The Remembered Soldier
by Anjet Daanje
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FINALIST for the 2025 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD for TRANSLATED LITERATURE
"Superb . . . In its dangerous admixture of truth and reassembled reality, 'The Remembered Soldier' develops an unforgettable picture of marital love."--Sam Sacks in The Wall Street Journal
An extraordinary love story and a captivating novel about the power of memory and imagination: Flanders 1922. After serving as a soldier in the Great War, Noon Merckem has lost his memory and lives in a psychiatric asylum. Countless women, responding to a newspaper ad, visit him there in the hope of finding their spouse who vanished in battle. One day a woman, Julienne, appears and recognizes Noon as her husband, the photographer Amand Coppens, and takes him home against medical advice. But their miraculous reunion doesn't turn out the way that Julienne wants her envious friends to believe. Only gradually do the two grow close, and Amand's biography is pieced together on the basis of Julienne's stories about him. But how can he be certain that she's telling the truth? In The Remembered Soldier, Anjet Daanje immerses us in the psyche of a war-traumatized man who has lost his identity. When Amand comes to doubt Julienne's word, the reader is caught up in a riveting spiral of confusion that only the greatest of literature can achieve.
Reading group guide to The Remembered Soldier is available for download free of charge at newvesselpress.com.
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Book Details
- ISBN
- 9781954404328
- Binding
- Paperback
- Authors
- Anjet Daanje
- Publisher
- New Vessel Press
- Published Date
- May 13, 2025
- Language
- English
- Pages
- 576
- Physical Info
- 1.6 in H x 8.9 in L x 6 in W (1.5 lb)
A beautifully imagined tale of retouched memories (and photographs). One of my favorite books of the year, and a GREAT read for noticing the nuances of a couple's relationship, issues of trust and distrust--then trust regained. I learned a lot about post-WWI in the process. My book-reading buddy thought it was a bit long, but I think it rewards the time spent. I loved this novel, and I hope many others discover it!
Did Not Finish. This book was a slog. Way too long and didn't need a rehash of his dreams every. single. night. I'm bummed that I had to quit because I love the premise of the book. I wanted to finish, but realized life is way too short to do something I don't love.
Riveting, sometimes disturbing story that takes you inside the mind of a man devastated by the trauma of WW I trench warfare that has led to total amnesia. Rescued from an asylum by a woman who says she’s his wife, he starts to rebuild his life. But as fragmented memories return, it becomes clear all is not as it seems. The story flows like a stream of consciousness and at times the content is quite grim yet I had to keep going. A brilliant novel containing every imaginable emotion.
The best book I’ve read in many years. Superb writing!
It took nearly 600 pages for the author to tell us that her protagonist used an amnesiac soldier to recreate her life? I just do not see the praise heaped on this novel. I thought it was overwrought, far too long, and the MFA-program style of writing gets quite tiresome. Truly not a great book though a good premise. No one clearly edited this book, either in translation or in the original language. Just too much.
