Never Home: A Fitting Title

Neverhome by Laird Hunt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Death was the underclothing we all wore."

I wonder if soldiers everywhere have this feeling tugging at their souls? War, and stories of war, never seem to go away.

Neverhome is a civil war story, told from the perspective of a woman soldier, who goes by the name of Ash Thompson. Ash left her husband home to take care of the farm, saying she was the better shot, and therefore the more logical one to fight.

I want to say, that as a woman, there is no sense in that to me. However, that is clearly not the case of the 700 or so women who fought in the civil war, and the women that fight in the military today.

Ash is very pragmatic about her duties, and about what has to be done to win the war. She's clever about hiding her femininity, and poignant in her thoughts about the husband she left behind.

As in all wars, there are sights and sounds never to be forgotten. The memories seem to weave their way into the bones of the survivors, and how they live normal lives after serving their countries is something that is beyond my capability of understanding.

How is it that civil war stories, which seem to be the war stories I read, are also strangely beautiful in language and thought? I found this to be true for this story as well, and when reviewers say a story has fiercely gorgeous prose, who can resist picking it up? Perhaps it is true, as a character in the story states

"You say something one way instead of the other often enough and maybe the thing quits crawling into your bed with you and stroking its claws at your cheek."

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