Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks

Birdsong follows the story of an Englishman, Stephen Wraysford, and depicts his life against the backdrop of the First World War. Stephen is a young man as he travels to France and begins upon an affair with the intriguing Isabelle Azaire. Yet despite the passion that develops between them their relationship does not last and Stephen is called to join the war. During the subsequent years he fights in the trenches; watching as his battalion killed, his friends die and the life he knew fade into the distant past. But through all this he keeps a diary. Years later his granddaughter Elizabeth, finds these diaries in her mother’s attic and although they are written in an encrypted language she is mesmerised by the possibility of finding out about her grandfather’s life.

I found the novel extremely powerful. The scenes describing the trenches are quite horrendous as you learn how they lived and fought in cramped, dirty conditions, suffered the terrifying shelling and were constantly fearful of the next attack. However it is not all doom and gloom, the storyline between Stephen and Isabelle kept me intrigued throughout the book and I shared the excitement his granddaughter felt upon discovering Stephen’s diaries.

Birdsong is a novel about war, struggle, friendships and love- all of these are themes which are relevant to the Diary of Anne Frank. Both Stephen and Anne have important friendships which keep them from losing the sense of reality amongst all the chaos which surrounds them in the wider world.  For Anne this friend is her diary Kitty, whom she confides her fears and her hopes; for Stephen it is a woman he grows to love after the war has ended.

Birdsong would be suitable for those above 14 years of age.

Review by Imogen Topliss

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