Casualties

"…the worst thing about wars is not the casualties that happen on the battlefield, but the ripples going out from them, on and on toward some shore so impossibly remote in terms of time that effectively it doesn't exist."

Casualties is a novel by British author, Lynne Reid Banks. In 1975, author Sue McClusky's marriage is full of dissatisfaction and tension that she and Cal try to conceal from their young sons. When a Dutch friend from her distant past invites Sue's family to spend the Easter vacation with her own, it seems like a gift: they can surely postpone their quarrels in company. And Mariolain seems to need Sue to come…

When they arrive, the welcome from Mariolain and her children is warm and genuine, but Sue can tell something is not quite right. Their house in Hilversum is a real wonder, filled with art and craft and clearly the product of "two talented, artistic, unconventional people who loved it and each other and saw eye to eye in all matters of taste". But later, when they are alone, Mariolain reminds Sue of the last time they met, almost twenty years earlier, and eventually, of the promise she made to tell Sue of her family's experience of the war.

This, she does, in intimate detail, and Sue is shocked by what her friend had to endure, and amazed at her resilience. Niels, Mariolain's charming husband, seems to have captivated Cal, but Sue is less impressed with his behaviour, as reported by her friend. At least, until Cal relates the events of Niels's early childhood in Java during the Japanese occupation. By this time, Sue is seeing the triviality of the problems plaguing her own marriage, in comparison to the challenges that the Dutch couple's marriage has survived.

This reissue by Sapere Books sports a beautiful, evocative cover. Even though it was originally published in 1986, it is a testament to Reid Banks's literary skill that it does not feel dated. She firmly anchors Sue's story in that era, while the flashbacks to wartime Holland and Java have an authentic feel. And while the subject matter is often sober, there are plenty of humorous moments as well.

Readers who feel they know all about the war in Holland: rationing, the activities of the Dutch Resistance, the hiding of Jewish families and young men avoiding German labour camps, may well be in for a surprise, in particular with regards the insidious recruitment and post-war treatment of collaborators. The mindset of the ordinary Dutch, the patriots and the German sympathisers is well conveyed.

Reid Banks gives her characters depth and insight: they often articulate words of wisdom. Of their own war experience, Sue says "It's only luck we weren't invaded. All the same things would have happened to us, all the same monsters would have crawled out of holes… Evil is so often a matter of occasion."

Of the place where her worst horror happened, Mariolain says "It's a beautiful place. We often go. One should not blame places for the things that happen in them. One has to go to them and be happy in them, to sort of clean them of the awful thing." A truly moving and thought-provoking read.

This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by Sapere Books.