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Stella Bain
An epic story, set against the backdrop of World War I, from bestselling author Anita Shreve.
When an American woman, Stella Bain, is found suffering from severe shell shock in an exclusive garden in London, surgeon August Bridge and his wife selflessly agree to take her in.
A gesture of goodwill turns into something more as Bridge quickly develops a clinical interest in his houseguest. Stella had been working as a nurse's aide near the front, but she can't remember anything prior to four months earlier when she was found wounded on a French battlefield.
In a narrative that takes us from London to America and back again, Shreve has created an engrossing and wrenching tale about love and the meaning of memory, set against the haunting backdrop of a war that destroyed an entire generation.
When an American woman, Stella Bain, is found suffering from severe shell shock in an exclusive garden in London, surgeon August Bridge and his wife selflessly agree to take her in.
A gesture of goodwill turns into something more as Bridge quickly develops a clinical interest in his houseguest. Stella had been working as a nurse's aide near the front, but she can't remember anything prior to four months earlier when she was found wounded on a French battlefield.
In a narrative that takes us from London to America and back again, Shreve has created an engrossing and wrenching tale about love and the meaning of memory, set against the haunting backdrop of a war that destroyed an entire generation.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2013
About the author
Anita Shreve
89 books4,397 followersAnita Shreve was an American writer, chiefly known for her novels. Shreve's novels have sold millions of copies worldwide. She attended Tufts University and began writing while working as a high school teacher. One of her first published stories, Past the Island, Drifting, (published in 1975) was awarded an O. Henry Prize in 1976. Among other jobs, Shreve spent three years working as a journalist in Kenya. In 1999, while she was teaching Creative Writing at Amherst College, Oprah Winfrey selected The Pilot's Wife for her book club. Her novels The Weight of Water and Resistance became a films of the same name. CBS released The Pilot's Wifeas a movie of the week.
She died on March 29, 2018, at her home at Newfields, New Hampshire, from cancer; she was 71.
She died on March 29, 2018, at her home at Newfields, New Hampshire, from cancer; she was 71.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,183 reviews
January 30, 2014
Seriously, am I the only person who gets what Anita Shreve did here?! I said it before (when I read the last page of The Last Time They Met, which I loved) and I'll say it again...ANITA SHREVE IS A GENIUS! If you are like me and are a huge fan of Anita Shreve and have read all of her books, you should be able to figure this out. If you are new to Anita Shreve, this book is just as enjoyable, but on a different level.
If you haven't read this book yet, STOP HERE - there are some small spoilers!
Early on in the book, I had a feeling of literary deja vu - a few words ("one room cottage") a man's name (Van Tassel) all sounded so familiar to me me. I kept thinking how much this book reminded me of another of Anita Shreve's books. One third of the way through the book I had a huge AH-HA! moment and then I couldn't put the book down...and now I am officially obsessed with this book!
And for those who think the book ended abruptly, there's a clue at the end of this book about what happens to Stella...and as soon as I finished this book I pulled out AHEW and re-read the last chapter. As I said before...GENIUS!
If you haven't read this book yet, STOP HERE - there are some small spoilers!
Early on in the book, I had a feeling of literary deja vu - a few words ("one room cottage") a man's name (Van Tassel) all sounded so familiar to me me. I kept thinking how much this book reminded me of another of Anita Shreve's books. One third of the way through the book I had a huge AH-HA! moment and then I couldn't put the book down...and now I am officially obsessed with this book!
And for those who think the book ended abruptly, there's a clue at the end of this book about what happens to Stella...and as soon as I finished this book I pulled out AHEW and re-read the last chapter. As I said before...GENIUS!
July 3, 2024
I was excited to get this book, stories about WWI being more difficult to come by than those about WWII. However, this novel is not really about the war. Stella, who is not sure that Stella really is her name, wakes up in a French army hospital and is not quite sure how she got there. I assumed that she suffered from a concussion, though it's later referred to as shell shock. When someone mentions the Admiralty in London, she becomes obsessed with traveling there, sure that it holds the answers to her forgotten past.
**Possible Spoilers**
This first portion of the book is told in an odd first person present tense style that I believe is meant to put the reader inside Stella's head where all she is certain of is this moment. I found it choppy and distracting. Once Stella is in London, she meets the angelic Lily Bridge and her husband August, who decides that he would like to try help Stella retrieve her memory and personality from wherever it has become buried. The style of writing slowly changes to more common past tense, which was a relief.
The story was slow getting to this point and I thought the pace would pick up once Stella experienced her 'aha moment' but it didn't. Instead, we move into a strange disjointed stretch of the storytelling with letters to and from Stella and her visits with remembered family. The reader also observes Stella's thoughts of those she has left behind in Europe.
Finally, the last portion of the book is taken up with a mundane custody hearing that I thought was covered in far too much detail for no real purpose. Without giving away too much, I will just say that the final plot twists and romances left a lot to be desired.
Overall, I found this story rather bland, disconnected, and with little substance that made me feel any emotion for or connection with the characters.
I received this book through a Goodreads Firstread Giveaway. The opinions expressed are my own.
