Changes

|title=Worthless Men

|author=Andrew Cowan

|reviewer=Robin Leggett

|publisher=Sceptre

|date=February 2013

|summary=Packed with period detail, the book weaves together a number of narratives from life in the middle of the Great War in an English market town. Memorable characters and a pleasingly unusual take on war fiction that has a strong ring of authenticity.

}}

If you read a lot of fiction about World War One, it's tempting to imagine pre-war England as an idyl of peace and innocence. Andrew Cowan's ''Worthless Men'' depicts a much more gritty and earthy England. Set in 1916 in an industrial and market town, it weaves together several narratives that combine to depict a hard life even before the outbreak of war. In fact, its easier to imagine the lure of adventure that the war initially offered as a change from the harsh realities of life at home, although by the time Cowan's novel begins, the grim reality of what is involved has dampened much of this enthusiasm.

There's never a shortage of fiction relating to the Great War to chose from, but [[The Daughters of Mars by Thomas Keneally]] is a particularly good example, and like Cowan, Keneally takes a slightly less conventional look at events. At the risk of changing wars, the hospital in a country estate also crops up in [[Motherland by William Nicholson]], which is also well worth reading.

{{commenthead}}