Life Class - Pat Barker

On the cusp of World War I, Paul Tarrant is ready to abandon his studies at the Slade School of Arts due to what his instructor has called a lack of feeling. While Paul struggles with the choices he must make, the woman he loves keeps him at a distance and war finally begins, dragging everything he knows into it. Pat Barker’s Life Class (Anchor, $14.95) deftly weaves emotional conflict with the horrors of a war we still struggle to understand. With a love story at its center, this book resists simple conclusions; rather, it plays out much like life itself, chaotic and imperfect, but beautiful nonetheless.