**Possible Spoilers**
This first portion of the book is told in an odd first person present tense style that I believe is meant to put the reader inside Stella's head where all she is certain of is this moment. I found it choppy and distracting. Once Stella is in London, she meets the angelic Lily Bridge and her husband August, who decides that he would like to try help Stella retrieve her memory and personality from wherever it has become buried. The style of writing slowly changes to more common past tense, which was a relief.
The story was slow getting to this point and I thought the pace would pick up once Stella experienced her 'aha moment' but it didn't. Instead, we move into a strange disjointed stretch of the storytelling with letters to and from Stella and her visits with remembered family. The reader also observes Stella's thoughts of those she has left behind in Europe.
Finally, the last portion of the book is taken up with a mundane custody hearing that I thought was covered in far too much detail for no real purpose. Without giving away too much, I will just say that the final plot twists and romances left a lot to be desired.
Overall, I found this story rather bland, disconnected, and with little substance that made me feel any emotion for or connection with the characters.
I received this book through a Goodreads Firstread Giveaway. The opinions expressed are my own.
July 3, 2024
3.5 When she is found in a hospital camp in France without a memory she gives the nurses the name "Stella Bain. The Great War, 1916, camps in France and England, the horror of war and its effects on the psyches of those involved and a woman with a past that she must uncover. Though it will take a while, she will and this will lead to a court case and a new life, while making peace with her old.
This is when shell shock was first being talked about and studied, the talking cure proposed by Freud was beginning to be used in the treatment of this condition .What makes this book so different is that it recognizes the effects of shell shock on the nurses and the others in the camps who also saw horrible things and had to live with what they had seen. A woman had few choices in this time period and remembering that it is easy to understand some of the decisions she made in her life. The court case I am not sure about, not sure if a judge would have been as fair to a woman as this one was, but it might have helped that her husband was not at all a sympathetic person, thinking he was above even the dictates of the court.
A hopeful book about the rebuilding of a life, Shreve treats her characters with a tenderness and a gentleness and brings them to life. I think she must have liked her character Stella Bain quite a bit. I did too.
ARC from NetGalley.
This is when shell shock was first being talked about and studied, the talking cure proposed by Freud was beginning to be used in the treatment of this condition .What makes this book so different is that it recognizes the effects of shell shock on the nurses and the others in the camps who also saw horrible things and had to live with what they had seen. A woman had few choices in this time period and remembering that it is easy to understand some of the decisions she made in her life. The court case I am not sure about, not sure if a judge would have been as fair to a woman as this one was, but it might have helped that her husband was not at all a sympathetic person, thinking he was above even the dictates of the court.
A hopeful book about the rebuilding of a life, Shreve treats her characters with a tenderness and a gentleness and brings them to life. I think she must have liked her character Stella Bain quite a bit. I did too.
ARC from NetGalley.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 21, 2013
I have read and enjoyed all of Anita Shreve's book. I devour them quickly and wait patiently for the next one. Each is different. They are always engaging and well-written. Stella Bain is no exception. The background story of serving as a nurse in the field hospitals of the First World War provides a fascinating context for Stella's story of misery, guilt, loss, terror, and amnesia. Her recovery of her memory is handled well, with suspense and interesting gradations of revelation. The courtroom scenes detailing the child custody fight are also well done. But when she returns to London to find Dr. Bridge and Phillip, everything moved too fast. I felt the last chapters were truncated. I wanted to read about her experiences with the shell shock expert and the revelations that might have come about concerning that condition. I wanted her romance with Dr. Bridge to be more gradual, even though I knew it was coming, and her visits with Phillip and his revelations to be extended more in time and detail as well. So it was a good novel and I liked it very much, but the ending was too hurried to wrap everything up neatly and quickly.
April 18, 2019
While this was not a bad book, nor unenjoyable for a quick read I really can’t bring myself to rate it above two stars:
The early chapters based in WWI French front were very interesting, the descriptions of the conditions were deft and vivid and I enjoyed this part thoroughly. The main character, made intriguing by her amnesia and the ‘shell shock’ made for an interesting focus to view the situation from, and in general I found it a pretty good story.
In retrospect I think that even at this early stage I could have done with more detail about the war and fleshing out of the historical context, however it was still interesting reading even if it was a bit ‘WWI-Lite’.
The slightly later chapters which dealt in more detail with Stella's amnesia, the condition then known as shell shock, and the ‘new treatment’ were also interesting. I enjoyed the use of her drawing and artwork throughout the story, but in this section it was particularly effective as the bulk of this part of the book revolves around the subjective experiences of the main character. More details of the era and the situation would have been nice, but I was still quite enjoying the story even if it was a placid pleasure rather than the thrilling one it could have been if the war had featured more strongly.
The latter part of the book when ‘Stella Bain’s’ memory comes back and we transition to America was... well, I can only say that I found it exceptionally tedious.
The ending is a 'happy ending' with a dash of sweet (or is it saccharine I mean?) vanilla romance, but rather than the pleasant satisfaction one should get from putting down a happy ending book, I was left with a faint sensation of 'glad to be finished'.
The early chapters based in WWI French front were very interesting, the descriptions of the conditions were deft and vivid and I enjoyed this part thoroughly. The main character, made intriguing by her amnesia and the ‘shell shock’ made for an interesting focus to view the situation from, and in general I found it a pretty good story.
In retrospect I think that even at this early stage I could have done with more detail about the war and fleshing out of the historical context, however it was still interesting reading even if it was a bit ‘WWI-Lite’.
