So Much Life Left Over: A NovelThey were an inseparable tribe of childhood friends whose world was torn apart by the First World War. Some were lost in battle, and those who survived have had their lives unimaginably upended, scattered to Ceylon and India, France and Germany, and, inevitably, back to Britain. Now, at the dawn of the 1920s, all are trying to pick up the pieces. At the center of Louis de Bernières’s riveting novel are Daniel, an RAF flying ace, and Rosie, a wartime nurse. As their marriage is slowly revealed to be built on lies, Daniel finds solace—and, sometimes, family—with other women, and Rosie draws her religion around herself like a carapace. Here too are Rosie’s sisters—a bohemian, a minister’s wife, and a spinster, each seeking purpose and happiness in her own unconventional way; and Daniel’s military brother, unable to find his footing in a peaceful world. Told in brief, dramatic chapters, So Much Life Left Over follows the stories of these old friends over the decades as their paths re-cross or their ties fray, as they test loyalties and love, face survivor’s grief and guilt, and adjust to a new world. |
Contents
Poor Child | |
The Reverend Williams | |
At Christ Church | |
The Beatitudes of Oily Wragge | |
Samadara | |
Geddes | |
A Bombshell in The Times | |
Agatha | |
Daniel at Hexham | |
The Honourable Mary FitzGerald St George | |
Rosie | |
Daniel Goes to See Archie | |
A Letter from Willy and Fritzl | |
A Letter from Fairhead | |
Samadara | |
Fairheads Good Idea | |
Hugh | |
Ottilie | |
Samadara | |
Ottilie and Frederick at the Tarn | |
Farewell to Samadara | |
Rosie | |
Returning | |
An Interview with Mrs McCosh | |
A Letter from Archie | |
In Which Frederick and Ottilie Abscond | |
The Proposition | |
Young Edward | |
Rosie | |
The Will | |
Daniel Writes to Esther | |
Oily Wragge | |
Sandwiches | |
Daniel Felix and Felicity | |
Oily Wragge | |
Where They All Were | |
After All These Years | |
Two Letters | |
Two Letters from Sandringham | |
The Bombers Will Always Get Through | |
The Aguila | |
The Cliffs | |
Necessary Work | |
Oily Wragge | |
The Temptation | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
anyway Archie arms Baldhart beautiful Bertie Blackheath brother Brough Brough Superior called can’t Captain Pitt Cephallonia Ceylon child Christabel cigarette Cookie course Daddy damned Daniel Pitt dead dear didn’t dorai Pitt dorasani Rosie Esther everything eyes Fairhead father feel Felix felt flying Frederick Gaskell Gestapo girl golf Grampians hair hand happened happy He’s head heart Hexham I’ve isn’t killed kind kissed knew leave letter live looked madam married McCosh mother motorcycle Mummy never nice night Nuwara Eliya Oily Wragge one’s Ottilie Partridge Green Pashtun realised remember Rosie’s Samadara sidecar someone Sophie sorry stood suddenly talk Tamil tell terribly there’s They’re thing thought told took turned Uncle Archie walk wasn’t What’s wife Willy and Fritzl woman women wondered wouldn’t you’re