Heartbreaking but beautiful. A friendship (homoerotic?) between an upper-class young Irishman, Alexander, and one of the workers on his family's estate, Jerry. Frowned upon by Alexander's dysfunctional family. Then WWI starts and they both go off to war. This novella is beautifully written but be prepared for a gut-punch. I'll definitely read more by Jennifer Johnston, a prolific Irish writer I'd never heard of before a couple of years ago.

(Read this for Cathy's Reading Ireland Month blog event.)