The slightly later chapters which dealt in more detail with Stella's amnesia, the condition then known as shell shock, and the ‘new treatment’ were also interesting. I enjoyed the use of her drawing and artwork throughout the story, but in this section it was particularly effective as the bulk of this part of the book revolves around the subjective experiences of the main character. More details of the era and the situation would have been nice, but I was still quite enjoying the story even if it was a placid pleasure rather than the thrilling one it could have been if the war had featured more strongly.
The latter part of the book when ‘Stella Bain’s’ memory comes back and we transition to America was... well, I can only say that I found it exceptionally tedious.
The ending is a 'happy ending' with a dash of sweet (or is it saccharine I mean?) vanilla romance, but rather than the pleasant satisfaction one should get from putting down a happy ending book, I was left with a faint sensation of 'glad to be finished'.
December 31, 2013
This book reminded me so much of one of my favorite books by this author, All He Ever Wanted. In fact, it made me want to reread it one more time. So I went into my book archives to retrieve All He Ever Wanted only to discover that this is the wife's version of this story. It has been years and years since I read the first book, and now I get it. I understand now how readers who didn't know of the first book would be disappointed with this as a stand alone. I wanted to love Stella more, or rather Etna. But she doesn't quite get me to warm up to her. I admire the strength of her character, and appreciate her more questionable choices but I didn't fall in love with this book like the prequel. Yet and still ...
This book delves into a journey of a time period without cell phones and Skype. Importantly, it touches upon the significance of Freudian therapy and the emergence of talk therapy. Additionally, it gives the reader insight into hysteria versus shell shock and how words and labels can harm or heal. I wanted more back story to Stella's marriage and more conclusion at the end. In All He Ever Wanted, I felt like I was inside that sick man's head. This was not the same. Yet, it gets four stars because I really wanted this explanation for so long, and I got two thirds of all I ever wanted. :)
This book delves into a journey of a time period without cell phones and Skype. Importantly, it touches upon the significance of Freudian therapy and the emergence of talk therapy. Additionally, it gives the reader insight into hysteria versus shell shock and how words and labels can harm or heal. I wanted more back story to Stella's marriage and more conclusion at the end. In All He Ever Wanted, I felt like I was inside that sick man's head. This was not the same. Yet, it gets four stars because I really wanted this explanation for so long, and I got two thirds of all I ever wanted. :)
January 29, 2014
Here's the thing: unlike many readers, I loved 'The Last Time They Met' and keep reading Anita Shreve's books because of it. So unlike many readers, I keep getting disappointed. Her books are never bad, but they aren't... great. This one is no exception. It's the tale of a WWI nurse, although we meet her while she's an amnesiac so the first bit of the book is involved in unravelling her story. Then we get on with her life. It's never terribly compelling or vibrant, just a story well-told, without, oh, I don't know, a lot of life to it.
August 5, 2017
I am a huge Anita Shreve fan and have read everything she's previously written; therefore I was waiting for this novel with some anticipation. I was a little worried because of its initial setting in WWI, as I don't like war novels, but I need not have worried; this section of the book is short and the whole story is mainly concerned with discovering the events that lead Stella to wartime France in the first place, and the fallout of what happens there, once she has lost her memory and strives to recover it.
WARNING: SPOILER AHEAD -- I was pleasantly surprised (though I had a few suspicions) to find that Stella is actually a character from a previous Shreve novel ("All He Ever Wanted"). This was intriguing to me as I had not enjoyed "All He Ever Wanted" on my first read of it, but will now probably go back and re-read it now I know more of what happens to this character and her story. It was, in my mind, all very nicely done and, as I say, has inspired me to return to this first book at some point soon. Also neatly done was the nod to the location of the beach cottages which have featured in so many of Shreve's previous novels (e.g. "Bodysurfing", "Fortune's Rocks", "The Pilot's Wife" and "Sea Glass").
As always, Shreve's writing style is sparse but filled with meaning; she has a delicate yet deep touch on human emotion and the reasons people act/react the way they do. Despite the fact that actual wartime scenes are limited within the novel, the events of WWI give a haunting melancholy beneath the actions and dialogue, which permeates the entire novel. The characters themselves are likeable and I found myself drawn into the intrigue surrounding Stella's memory loss, and also -- upon rediscovering her identity -- her journey from where we first meet her in "All He Ever Wanted" through to this point where we pick up her story again in "The Lives of Stella Bain". Everything is framed through Stella's experiences, which initially can seem shallow or disjointed due to the fact that she effectively has no history, no framework or context to apply to her situation. In some ways this makes her experiences of war even more harrowing.
I surprised myself with how quickly I read this book and I did enjoy it more than I thought I would. I certainly enjoyed it more than (say) "All He Ever Wanted" or "A Change in Altitude", but not as much as "Bodysurfing" or "The Last Time They Met", which are my favourites.
Roll on more Anita Shreve -- I can't wait for the next one.
