Toby's Room by Pat Barker

A novel about sexuality during World War I.  The book follows Elinor and her brother Toby as they try and define their own relationship in the context of the War and their own growth into adulthood.   I found this pretty hard going to be honest.  The plot is very slow and very obvious – there are a few potentially interesting avenues but these are closed down abruptly which is a real shame.  For example, Elinor starts work at Queens, a facial injuries hospital and uses her talent as an artist to document the injuries and the surgical attempts to heal them.  This is all very well researched and could have been exceptionally interesting, particularly as there are real historical characters written into the narrative, but the heavy plot and the uninspiring characters overtook this more delicate subject.   I found the plot too flighty and the writing too cold to really engage with what could have been an excellent novel.