The Warm Hands of Ghosts

In my mind, ww1 is the nightmare that keeps your worst nightmares up at night. This was unflinching and unapologetic about the horrors of war and especially the systems that churn millions into the gears of war.

This is a story about a decorated combat nurse going through hell to find her brother as he endures hell and finds refuge in the darkest of places.

I was fascinated by the exploration of what the devil of the old world would do if they found themselves in this man made hell that was indiscriminate of sin and virtue. But I read the devil metaphorically, rather than the literal intention that casts this as historical fantasy - drawn from my own experiences of seeking oblivion from the unspeakable which can quickly lead to mental delusion, shared with those around you to personify, and exorcise, a bogeyman; to keep it at arms length, to shove it in a closet and continue to add locks even though it finds its way out of the smallest of cracks. The devil in this story is so human because it personifies something so many struggle to articulate, but is visible if you know how to look.

Arden doesn’t pull punches, there is no happily ever after - how does one survive a war, even if they walk away?

This book was somewhat of a departure from Arden’s The Bear and the Nightingale series, which I loved—but historical fiction is exactly up my alley, especially one with a hint of the supernatural. The Warm Hands of Ghosts is historical fantasy—a popular genre these days—but the fantasy is very light, so this would be great for anyone who doesn’t typically see themselves reading fantasy.

The novel is centered on WWI and the experiences of two siblings: one, Laura, a nurse, and Freddie, a soldier who has gone missing on the Flemish front. While I found the characters fairly static, the plot was quite captivating and Arden managed to create her trademark surreal sense of place that I knew from her previous books. If you are a simple reader who enjoys a good atmospheric novel, then you’re bound to enjoy this one.

WWI is a tricky topic to focus any book on—especially in North America, where it is vastly overshadowed by WWII; perhaps this is strange for Europeans, but it makes sense when you think about how much of the ‘action’ took place on European soil. Interestingly for me, this book is partially set in Halifax, Nova Scotia—a region I am very unfamiliar with, but one I was nonetheless fascinated to learn about. The novel also centers a historic boat explosion in 1918, which of course coincided with the Spanish influenza epidemic. That is to say, Laura, our poor nurse, certainly has her work cut out for her, even before she finds out her brother is MIA.

I wanted the characters to be more engaging, perhaps. Laura was interesting and her sense of independence and agency certainly distinguish her from her social peers, the typical polite ladies of parlors and salons. Freddie was also a well-developed character, with his own demons and mysteries that must be dealt with. Despite Arden’s efforts to characterize and enrich these characters, the dual perspective in narration somewhat blunted these effects.

If anything, I found the secondary characters more fascinating—the society ladies who accompany Laura, daring to be bold; the German soldier who saves Freddie’s life, at great risk to his own; and even the hardworking doctor who aids dying soldiers in a dilapidated mansion-turned-hospital at the doorstep of the front. This novel has a rich cast of characters, and at the very least, their interactions were a solid component of what makes this novel a great one.

Arden ties the novel together with themes of trauma, memory, grief, and the hubristic nature of progress, among others. A certain aspect reminded me of the Odyssey, of course. Ever since reading All Quiet on the Western Front, I have been slightly curious about WWI, because more than any other war, its effects on the human psyche seem unparalleled. (After all, we get the term shellshock, whence PTSD is derived, from this war.) It is difficult to discuss the masterful interplay of these themes without spoiling the book, and I fear this review is rambling too much already, so I will leave it at that. In the afterword, you do get the sense that this became a very intimate novel for Arden—these themes and ideas really resonated with her—and she clearly has done copious amounts of research to achieve this.

It is hard to believe it has been four months since I finished this book… but I am optimistic in conquering my review backlog. In any case, this book is well worth checking out if you are at all curious, and especially if you are a fan of Arden’s other novels.

Favorite quotes:
○ ‘There's nothing noble about suffering. It's an ugly, petty, crawling business. You'll see men die with less dignity than dogs, cursing you sometimes, that you can't save them.’
○ ‘Maybe witches like the war. They can do what they like with everyone busy fighting.’