WARNING: SPOILER AHEAD -- I was pleasantly surprised (though I had a few suspicions) to find that Stella is actually a character from a previous Shreve novel ("All He Ever Wanted"). This was intriguing to me as I had not enjoyed "All He Ever Wanted" on my first read of it, but will now probably go back and re-read it now I know more of what happens to this character and her story. It was, in my mind, all very nicely done and, as I say, has inspired me to return to this first book at some point soon. Also neatly done was the nod to the location of the beach cottages which have featured in so many of Shreve's previous novels (e.g. "Bodysurfing", "Fortune's Rocks", "The Pilot's Wife" and "Sea Glass").
As always, Shreve's writing style is sparse but filled with meaning; she has a delicate yet deep touch on human emotion and the reasons people act/react the way they do. Despite the fact that actual wartime scenes are limited within the novel, the events of WWI give a haunting melancholy beneath the actions and dialogue, which permeates the entire novel. The characters themselves are likeable and I found myself drawn into the intrigue surrounding Stella's memory loss, and also -- upon rediscovering her identity -- her journey from where we first meet her in "All He Ever Wanted" through to this point where we pick up her story again in "The Lives of Stella Bain". Everything is framed through Stella's experiences, which initially can seem shallow or disjointed due to the fact that she effectively has no history, no framework or context to apply to her situation. In some ways this makes her experiences of war even more harrowing.
I surprised myself with how quickly I read this book and I did enjoy it more than I thought I would. I certainly enjoyed it more than (say) "All He Ever Wanted" or "A Change in Altitude", but not as much as "Bodysurfing" or "The Last Time They Met", which are my favourites.
Roll on more Anita Shreve -- I can't wait for the next one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 19, 2013
I received this book as part of the Goodreads First Reads Program.
I was interested in this book because it was about a woman serving as a nurse in World War I, that ends up loosing her memory from shell shock. I was excited to read about a woman experiencing this. I was disappointed in this book. The book was more about her family issues than it was about her service. It still highlighted issues women faced at the time, but it wasn't what I was expecting to read about.
I had a hard time engaging with the story. It lacked depth and plausibility. There were also quite a few errors that will hopefully be taken care of in the final draft of the book. I note this because it interrupted the flow of the book.
I would recommend finding a different book about women serving in World War I if that is what you are interested in. It was a good idea for a book, but this one didn't satisfy me.
I was interested in this book because it was about a woman serving as a nurse in World War I, that ends up loosing her memory from shell shock. I was excited to read about a woman experiencing this. I was disappointed in this book. The book was more about her family issues than it was about her service. It still highlighted issues women faced at the time, but it wasn't what I was expecting to read about.
I had a hard time engaging with the story. It lacked depth and plausibility. There were also quite a few errors that will hopefully be taken care of in the final draft of the book. I note this because it interrupted the flow of the book.
I would recommend finding a different book about women serving in World War I if that is what you are interested in. It was a good idea for a book, but this one didn't satisfy me.
June 4, 2024
Stella Bain is an American nurse’s aide and ambulance driver in France during WW1 who has lost her memory. Finds her way to England and taken in by Dr. August Bridge and diagnosed with shell shock. This book has great information about shell shock which was a new diagnosis for the time affecting soldiers of war. Stella is a strong, resilient woman and I enjoyed her story, the ending was complete.
December 14, 2013
This book lacked plausibility in several ways for me, and did not measure up to past reads by Anita Shreve. The premise seemed to have great potential, but it didn't come together as I had hoped. I would not be able to recommend it and I have enjoyed most of this author's books in one way or another.
November 15, 2013
To be completely fair, this was closer to a 2.5 than a true 2 rating. The book had a lot of potential but fell short. It seemed like the author was trying to make the book as short as possible. The ending also seemed rushed and wrapped up too nicely. The last Anita Shreve book I read, I swore would be the last but this time I really mean it.
July 2, 2014
Anita Shreve is a favorite of mine in how she handles historical fiction. Here, though, I was disappointed -- not in the historical theme, but in the presentation. We have an unhappily married American woman with children who ends up as a nurse's aide / ambulance driver in WWI France. You see she's fled from her sorry excuse of a husband, which unfortunately means she has also abandoned her children, and that's going to come back to haunt her in a big way. She gets amnesia following a trauma and thinks her name is Stella Bain, but I haven't the slightest idea why or if that had any significance, as it was explained away a bit too quickly. I thought that was poorly handled, and also the courtroom scenes simply dragged on and on and on, made all the worse by the terrible narration during these parts. The female reader made the judge and the lawyers sound like carricatures of their snobbish selves, which I'm sure wasn't the author's intention. Or was it? The ending was very neat and tidy, nothing here to make one sigh and say "Wow." I am not wowed.
October 12, 2018
I would give this book 3.5 stars. It was good, it had my interest from the very beginning.
This is the story of Etna Van Tassel who is from America and volunteers as a nurse during the First World War. She serves in France and is an ambulance driver. But when a dear friend is brought into the hospital with severe wounds, Etna runs and so the story and the life of Stella Bain begins. She wakes with no memory, not even her name, but she feels the urgency to go to London to the Admiralty. Along the way to London she becomes ill and is taken in by August and Lily Bridge, a neurosurgeon, with interests in psychology. It is August and Lily through their encouragement and talk therapy that Stella learns who she is, where she is from, and why she ran. It is a story of just how far mother's rights have come since 1919. How so very little was known of shell shock, PTSD, and just what war can do to a person's mind. But in the end it is a story of friends, of a mother and her children, and new love.
