Plot: Hugo is happy, sort of. He is finally retired from soldiering, having acquitted himself well enough to be given a title and land. He has a little farm where he can give life instead of take it, and he wants absolutely nothing to disturb his hard, hard earned inner peace. Sure, he needs a wife, but he can probably just shout “I’m a rich, titled gentleman” anywhere at all and a suitable candidate will fall into his arms. Incidentally, Gwen is also happy. She is financially independent, free to move about as she pleases, and has friends and family who enjoy her company, probably. But out on a walk, after a huge argument with a distant acquaintance, starting into the endless ocean, she is crushed by a feeling of loneliness. And then her already fragile ankle is crushed a little also. Fortunately, a retired soldier is around and able to strongarm her into accepting help. Shenanigans ensue.
This book is an interesting and challenging read. Mental health plays an enormous role in Hugo and Gwen’s story, but it isn’t covered the way mental health often is. Hugo’s arc is a bit more typical – a person deeply affected by traumatic events and trying to get through the PTSD through sheer will and just hiding from the world. Gwen’s is more complex, because while mental health is discussed increasingly openly and compassionately, there is little in the way of compassion for the people around the sick person. The ways in which a mental illness can create an abuser – even if that person absolutely has no malicious intent at all. The ways in which that abuse can create mental health problems in their care givers that last long after that person is gone. Balogh uses this story to explore what we owe each other, and that sometimes, love actually isn’t enough.
