I requested Two Storm Wood as background reading for a First Impressions Program booked by Kezia. It was a great success with our readers so in addition to the First Impressions Program with native ad coverage on BookBrowse and newsletters, we also featured as a "Today's Top Pick" across BookBrowse for a week:
https://www.bookbrowse.com/reviews/index.cfm/book_number/4417/two-storm-wood

I received a free copy of Two Storm wood by Philip Gray from Net Galley to read and review.

This could be a very short review: What a great story!
But I should say a bit more that that just to be honest. Philip Gray has written a novel about WW1 , and it’s aftermath, it’s effects on soldiers and those who love them that once read will linger in the reader’s memory. So a bit about the novel, without any spoilers so as not to ruin the pleasure of discovering a completely satisfying novel.
Britain 1916, near Cambridge college , a young woman is touring the grounds with her mother and aunt. Amy Vanneck a rather plain,
quiet girl wanders off into the choir loft of a minor church out of curiosity to see the great organ in the loft. There she meets Edward Halsam, organist , choir leader and teacher. .There is an instant attraction between the two young people that soon grows into love. Edward is anti-war , a pacifist and as, a teacher , exempt from the draft. For Amy, who has already knows of many young women left widows , Edward’s views are also hers. But he is poor, not of good family and “ Unsuitable” for Amy to marry, according to her family.. Then Edward’s exemption is lost. He goes to France .and is soon listed missing in action. It is from here that the novel develops into something unexpected , totally absorbing ,moving and , at times , horrifying.
There have been many , many novels of love and loss in the trenches of the war, usually of the glossy Downtown Abbey gloss. But never have I read , or seen depicted the ghastly story of the efforts to find and identify those hundred of thousands who lay in unmarked graves in France. This is where Amy goes to face the reality of what the war of the trenches meant to men like Edward. Along with the mystery of what happened to Edward, is another mystery, that of someone who is murdering soldiers. This is not a horror story or a mystery novel . It is a love story of Amy and Edward, of love and loss and courage.
The author writes beautifully. The narrative flows smoothly. His descriptions of ruined villages, of the shell- ravaged and highly dangerous former trench lines is stark and scary. But most importantly it is his protagonist, Amy, She is determined in her quest to find out more about Edward’s fate. Determined , but not fearless- the grounds are full of dead, the fogs swirl with menace and the few officers to whom Amy turns for guidance in her search, overwhelmed by the tasks they face in identifying the dead. The reader becomes deeply involved with Amy’s lost love, her fortitude in facing military indifference to her questions and her fear of finding the truth. And there is Edward, his war told in flashback. He is a sensitive man become a killer , trying to survive the carnage, never quite hardened to all that goes on around him. Great characters. you care about.
There is a great deal more to the story and I will not ruin your enjoyment of Two Storm Wood . My advice is that you get a copy of the book , settle in and start reading, you will forget to stop . Easily five star rated.
Cautions : scenes of trench warfare, and recovery of long-dead bodies ( or of what remains of them ) are realistically awful. There is not bad language and no gratuitous sex . Not needed in a book so well written.

I’m not usually one for military fiction (I love military non-fiction, though), but the blurb for this book caught me with its premise of a British woman who is unwilling to sit by and accept her fiance had simply gone missing at the Battle of Somme (during WWI, for those who aren’t in the know) and decides to spirit herself away without telling her family to travel to France in order to keep the promise to return his body to England. At the same time, there is a concurrent and intertwined storyline about a British military captain who, along with Amy (our female protagonist), stumble upon the scene of what would be considered an egregious war crime on the part of the British Army while seeking a possible spot where Amy’s missing fiance might be found.

The blurb makes it sound like the main storyline and interest lies with Captain Mazkenzie and his endeavor to get to the bottom of what happened at Two Storm Wood, but in truth it’s Amy and her indefatigable, determined, and tenacious search for the truth about her missing fiance and what happened at Two Storm Wood that truly carry this amazing book. Stalwart with love and burdened by guilt, Amy marches through sodden battlefields, sees the worst horrors of war, endures horrible conditions among hostile and period-typical misogynistic males because she simply cannot accept the word “missing” when it comes to the man she loves.

The narrative in this book pulls no punches. We get to see the horrors of war and the aftermath both through the eyes of the soldiers and through what Amy sees in her travels: war hospitals filled the sick, the damaged, the dying, and the dead. We get detailed and well-researched sections of the book that put us readers directly in the trenches, dugouts, and battlefields as the Battle of Somme rages on. Most of all, we get to see the horrors and wreckage of war without varnish. This isn’t a pretty book, but it’s a dang good one.

Last of all? This book is indeed thrilling. It’s tense, driven, and does manage to keep surprising you. And what is war if not thrilling all on its own? WWI was horrifying, and this book won’t let you forget it.

Thanks to NetGalley and W. W. Norton for early access to this title in exchange for a fair and honest review.

