Stella Bain - Softcover

"Harrowing. . . . With the story of this one woman, Shreve gives shape to the larger world of the Great War." ---Carol Iaciofano, NPR

"Touching, heartbreaking, sometimes so vivid you can almost feel the fear." ---Karen Campbell, Boston Globe

"Fascinating....A slender novel with a large and complex subject." ---Carolyn See, Washington Post

"Spare, elegant. . . . Shreve's fans will appreciate her keen understanding of women's struggles to live life on their own terms." ---Helen Rogan, People

"Compelling. . . . Shreve cleverly and movingly shifts between Stella's two lives." ---Jocelyn McClurg, USA Today

"Shreve's 17th novel is a tragic yet hopeful story of love, memory, loss, and rebuilding....The novel is both tender and harsh....Shreve's thoughtful, provocative historical tale has modern resonance." ---Publishers Weekly
Stella Bain has no memory of her past when she wakes up in a hospital bed in Marne, France. It is 1916, and she wears the uniform of a British war nurse but speaks with an American accent. As soon as she is able, Stella sets out for London, where she hopes to find answers. What she discovers-with the help of Dr. August Bridge, who takes an interest in her case-both shocks and startles. As Stella's memories come racing back, she must undertake a journey across the ocean to confront the haunted past of the woman she used to be.

In this gripping historical drama that transports us from Europe to America and back again, Anita Shreve weaves an engrossing tale about love and memory, set against the backdrop of a war that devastated an entire generation.