Definitely a book I would recommend.
This is the story of Etna Van Tassel who is from America and volunteers as a nurse during the First World War. She serves in France and is an ambulance driver. But when a dear friend is brought into the hospital with severe wounds, Etna runs and so the story and the life of Stella Bain begins. She wakes with no memory, not even her name, but she feels the urgency to go to London to the Admiralty. Along the way to London she becomes ill and is taken in by August and Lily Bridge, a neurosurgeon, with interests in psychology. It is August and Lily through their encouragement and talk therapy that Stella learns who she is, where she is from, and why she ran. It is a story of just how far mother's rights have come since 1919. How so very little was known of shell shock, PTSD, and just what war can do to a person's mind. But in the end it is a story of friends, of a mother and her children, and new love.
Definitely a book I would recommend.
July 13, 2018
I just could not put this book down. The Lives Of Stella Bain a story set against the backdrop of World War 1 . A woman searching for the secret of her identity, she has lost her memory. Letters appear in her brain and she decides upon the name Stella although she has no idea where that name has come from. Stella only knows that she is american who works in the Voluntary Aid .
I highly recommend The Lives Of Stella Bain a love story that is intense and gripping and packed with secrets.
I am sure that book clubs would find this a very interesting book to read and discuss.
One more thing I deeply miss books by Anita Shreve.
I highly recommend The Lives Of Stella Bain a love story that is intense and gripping and packed with secrets.
I am sure that book clubs would find this a very interesting book to read and discuss.
One more thing I deeply miss books by Anita Shreve.
March 7, 2014
I have been reading Anita's books for years and am always struck how they have a simplicity to them that is remarkable and yet sums up a conflicted situation in a most powerful way..Memories of her previous books, Sea Glass and The Weight of Water and Fortune's Rocks filled me as I quickly read her newest book...Her theme of women desperately wanting a life of their own, work and creativity of their own without judgement or prejudice continues with this story of a remarkable women who suffers amnesia during World War 1...She introduces the reader to shell shock, the precurser to what is now know an Post Traumatic Stress Disorder..The disorder became well known during that time as soldiers suffered symptoms that had never been observed or paid attention to in detail..This was happening at a time when the new field of psychiatry was emerging and doctors were being trained in the new medical discipline....What I found fascinating as a retired mental health therapist is her introducing the idea of that time that "shell shock" is not reserved for male veterans only...People were just starting to understand that women could be affected by PTSD and that it wasnt "hysteria" that made them suffer the same symptoms as their male peers..Nor was it necessarily combat that induced "shell shock" for millions of traumatized women worldwide....And the idea that multiple traumas could induce memory loss was a groundbreaking concept then....The implications of this were mind boggling for the time as the reader becomes aware of the limitations people struggled with in a sexist world that held double standards of competence and health for men and women...She reminds us how far we have come regarding understanding mental health and sexism but also hints how far we still need to go...When I finished, I was reminded again of why I enjoy Shreve's books and how they make me think of the contextual, historical significance of common problems we still struggle with today.
November 4, 2013
I received an ARC copy of this book from netgalley.com. I stopped reading Anita Shreve's books a long time ago and now realize why. Although I thought the premise about a woman suffering from amensia during WWI sounded interesting, in typical Shreve fashion, it dissolved into a dysfunctional marriage. I also thought the book was very disjointed. I needed to reminded myself in the future not read any more of her books.
February 23, 2020
The Lives of Stella Bain, Anita Shreve. I enjoyed every page up until the end where I felt as though parts were just very long-winded. I also felt that the text size was quite large as well. Needing more pages and therefore more content to fill those pages? I’m not sure.
Let’s call her Stella, was just a lovely character to follow. A book so heavily influenced by the setting and disturbances of WWI didn’t have time to really flesh out it’s characters all too much, leaving the real story to be told in haste. I loved that about Anita Shreve’s writing, I love being able to slowly get to know the main character of a novel. Rather than being told what to think of them straight off the bat and knowing precisely how many grandparents they have within the first 8 pages; for example.
I don’t want to give anything away because I thoroughly enjoyed all the little turns and twists that were just so pleasingly realistic. But Anita Shreve’s writing made me rediscover the beauty in the normalities and the predictable.
However, Stella having been through what she had, was to me, short-changed in the end and I wish there had of been more information or clarity on how she ended up making a life for herself.
As well as just how kind of rushed and yet overly fleshed out the end was, I could only award 4 stars. Even then, I was being generous because I definitely developed a soft spot for Stella.
Let’s call her Stella, was just a lovely character to follow. A book so heavily influenced by the setting and disturbances of WWI didn’t have time to really flesh out it’s characters all too much, leaving the real story to be told in haste. I loved that about Anita Shreve’s writing, I love being able to slowly get to know the main character of a novel. Rather than being told what to think of them straight off the bat and knowing precisely how many grandparents they have within the first 8 pages; for example.
I don’t want to give anything away because I thoroughly enjoyed all the little turns and twists that were just so pleasingly realistic. But Anita Shreve’s writing made me rediscover the beauty in the normalities and the predictable.
However, Stella having been through what she had, was to me, short-changed in the end and I wish there had of been more information or clarity on how she ended up making a life for herself.
As well as just how kind of rushed and yet overly fleshed out the end was, I could only award 4 stars. Even then, I was being generous because I definitely developed a soft spot for Stella.