For more reviews and bookish posts please visit https://www.ManOfLaBook.com

Two Storm Wood by Philip Gray is a thriller/mystery set on the battlefields of the Somme, a few months after the Armistice of World War I. Mr. Gray is a journalist and teacher, this is his first novel.

Amy Vanneck has arrived on a battlefield in northern France, where her fiancé has disappeared. Amy wants to find his body without reservation so he can have a proper burial.

Assisted by Captain Mackenzie, Amy discovers that Edward Haslam has unquestionably fallen at Two Storm Wood. This is a place where atrocities and savagery, shocking even for the brutal war, have happened.

While it was a bit difficult for me to get into this book, by the time I finished it was surprisingly difficult to put down. I was very impressed with the research that went into Two Storm Wood by Philip Gray which, indeed, gives the reader a good idea of what those battlefields looked like.

This is not a book that glamorizes the thunder of battle. It follows the volunteers whose job it was to unbury dead soldiers, attempt to identify them in whatever state of decompression they might be, and by all means, give them a proper burial.
Over half a million bodies.

Mr. Gray did a vast amount of research, it certainly shows in this book which is both dark and moody. Kudos to him for writing about the unknown soldiers, a subject filled with grief, as well as horror. The living hell of the aftermath of war, seen through the eyes of a female English aristocrat, comes through vividly and in detail.

The aftermath of World War I is something I knew very little about. For example, I had no idea that many Chinese men were brought over to do much of the menial work like digging trenches, and exhuming bodies. Their efforts, it seemed, have been all but forgotten.

The author wrote this book to honor his grandfather, a veteran of both World Wars, including the Battle of the Somme. A consummate record keeper, he supplied much of the maps and manuals the author used to write this book.
I can’t think of a more fitting tribute.

Two Storm Wood is a post-WWI historical novel. Amy's fiance, Edward, enlists in the war late after losing his job as a Choirmaster. He is a kind, gentle, sensitive man with no violent tendencies. After the war, Amy is notified that Edward is missing and presumed dead. Knowing her family would prevent her from what she needed to do, she heads to France to find him or his body. She finds herself on the desolate battlefield where he was last seen. The only other people there are the men who volunteered to help search for the bodies of the dead to give them a proper burial. The author's writing is so realistic and affecting as he describes the killing fields - the mud, the destroyed landscapes, the decomposing bodies. In an underground bunker, a group of 13 men are found. Clearly they were murdered and some were tortured to death. Amy stays close to try to identify any man that matches Edward's description while she makes trips to question any person who may have come in contact with him. Meanwhile the investigation continues into the murders at Two Storm Wood. This story clearly showed the brutality of the war and the depravity that some descended to. Until the very end I was back and forth on what happened to Edward. Was he dead? Was he a deserter? Was he really the gentle, sensitive man I thought he was? Did the war change his personality? Was he the murderer? This uncertainty was so cleverly and expertly done, I could not tell until the very end -- and such a great ending! I will read anything by this author.

Wow this was unexpected! Gray has written a novel that not only goes to the heart of the devastation of war but also a mystery with a solution that actually made me gasp in surprise not once but twice. No spoilers from me! Amy fell in love with Edward Haslen, a school choirmaster, but WWI intervened- especially after he was terminated from his protected position and sent to the front. He went missing and now that the war is over, Amy is determined to find him so she sets off to France with a decent idea of where he was when last scene but no real comprehension of how awful the situation was. She's focused on Two Storm Wood, an underground set of tunnels where an injured comrade of Edward's claims he might be along with a band of deserters. Captain James MacKenzie is in charge of the volunteers who are exhuming bodies from the mud to repatriate them and he, along with the mysterious Major sent from London to investigate, become allies, especially after she discovers a mass murder. Amy finds herself questioning her understanding of Edward but she never stops looking for him - Gray does a great job of shifting your view without ever introducing Edward's perspective. Interspersed in the narrative, which moves back and forth in time, are letters. PTSD, drug addiction, and racism are all integral to the plot. This is tough to read in spots (beware the rats) but it's propulsive. It's also compulsively readable. These characters, this situation, will linger in my mind. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Highly recommend.

In TWO STORM WOOD, by Philip Gray, Amy Vanneck is searching the battlefields of France for her fiancé, Edward Haslam, who is lost and presumed dead at the end of World War I. As her search intensifies and she begins to find clues to where she might recover his body, Amy begins to see that Edward was involved in more that just being an officer in the war. Can Amy find out the truth about her Edward or will her search reveal secrets that were never meant to be discovered or both?
Throughout the book, Gray does an excellent job of creating the somber mood of postwar France. The weight of the war is felt at all times and the characters all seem to carry a weary approach to living. The geography of war, from how trenches are used and strategically placed, to how battalion moves into an area and makes it their temporary home, was expertly described and entertainingly recreated. Along with the mood and setting, Gray has written an exciting mystery full of surprises and fascinating characters. The middle of the book slows down, perhaps a little too much, but the ending is action packed and leaves the reader beautifully satisfied with what happens to Amy.
Historical fiction, particularly those set around World War I, are hit or miss for me, but TWO STORM WOOD was quite enjoyable to read. I would definitely read another book by Philip Gray.

