The Lives of Stella Bain

Hauled in a cart to a field hospital in northern France in March 1916, an American woman wakes from unconsciousness to the smell of gas gangrene, the sounds of men in pain, and an almost complete loss of memory: she knows only that she can drive an ambulance, she can draw, and her name is Stella Bain.

A stateless woman in a lawless country, Stella embarks on a journey to reconstruct her life. Suffering an agonising and inexplicable array of symptoms, she finds her way to London. There, Dr August Bridge, a cranial surgeon turned psychologist, is drawn to tracking her amnesia to its source. What brutality was she fleeing when she left the tranquil seclusion of a New England college campus to serve on the Front; for what crime did she need to atone - and whom did she leave behind?

Vivid, intense and gripping, packed with secrets and revelations, THE LIVES OF STELLA BAIN is at once a ravishing love story and an intense psychological mystery.

“Fascinating”

A powerful reminder of the resilience of the human spirit, this tale is utterly unforgettable - Lady

Atonement with just the tiniest dash of Downton Abbey. This is a First World War story with a difference . . . a fantastic read - Red

Gripping and moving - Sunday Times

- Daily Mail

Anita Shreve is the acclaimed author of seventeen novels, including Rescue, A Change in Altitude, Testimony, and The Pilot's Wife, which was a selection of Oprah's Book Club. She lives in Massachusetts.

'Anita Shreve writes about ordinary people reacting to extraordinary events. She makes daring leaps to tell her story in the most compelling way' The Times In a field hospital in northern France in March 1916, an American woman wakes to the smell of gas gangrene, the sounds of men in pain, and an almost complete loss of memory: she knows only that she can drive an ambulance, she can draw, and her name is Stella Bain. A stateless woman in a lawless country, Stella embarks on a journey to reconstruct her life. What brutality was she fleeing when she left the tranquil seclusion of a New England college campus to serve on the Front; for what crime did she need to atone - and whom did she leave behind?

Hauled in a cart to a field hospital in northern France in March 1916, an American woman wakes from unconsciousness to the smell of gas gangrene, the sounds of men in pain, and an almost complete loss of memory: she knows only that she can drive an ambulance, she can draw, and her name is Stella Bain. A stateless woman in a lawless country, Stella embarks on a journey to reconstruct her life. Suffering an agonising and inexplicable array of symptoms, she finds her way to London. There, Dr August Bridge, a cranial surgeon turned psychologist, is drawn to tracking her amnesia to its source. What brutality was she fleeing when she left the tranquil seclusion of a New England college campus to serve on the Front; for what crime did she need to atone - and whom did she leave behind? Vivid, intense and gripping, packed with secrets and revelations, THE LIVES OF STELLA BAIN is at once a ravishing love story and an intense psychological mystery.

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