The Foreshadowing

The first world war is currently proving a seemingly irresistible subject to children’s authors, with the danger that yet another scene set in the trenches could for many readers eventually prove to be one too many. But Sedgwick avoids this hazard by focusing on the adventures of 17-year-old Sasha, a volunteer nurse who also happens to experience unfailingly correct premonitions about disasters still to come. Like Cassandra, her insights get short shrift at the time, but Sasha eventually wins her own personal battle while thousands of others are losing theirs. Written in the form of brief notes rather than lengthy chapters, this is an engaging, moving and artfully constructed narrative from a novelist who is getting better all the time.