Chapter 9 Summary and Analysis

Vera goes straight from the train station to the nursing home to visit her sick mother. She soon moves her mother back to her flat and cares for her. Letters from Etaples tells her that the camps have been bombed. The nurses are sleeping in the trenches. The fighting has intensified in Italy, but Vera does not tell her mother that both Vera and her father are very worried about Edward. They soon receive a telegram saying that Edward is dead and then letters with more details surrounding his death.

Vera wants more information of the circumstances surrounding her brother's death. She tracks down some of the people who were with him and are in hospitals and visits them to learn more of the details. Vera is very upset about her brother's death and draws many comparisons with the death of...