Men With Broken Faces is the story of a World War I soldier's fight for physical survival during combat, and of his struggle for spiritual survival afterward. The book follows Morgan Feeney from basic training in Montana to front-line combat in France, and back to Montana. Some of the sub-plots include Morgan's affliction with petit mal epilepsy; the death on the battlefield of a gay prizefighter's friend; Morgan's vision of his ideal love, Evangeline; Morgan's neurasthenia (shell shock); and worst of all, the suicide death of his friend, Lansing Rhodes, just before the end of the war. For the rest of his life Morgan is haunted by the war, by Lansing's war diary, and by Evangeline.
After his release from the army, Morgan homesteads in northeastern Montana. Burdened by his epilepsy, and tormented by his war experiences, Morgan becomes an outcast; the object of gossip and ridicule.
Morgan's one salvation is the incarnation of Evangeline: beautiful Genevieve Richards, who was a nurse in France during the war. Despite Morgan's suffering, Genevieve recognizes an innate courage and dignity within him. Genevieve herself is psychologically wounded. She and Morgan find themselves attracted to each other, but their relationship is not complete until they realize that one of the "men with broken faces"* whom Genevieve had tended is Lansing, who is still alive. Lansing-mad, and addicted to opium-has a psychogenic control over Genevieve that ends only when he sacrifices himself for her, and for Morgan. In the end, Morgan and Genevieve find peace together.
* Those so hideously wounded that French artists were hired to make masks for them.
About the Author:
James Ostby grew up on the barren High Plains of northeastern Montana, on the farm homesteaded by his grandparents in 1912. He holds a bachelor of science degree in general studies, a bachelor of science in film and television production, and a minor in history. He was a personnel psychology specialist in the Army in the mid '60s, has worked in public and commercial television, and was the owner and manager of a small-town radio station in Wyoming. He and his wife, Donna, returned to the farm with their two young daughters in 1977. The long, cold winters and the isolation provided the perfect writing environment. (Ironically, his hometown was named Froid by a railroad worker.)
James and Donna spend their summers in Montana, and the rest of the year they cruise aboard their blue-water sailboat, Skycastles, based in Florida.
My Review:
This is a book that every citizen needs to know about. Our soldiers have to wear masks to cover up their war wounds. Freedom is not free and this book talks about things that happen during war and after war that most people do not know about. My Great Uncle was a prisoner of War for the Battle of The Bulge. He came home alive, but was always thin after that. It is not an easy thing to go through, and I thank God that he was not hurt worse. Lansing was mentally and physically scarred. His only tie to the real world was his "bond" with Genevieve. Genevieve is afraid of him and she is in a relationship with Morgan. Both men need Genevieve to themselves sane. However both men cannot have her and it is through love that one of them make the ultimate sacrifice. The ending was bittersweet and touching. I admit that I did get teary eyed. I am giving this book a 5/5. I was given a copy to review from the author through The Book Reviewer Yellow Pages, however all opinions are my own.
The author also sent me a signed paperback copy to giveaway to a lucky reader! Please enter here:
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