Life Class / Pat Barker 311 p.

I've concluded that Pat Barker is an author I can always read. Here she revisits WWI, the setting of her Regeneration trilogy. The novel begins in London shortly before the war begins, as we meet Elinor, Neville, and Paul, students at the Slade School of Art in London. Their life of serious bohemian frivolity is forced to yield to the realities of war soon, however, as Paul and Neville head to Belgium to serve the Red Cross. The three form a love triangle, but more interesting are their different reactions to the war and how it will shape their lives and art. Elinor, our strong woman, refuses to allow the war to shape her life - she will continue to pursue the art she loves regardless of the social pressure she faces to do otherwise.