Vera Brittain’s classic memoir – the first part of a trilogy – is such an important book, both for its vivid portrayal of a generation lost to war and as a woman’s account of her life in a time of tumultuous change.
Eventually mother to politician Shirley Williams, Brittain’s autobiography is a seminal text depicting a life altered by history and also a vivid portrayal of the development of an instinctive and distinctive writer, a woman finding her own voice and the conviction to speak.
This is a faithfully rendered interpretation following Vera from her teenage years as an academically ambitious teenager in pre-WWI England, horsing around with her brother and his school friends, through to the shattering impact the war has on all of their lives, their dreams and their futures.
There is stellar acting talent on display from a uniformly excellent cast, a keen visual eye which contrasts the lyricism of a pastoral idyll with the mud and grit of the trenches and at its centre, a poignant and heartfelt depiction of grief and loss.