Charlie Wilcox's Great War
Sharon McKay
$8.99
288 pages | ISBN 0143014714 | Feb 2003 | Penguin Canada
The year is 1918. Charlie Wilcox, now 17 years old, tall, broad and mature beyond his years, returns home to Brigus, Newfoundland. He is a man now, his childhood left behind on the battlefields of France and Belgium. And he is burdened by a secret, one he fears will inflict terrible grief on the village and people he loves—people who have already suffered so much because of the Great War.
Waiting for him are his parents, Sam and Lucy Wilcox, and old friends Lily Mackenzie and Mac Daniels. We meet new characters, too: Helena, a beguiling beauty with chocolate eyes; Tom, a stretcher bearer, hardened by his years in the trenches; and Frank, a mischievous prankster.
Then there is Claire. The girl he left had eyes like pies and a face like an egg. But the young woman before him is a beauty—and she is angry. Why? She asks. Why did Charlie stay away so long? And why did so many have to die? Claire, like the rest of Brigus, wants answers.
Charlie Wilcox's Great War is the unforgettable story of a boy's quest to find his courage and fulfil his destiny—a destiny hard-won on the great battlefields of Europe. But was the cost too high?
Reviews for Charlie Wilcox's Great War
"Charlie Wilcox's Great War will show you how an artfully crafted fiction can combine the new earnestness with the old thrills..."—The Globe and Mail
"Whether you want a rip-roaring tale or a richly detailed look into history, Charlie Wilcox's Great War is a fabulous book."—The Hamilton Spectator
"Either as a sequel or on its own, Charlie Wilcox's Great War is an outstanding success."—Books in Canada