November 19, 2020
Not the usual Shreve formula and the back and foth in time and recovery of memory interested me a great deal as well as the WWI aspect.
October 12, 2013
Find this and other reviews at: http://flashlightcommentary.blogspot....
I'm not altogether sure how to describe Anita Shreve's Stella Bain. The book touches on some absolutely fascinating subject matter, but I think the telling leaves something to be desired.
Though not as powerful as Peter Yeldham's Barbed Wire and Roses, I appreciated Shreve's exploration of shell shock and how she uses Stella to show both the impact it has on the individual and how it was viewed in a society with little to no understanding of the condition. Her presentation pulls at the heartstrings while offering a really nice portrait of the values of this particular era. Unfortunately, I don't think every aspect of this book was as well thought out.
I understand the decision to write this piece in the present tense. Stella is frustrated and confused at not being able to assemble the pieces of her own history and the reader get a very real sense of her dismay seeing the world as she herself does, accepting each moment without a greater sense or understanding of where her story began or where it is going. But that being said, I think this approach creates more empathy for her situation than her character and makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to truly understand the woman Stella is.
My other concern regards the custody battle. I think it is great material and that it showcases an interesting contrast when compared to our contemporary family court system, but I think this sequence strayed too far from the themes Shreve explores in the rest of her narrative. Again, great content, but it wasn't as fluid as the rest of the novel and sticks out as being something of an add-on to the greater story.
An emotionally driven fiction of life on the home front. A subtle narrative sure to be appreciated by those who enjoy less confrontational war stories.
I'm not altogether sure how to describe Anita Shreve's Stella Bain. The book touches on some absolutely fascinating subject matter, but I think the telling leaves something to be desired.
Though not as powerful as Peter Yeldham's Barbed Wire and Roses, I appreciated Shreve's exploration of shell shock and how she uses Stella to show both the impact it has on the individual and how it was viewed in a society with little to no understanding of the condition. Her presentation pulls at the heartstrings while offering a really nice portrait of the values of this particular era. Unfortunately, I don't think every aspect of this book was as well thought out.
I understand the decision to write this piece in the present tense. Stella is frustrated and confused at not being able to assemble the pieces of her own history and the reader get a very real sense of her dismay seeing the world as she herself does, accepting each moment without a greater sense or understanding of where her story began or where it is going. But that being said, I think this approach creates more empathy for her situation than her character and makes it very difficult, if not impossible, to truly understand the woman Stella is.
My other concern regards the custody battle. I think it is great material and that it showcases an interesting contrast when compared to our contemporary family court system, but I think this sequence strayed too far from the themes Shreve explores in the rest of her narrative. Again, great content, but it wasn't as fluid as the rest of the novel and sticks out as being something of an add-on to the greater story.
An emotionally driven fiction of life on the home front. A subtle narrative sure to be appreciated by those who enjoy less confrontational war stories.
January 7, 2020
An excellent story of a WWI front line nurse who suffers "shell shock" and can't remember anything of her past life when she awakens in a field hospital. She knows she's a nurse, she can drive ambulances, and she has shrapnel in her feet. She thinks she knows her name, but she is incorrect in that. How she recovers her memory and how she got to the front lines in France make up the book. This story is very interesting and never gets dull. Highly recommended.
April 7, 2015
3.5 stars
When a young woman regains consciousness in a French battlefield hospital in 1916, she cannot remember her name or past life. Although she is dressed in a British nurse's aide uniform, she has an American accent. She takes the name Stella Bain, although it doesn't feel quite right to her. When she recovers from her wounds, she is pressed into service by the French nurses who are overwhelmed treating the wounded soldiers.
She heads to London on leave in a few months to see if someone at the Admiralty can help her recover her past identity. While Stella is wandering lost in London, a sympathetic woman, Lily Bridge, takes her in. Lily's husband is a cranial surgeon who also has an interest in psychiatry and "shell-shocked" patients. With his help, Stella starts to piece together the puzzle of her past life.
The first half of the book, set in France and London, was especially interesting. It showed how women served in World War I. Psychoanalysis was a new field at that time, and it was being used in England to treat soldiers who were "shell-shocked" (called PTSD today). Stella recovers her memory, layer by layer, aided by drawing scenes of things she faintly remembers. The reasons she left her home and traveled to Europe are revealed. Some of her decisions were a bit surprising, especially for that time, but Stella was a very independent woman.
Although Stella Bain is a stand-alone novel, Anita Shreve wrote an earlier book, All He Ever Wanted, which told the story of their early relationship from Stella's husband's point of view. Anita Shreve also likes to use the same house or same geographical regions in her books, and the coast of New Hampshire shows up again at the conclusion of Stella Bain.
When a young woman regains consciousness in a French battlefield hospital in 1916, she cannot remember her name or past life. Although she is dressed in a British nurse's aide uniform, she has an American accent. She takes the name Stella Bain, although it doesn't feel quite right to her. When she recovers from her wounds, she is pressed into service by the French nurses who are overwhelmed treating the wounded soldiers.
She heads to London on leave in a few months to see if someone at the Admiralty can help her recover her past identity. While Stella is wandering lost in London, a sympathetic woman, Lily Bridge, takes her in. Lily's husband is a cranial surgeon who also has an interest in psychiatry and "shell-shocked" patients. With his help, Stella starts to piece together the puzzle of her past life.
