Overview

In the first frantic year of World War 1 London, Jan Strang, the son of a Swedish timber merchant and Lucy Green, daughter of a suburban postmaster become lovers, marry and live with Jan's cosmopolitan parents. Jan introduces Lucy to a new world of experiences and temptations. But then Jan goes off to fight. When he returns from his stint as a Second Lieutenant on the Front Line, Lucy quickly discovers he has returned a very different man from the one she married: wounded, battle-scarred and hooked on morphine. Can Lucy's love, faith and inner strength heal his deepest wounds? With a host of memorable characters, including the scruffy terrier Tinker, the ultimately optimistic Anaesthesia takes us on a gripping atmospheric journey from a London in confusion in 1915 over to Belgium and France and back again to a war-weary Britain. One is left wondering which is the real battle: the one in Europe or the battle of love over addiction?

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9781527254619

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Reviews

This is well written and a great page-turner. An underside of love and war with terrific atmosphere and thoroughly filmic scenes. Richard Hawley Trench warfare, London bombings, and at the heart of it, a tender love story. Just when we thought we knew everything there was to know about the First World war, Anaesthesia throws new light on the surviving soldier's experience. The protagonist Jan, slips as easily into morphine addiction, as the reader is allowed to slip into the past - effortlessly, with no resistance. Jan and his sweetheart Lucy, breathe fresh life into this darkest chapter of history. It's a story that will stay with you. Mandy Bannon So many stories have been set during The Great War that it is tempting to think that there is nothing new to say, but this novel proves you wrong. The indiscriminate administration of morphine during the war produced as many as half a million addicts, and morphine addiction became known as The Army Disease. In Anaesthesia, Adrian Horn takes us though the story of a family that adapt and cope with all that the war throws at them, until the return home of Jan Strang, injured in battle, scarred by his experiences. His mood swings, destructive behaviours and inability to step back into the close relationships he knew before the war are charted without judgment and without compromise. The writing is clean and never manipulative. The impact of the novel comes from just how believable it all is. This is no grand sprawling epic. This is the well observed story of good and stoic people, unprepared for the psychological impact of war and drug addiction. Our sympathies are stirred not because these people are heroes, but because they are just like us. They are real. Isobel Stanisland A good read, and because of the depth of research very useful in shedding light on the war which affected my own family. I particularly liked the way some of the dialogue indirectly revealed the deeper feelings of the characters, and the evocation of the wartime atmosphere. Kerry Burns This is a very atmospheric story of a family living through the first World War. It moves between London and France and back again, tackling the issues of post-traumatic illness and the problems of drug addiction amongst recovering soldiers. The writing creates the world of the early twentieth century, and places the protagonists firmly within their time. It was an enjoyable read. Anne Cleasby

This is well written and a great page-turner. An underside of love and war with terrific atmosphere and thoroughly filmic scenes. Richard Hawley Trench warfare, London bombings, and at the heart of it, a tender love story. Just when we thought we knew everything there was to know about the First World war, Anaesthesia throws new light on the surviving soldier's experience. The protagonist Jan, slips as easily into morphine addiction, as the reader is allowed to slip into the past - effortlessly, with no resistance. Jan and his sweetheart Lucy, breathe fresh life into this darkest chapter of history. It's a story that will stay with you. Mandy Bannon So many stories have been set during The Great War that it is tempting to think that there is nothing new to say, but this novel proves you wrong. The indiscriminate administration of morphine during the war produced as many as half a million addicts, and morphine addiction became known as The Army Disease. In Anaesthesia, Adrian Horn takes us though the story of a family that adapt and cope with all that the war throws at them, until the return home of Jan Strang, injured in battle, scarred by his experiences. His mood swings, destructive behaviours and inability to step back into the close relationships he knew before the war are charted without judgment and without compromise. The writing is clean and never manipulative. The impact of the novel comes from just how believable it all is. This is no grand sprawling epic. This is the well observed story of good and stoic people, unprepared for the psychological impact of war and drug addiction. Our sympathies are stirred not because these people are heroes, but because they are just like us. They are real. Isobel Stanisland A good read, and because of the depth of research very useful in shedding light on the war which affected my own family. I particularly liked the way some of the dialogue indirectly revealed the deeper feelings of the characters, and the evocation of the wartime atmosphere. Kerry Burns This is a very atmospheric story of a family living through the first World War. It moves between London and France and back again, tackling the issues of post-traumatic illness and the problems of drug addiction amongst recovering soldiers. The writing creates the world of the early twentieth century, and places the protagonists firmly within their time. It was an enjoyable read. Anne Cleasby

Author Information

I'm a professional writer and Cultural Historian. My debut novel Anaesthesia is a love story set against a background of morphine addiction in the First World War. In Anaesthesia I tried to bring to life the untold stories of a young couple living through the Great War. But it isn't really a war story; it's a story of love and addiction that explores each character and the way they cope with extraordinary circumstances. It brings to life in earthy detail the under-reported darker side of wartime London and captures the moods of desperation and hope. My intention is always to bring to life past events and to give a voice to those who are no longer in a position to speak for themselves. I grew up in the 1960s in North Harrow in what is now Greater London. I consider myself unbelievably fortunate to have been around at the peak of an explosion of youth culture and great music. My lasting memories are of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Hendrix, Motown, Sweet Soul Music and strange smoke in the air. I now live on the western edge of the Yorkshire Dales where the hills and streams drive my imagination. My juke box is filled with singles from the 1950s and '60s and my iPod with music from everywhere.

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