, Ont.

A haunting tale of the ways in which people come together and are torn apart from the author of this year’s Giller Prize–nominated Tell. Grania loses her hearing at a young age and learns language mainly due to the efforts of her beloved grandmother, Mamo, who advocates sending Grania away to school. There she meets the love of her life, Jim. When Jim heads for the killing grounds of Europe, letters become the couple’s only means of communication. Will Jim survive the horrors of war? And how will Grania cope until he returns?

Deafening, Frances Itani, $20.

A first love cut short by war

Urquhart weaves an ambitious story of ill-fated romance, tragedy and redemption spanning decades and continents in this epic novel. Heartbroken by the loss of her sweetheart in the Great War, the granddaughter of a master carver disguises herself as a man to work as a stone mason on a war memorial at Vimy Ridge.

The Stone Carvers, Jane Urquhart, $21.

Father at war, son at home

Mapmaker Angus is persuaded to sign up for war as a means of tracking down his wife’s wounded brother—and with assurances he’ll be safe behind the scenes drawing maps in London. Suddenly, though, he’s thrust into the thick of things on the battleground, with his brother-in-law nowhere to be found. Meanwhile, back on the home front in Nova Scotia, where Angus’s pacifist father and young son await him, patriotic fever runs dangerously high.

The Cartographer of No-Man’s Land, P.S. Duffy, $22.

Nightmares of human violence and trench warfare

Nineteen-year-old Robert Ross is in shock when he lands at the front and near drowns in the mud of the trenches. Overcome by the brutality he witnesses, Robert commits an act of defiance beyond imagining. Findley’s shattered narrative superbly echoes the shattering of Robert’s life in a book that won critical acclaim and is considered by many to be one of Canada’s finest war novels.

The Wars, Timothy Findley, $20.

From Northern Ontario to the madness of war

Wounded and scarred by his battle experiences, Xavier Bird returns home from war addicted to morphine. He is met by his aunt, Niska, who will take him on a three-day canoe journey home, during which time Xavier will have to face his demons. A moving examination of war and the role First Nations people played in it that expertly weaves together the stories of Xavier, Niska and Xavier’s fellow hunter and sniper, Elijah Weesageechak.