This book twisted and turned me around so many times that I never knew what was coming. I began the book thinking it would be a light historical fiction novel. Turns out that it’s so much more. I was horrified and intrigued at different times, I had to put the book down twice and swore I couldn’t handle it, only to grab it all over again. I am grateful to NetGalley for the advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. It was out of my comfort zone, but was detailed and told a different side of post war - a much more honest, yet gritty, reality than many novels dare to go.

This is how you do historical fiction. Take notes, I know I am. Such a well written book, Two Storm Wood immerses us into the world of Amy as she tries to find her fiancé Edward, who is missing from the destruction of WW1 and its wake, and uncovers a whole host of secrets.

Mr. Gray gives us a sweet, quiet romance that could thaw even the most apathetic of hearts and adds a good dose of suspense that compels you to turn the pages. I have to admit, I tried really hard not to tear through it, I wanted the feelings to last - those little moments of Amy & Edward together, Amy piercing together clues, secrets unfolding, and those final pages… yeah, I gave a little gasp.

Such a beautifully written and paced book. Highly recommend.

Thank you NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company for an ARC in return for my honest review. This was both a murder mystery and an historical novel and it excelled at both. The descriptions of the battlefields during WWI in France were explicit and depressing. The mud, the filth, the rats, the decaying dead. Much of the scenes took place in the rain, which just added to the depressing landscape. The story is told from 1916 to 1919 and involves a grisly murder and the search for Amy's fiancé who is missing in action. The ending was so surprising and well wrapped up that I had to go back and read some sections for clues which I missed. An excellent story describing the aftermath of war and the work that went into locating the dead and giving them a decent burial.

Two Storm Wood, by Philip Gray, is a bold book. So many other books about war, fiction or non, discuss the horror of war, occasionally the glory, often the heroism. But only rarely do books about war juxtapose the war dead with the victims of murder. Seeing the two so closely together forces us to try and spot the difference—and wonder if there even is a difference. And Two Storm Wood does this in addition to giving us a love story and psychological drama. This book is an emotional roller coaster.

Amy Vanneck is a romantic. So much so that she travelled across from England to France to find the remains of her secret fiancé at the beginning of Two Storm Wood. (Secret because Amy’s mother, Lady Constance, disapproves of her daughter marrying someone from the lower classes.) As she is told over and over, the former battlefields of northwestern France are no place for a lady. The people who tell her this aren’t wrong because most of the action of this book takes place near the zone rouge—land that was cordoned off so that no one would be killed by all the unexploded ordnance and toxic ground that’s still there more than a century later. But as I said, Amy is a romantic, and determined enough to walk into that to find what’s left of the man she loved.

At the same time that we follow Amy’s efforts to track down her fiancé, we also follow Captain James Mackenzie. Mackenzie is in charge of a group of British soldiers and Chinese laborers (who are subject to constant, appalling racism by the British officers who are bossing them around) who are collecting the remains of British soldiers who died to be reinterred in mass graves. Along with collecting those remains for reburial, Mackenzie tries to collect every clue he can so that the soldiers his crew finds can hopefully be buried with a name. It’s a noble mission. It’s also very dangerous work, being done by men who want to go home as soon as possible. It’s also work that brings Amy to Mackenzie. He and his men are digging near Two Storm Wood, the last place Amy knows where her fiancé was before she lost contact.

Meanwhile, a man known as Major Westbrook (but who we know is not Major Westbrook, because we saw this man smother the real Westbrook in the prologue) inveigles himself into the story by claiming to have orders to investigate what might be a war crime at Two Storm Wood. Thirteen men were tortured and murdered there before the end of the war. Most would be content to write the deaths off as another Hunnish atrocity—except for the fact that that part of the line was in British hands at the time.

Amy, Mackenzie, and Westbrook follow all the clues they can get their hands on as they try to solve their various mysteries. From our vantage point as readers, we can see that they all have different ends of the same stick. The plots converge near the end of the novel into a spectacular running chase along the edges of the zone rouge as all the secrets finally come out.

Two Storm Wood is a book I wish I had read as a member of a book group, because I would love to talk through all the questions this book tosses up. What do we owe the dead? Is it right for governments to use their soldiers’ lives in a conflict like World War II? What is the moral definition of a war crime? What is the difference between a death as a result of murder and death as the result of an enemy bullet? I hope you readers out there remember this book when it does come out so that we can finally talk about it.

I was given the opportunity to read and review this book through Net Galley and I am so glad! The story sucked you in and you'll find yourself thinking about the characters long after you finish the book. Can't wait to read more by this author!!