Lucius is the youngest son of a prominent Viennese family. His family believes his passion for medical studies is beneath them; on the other hand, his academic work gives him little opportunity to embarrass his socially polished relations with his awkward manners. When war breaks out in 1914, Lucius leaves school to serve in a field hospital. The hospital turns out to be a half-bombed church, staffed by himself, a nursing sister, Margarete, and a handful of orderlies.
Both Lucius and Margarete are sufficiently quirky and drawn with such depth that the more pedestrian 'horrors of war' story remains quite interesting. The author is a psychiatrist, and he brings his knowledge to bear on descriptions of Lucius grappling with soldiers with head injuries and shell-shock. A recommended work of historical fiction.
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