Frank Speaking: from Suvla to Schweidnitz - Carole Hope

 

To be an independent writer and self-publish a book is a very special thing to do and I will always support authors that do this.

In Frank Speaking – from Suvla to Schweidnitz the author Carole Hope has done an exceptional job is transcribing the memoirs of Frank Laird.

Frank Morrow Laird wrote the memoir of his experiences during the First World War but due to his death in 1925 it remained unfinished.  The memoir has humour, sadness, and thoughts and memories of those he served with.

The memoir runs from July 1914 and follows Franks journey from the call to arms through his experiences in the trenches where he was wounded three times to being captured and made a prisoner of war to his last entry in November 1918.

Franks Journey takes him from Dublin, Ireland, and officer training to serving across England and then to Gallipoli where his description of the fighting brings home the emotions and reality of battle.  Wounded, he is returned to England, marries, and returns to his regiment where his is wounded for a second time at Langemarck.  Evacuated back to London, recuperation then back to the front.  Wounded for a third time and captured by the Germans the memoir covers his time as a POW and then his repatriation.

From the editors notes Franks started his memoir with his time as a POW and then jumped backwards to the start of the war.  There are gaps in the memoir that the author has done a magnificent job in patching together from regimental diaries and war records to give the reader a flowing picture of Franks life.

Carole Hope has done an exceptional job not only in transcribing the memoir and staying true to the smallest detail from chapter headings to font but what I really love are the editors notes throughout the book. I don’t think I have ever seen it done this way and instead of footnotes the editors notes within chapters allow you to understand and give context to the detail.  This adds so much to the writing.   The other thing I really like about how Carole has undertaken the difficult task of shaping the memoir into a brilliantly drawn together book is her restraint on giving opinion on the war.

I cannot praise this book enough.  As a memoir of the Great War, it is as true a memoir as you will read.  The author has created a fantastic book through detailed research and staying true to the words of Frank Laird.

For those interested in The Great War this is a must read. 

This is a must purchase book. The book is priced at £20 with postage in the UK of £3.50. This is value for money for such an exceptional book.

The book can only be purchased from the author, and you can contact Carole at:

Carole.s.hope@btinternet.com or via twitter DM

Also, leave me a message and I will pass on your details to Carole.