The first half of the book, set in France and London, was especially interesting. It showed how women served in World War I. Psychoanalysis was a new field at that time, and it was being used in England to treat soldiers who were "shell-shocked" (called PTSD today). Stella recovers her memory, layer by layer, aided by drawing scenes of things she faintly remembers. The reasons she left her home and traveled to Europe are revealed. Some of her decisions were a bit surprising, especially for that time, but Stella was a very independent woman.
Although Stella Bain is a stand-alone novel, Anita Shreve wrote an earlier book, All He Ever Wanted, which told the story of their early relationship from Stella's husband's point of view. Anita Shreve also likes to use the same house or same geographical regions in her books, and the coast of New Hampshire shows up again at the conclusion of Stella Bain.
November 27, 2016
When this book came out three years ago I was in the middle of writing a WWI manuscript about a young Australian woman, who in 1920, can’t remember the last two years of her life. I thought, okay, I’d better not read this. Too dangerous, particularly a book by a writer that I admire. I also avoided Birdsong for the same reason.
Now writing the first draft of a completely different book I thought it was time to read this one and I’m glad I did, even though I’m a bit ambivalent. Why am I ambivalent? That’s a good question. I think it’s because, in a way, Stella Bain is two books in one.
“It is 1916, and a woman awakens, in a field hospital in northern France. She wears the uniform of a British nurse’s aide but has an American accent. With no memory of her past or what brought her to this distant war, she knows only that she can drive an ambulance, and that her name is Stella Bain.”
As always Shreve’s descriptions are very effective and where they need to be, historically accurate. “When the patient arrived, his lower jaw was badly infected, and I could see that to save the man, the reconstruction would have to be cut away, the infected area abraded, and a recovery period endured before we could implant a better device for him.”
The novel progresses as you would expect but, for this reader, it seems to take a sharp turn in the narrative half way through when Stella abruptly leaves for America. This is not to say that I didn’t enjoy the rest of the book, I just felt somehow that the two parts didn’t quite sit together. I’m interested to see what another reader thinks.
Now writing the first draft of a completely different book I thought it was time to read this one and I’m glad I did, even though I’m a bit ambivalent. Why am I ambivalent? That’s a good question. I think it’s because, in a way, Stella Bain is two books in one.
“It is 1916, and a woman awakens, in a field hospital in northern France. She wears the uniform of a British nurse’s aide but has an American accent. With no memory of her past or what brought her to this distant war, she knows only that she can drive an ambulance, and that her name is Stella Bain.”
As always Shreve’s descriptions are very effective and where they need to be, historically accurate. “When the patient arrived, his lower jaw was badly infected, and I could see that to save the man, the reconstruction would have to be cut away, the infected area abraded, and a recovery period endured before we could implant a better device for him.”
The novel progresses as you would expect but, for this reader, it seems to take a sharp turn in the narrative half way through when Stella abruptly leaves for America. This is not to say that I didn’t enjoy the rest of the book, I just felt somehow that the two parts didn’t quite sit together. I’m interested to see what another reader thinks.
November 21, 2013
In the novel, Stella Bain, author Anita Shreve takes us back into the turbulence of World War I, the declining Edwardian era, and the gender restrictions imposed on women. This absorbing story is about a young woman who worked as an ambulance driver in France. She is discovered shell-shocked and suffering from amnesia; all she can tell anyone is that her name is Stella Bain. But is it? Day by day, as Stella begins to heal, tiny recollections of memories, of locations, of names, flash into her mind. Determined to answer the questions of her past, she is compelled to unravel the secrets of her past, who she really is, and where she came from. What follows is a compelling, engrossing mystery.
The novel embraces strong topics such as post-traumatic stress syndrome, especially as it affected women at the time, the rights of women and societal expectations and norms, while delivering a poignant love story of pain and loss and healing.
Anita Shreve excels at drilling down deep into the human spirit, of unleashing great emotion, and all while telling a riveting story. This is very much a character driven novel, but it also has a touching mystery at its roots that definitely keeps the reader turning the pages. I highly recommend this novel for anyone wishing to cozy up to a deep, insightful story of ultimate triumph.
The novel embraces strong topics such as post-traumatic stress syndrome, especially as it affected women at the time, the rights of women and societal expectations and norms, while delivering a poignant love story of pain and loss and healing.
Anita Shreve excels at drilling down deep into the human spirit, of unleashing great emotion, and all while telling a riveting story. This is very much a character driven novel, but it also has a touching mystery at its roots that definitely keeps the reader turning the pages. I highly recommend this novel for anyone wishing to cozy up to a deep, insightful story of ultimate triumph.
December 2, 2013
I always put a new Anita Shreve book ahead in my line up of books to read. However, I don't think this one was worth putting ahead. I did not like Shreve's writing style - it seemed to lack depth and the writing seemed so very simplistic. The story line itself was interesting enough and was what kept me reading. It deals with a loveless marriage, a wife leaving her family in fear of her husband, joining the war efforts in France as a nurse, suffering shell shock and losing her memory, and so on.
It was a quick read and perhaps I felt cheated that I didn't really get to know the characters very well and the events just moved quickly, covering time without allowing me to get involved in the scene.
