The Remembered Soldier

The phenomenal English-language debut from Daanje weaves an affecting love story through a tangle of memories and dreams. Four years after WWI, amnesiac veteran Noon Merckem lives in a Ghent asylum, where he’s visited by women looking for their husbands who went missing in action. Noon was found with no identity papers and wearing a combination of Flemish, French, and German uniforms. He knows nothing of his past, and he’s haunted by nightmares of the trenches. One woman, Mrs. Julienne Coppens, identifies him from a scar on his forehead and insists he is her missing husband, Amand. Noon is released to her care, and they return to Kortrijk, where they try to rebuild their lives together. As Julienne slowly unveils details of their past, their love blossoms, but her shame and guilt over things she did while he was away threaten to overwhelm their newfound peace, as do his increasingly violent nightmares and growing distrust of the memories Julienne fills his head with. His blackouts, during which he believes he’s another man with an entirely different backstory, also become more frequent and prolonged. The complex and layered narrative is as moving as it is unsettling, and it will keep readers wondering about the truth long after the final page. It’s a remarkable achievement. (May)