A review of the novella When They Came Home, by Terri Lewis.
In When They Came Home, Terri Lewis tells a quiet story of courage in the face of devastating psychic wounds. Milton and Edith, young Midwestern newlyweds in 1920, are practical farm folk. They have always looked forward to a simple but rewarding life: good hard work, the love of family, and the friendship of neighbors. But that normal life, however much they may long for it, is out of their reach. Though outwardly unscathed, Milton has returned from the Great War a shattered man.
The sustained trauma of World War I's trench warfare induced a kind of mental illness that medical science just didn't know how to treat. It was recognized with the term "shell shock" but was nevertheless ill-defined. In this vacuum of ignorance and helplessness, practitioners were left to guess at treatment options. The physicians that are in charge of Milton's case come up with advice and regimens that range from ineffective to deeply harmful. When Milton can't follow their advice or fails to improve enough to be able to support his family, the federal government denies the disability pension he earned through his service.
Edith's love for Milton and their children, along with her faith in the necessity of moral living, carries her time and again into taking action beyond what she thinks herself capable. She sees herself as an unexceptional woman: plain, well-intentioned, competent in the household arts but not especially clever, and unfamiliar with the ways of the world outside her community. She never wanted or expected to be the head of her family and feels dogged by her lack of preparation every time she faces a difficult decision.
The novella covers many years in the life of this family through brief and telling episodes. I admire Lewis's choice of episodes, which often avoid the greater drama in favor of deeper insight into the decisions Edith and Milton make in the everyday calm. That is, Lewis focuses on understanding the reasons for their actions, rather than on the disruption or joy that results when they are forced to act. It's an unusual choice, showing the buildup to an inflection point from two angles, and then skipping the crisis itself, moving on to the next episode where the new direction is apparent. I found the result both emotionally and psychologically engaging, creating more empathy than if the story had been told through the crisis moments.
And that makes sense, because the tragedy and the challenge are the loss of a simple everyday life. There is a haunting ache for normality in this story, an unspoken question: "Is this really too much to ask?" It kept calling to my mind the slogan of the Warren Harding presidential campaign, "a return to normalcy," which resonated so strongly with Americans at the end of the Great War. When They Came Home has the ring of authenticity, and not only because it is based on the experience of Lewis's grandparents. This story of a shattered life and the courage it calls forth is told with such compassion and understanding that it lends the reader a share in both the tragedies and the triumphs of Edith's and Milton's life together.
With thanks to NetGalley and Miami University Press for providing access to an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.