Maybe I am being too critical, but I really didn't think this book cAme close to being her best work.
It was a quick read and perhaps I felt cheated that I didn't really get to know the characters very well and the events just moved quickly, covering time without allowing me to get involved in the scene.
Maybe I am being too critical, but I really didn't think this book cAme close to being her best work.
April 4, 2014
Stella Bain.. by Anita Shreve.. The author made the characters jump off the page. The story had a beautiful flow. An abused wife left her husband and children and sailed to France to help in the World War I effort. Due to her experiences she became shell shocked and had no memory of her past life and her name. She was taken in by a couple in London after she left France. He was a doctor and helped her to get better. She realized who she was after someone recognized her and spoke her name. She had many trial to overcome. Her children loved her and accepted her return. After a nasty divorce she sought out the doctor in London. They were in love with other. Lovely ending.
November 11, 2013
Anita Shreve was once my favorite author, but her last few books were big disappointments for me. I was really looking forward to Stella Bain because of the subject and time period. It was pretty good; I would give it 3 1/2 stars.
It is a small book and quick read. I enjoyed the story very much, and was drawn in right from the start. Yet....it was just pretty good, not great. One of my favorite books of all-time is Fortune's Rocks- now THAT was great. I sometimes think that writers only have a limited amount of good books in them to write and that it is hard to keep writing consistently good books.
It is a small book and quick read. I enjoyed the story very much, and was drawn in right from the start. Yet....it was just pretty good, not great. One of my favorite books of all-time is Fortune's Rocks- now THAT was great. I sometimes think that writers only have a limited amount of good books in them to write and that it is hard to keep writing consistently good books.
March 24, 2016
This was a bit of an odd read...while I see what Shreve was writing about here, (women experiencing PTSD or "shell shock" as a result of their work during the war, and little to zero attention paid to women's experiences and efforts during the war [something also noted in [book:The Nightingale|21853621] ]) many times it felt like different stories strung loosely together. At times the story was also quite "flat" in tone. The narration by Hope Davis was indeed very good, but there were many times when the oddness of the story was overwhelming to me.
September 1, 2020
Sometimes I read Anita Shreve books as a break from non-fiction. I borrowed this e-book from my local library. Some of her scenes or characters from previous books have stuck with me, books such as: The Weight of Water, Testimony, A Change in Altitude.
This book unfortunately, will not be one of those books.
The first part of the book takes place during WW1 and we find a woman suffering from loss of memory, who comes to believe her name is Stella Bain. That begins the journey into the mystery of who she really is and how she came to have amnesia.
From there we eventually move on to meeting a doctor who helps with her regaining who she is and we go back into those memories to find out what happened to her.
I had a very strong feeling that more would develop between Stella and the doctor, August. But I’m not putting any spoilers in here.
During that time there was no diagnoses of PTSD, instead it was termed shell shock.
Most interesting to me was learning about the tin masks that were made to cover a soldier’s wounded and disfigured face. I remembered a character in the HBO Boardwalk Empire series, Richard Harrow, a disfigured war veteran who’d lost an eye, cheek bone and part of his upper jaw, wearing one of these masks.
After reading this book, I did an online search to learn more about these tin masks and the men who wore them.
Now, back to the book.
The story then takes us back even further to why she left America to volunteer in the war.
This book is not one of Anita Shreve’s best works, at least for me anyway.
The trial in the mid section of the book is far too long and the information redundant. It would have been better if we learned more new information instead of what we already knew.
After I finished this book, I had a look at others reviews and discovered that this book seems to fall into the category of some who like it and some who don’t.
Again, it speaks of how we cannot totally rely on the opinion of others, but must form our own judgement as to what connects and works for us.
My take away, read it and decide for yourself.
This book unfortunately, will not be one of those books.
The first part of the book takes place during WW1 and we find a woman suffering from loss of memory, who comes to believe her name is Stella Bain. That begins the journey into the mystery of who she really is and how she came to have amnesia.
From there we eventually move on to meeting a doctor who helps with her regaining who she is and we go back into those memories to find out what happened to her.
I had a very strong feeling that more would develop between Stella and the doctor, August. But I’m not putting any spoilers in here.
During that time there was no diagnoses of PTSD, instead it was termed shell shock.
Most interesting to me was learning about the tin masks that were made to cover a soldier’s wounded and disfigured face. I remembered a character in the HBO Boardwalk Empire series, Richard Harrow, a disfigured war veteran who’d lost an eye, cheek bone and part of his upper jaw, wearing one of these masks.
After reading this book, I did an online search to learn more about these tin masks and the men who wore them.
Now, back to the book.
The story then takes us back even further to why she left America to volunteer in the war.
This book is not one of Anita Shreve’s best works, at least for me anyway.
The trial in the mid section of the book is far too long and the information redundant. It would have been better if we learned more new information instead of what we already knew.
After I finished this book, I had a look at others reviews and discovered that this book seems to fall into the category of some who like it and some who don’t.
Again, it speaks of how we cannot totally rely on the opinion of others, but must form our own judgement as to what connects and works for us.
My take away, read it and decide for yourself.
February 5, 2023
It’s been years since I’ve read a book by Shreve and it didn’t disappoint. I loved it!
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