The Lawn of Sleeping Soldiers

In 2002, the discovery of a crumbling, century-old ancestral novel in a New York bookshop sparks a literary mystery for a mother and her son.Based on a true story, The Lawn of Sleeping Soldiers traces the journey of a seventeen-year-old soldier-author from the trenches of the Somme to the Liverpool Blitz, via the New York publication of his inexplicable 1918 novel, The Fighting Mascot.When the authenticity of this version is questioned, a race begins for the real story to be told by the only person left who knows the truth: his mother.With themes of historic war and survival, The Lawn of Sleeping Soldiers questions our historical responses to war, propaganda, and daily survival. Beginning with a transatlantic phone call during Desert Storm, the narrative moves seamlessly between WW1, the Liverpool Blitz in 1941, and the aftereffects of 9/11. Using interviews and previously unknown data, this novel blends personal witness with historical research and rich, interweaving prose to create a journey of discovery across time and battlefields, told by the members of a Liverpool family.