Considered by many to be one of the finest novels of the 20th century, this often overlooked classic is a prime example of literary impressionism. John Dowell, the narrator of this novel, is attempting to recount 'the saddest story he has ever heard'. Interrupted incessantly by his own haphazard ramblings and casual musings, he reflects on the time he and his now-deceased wife Florence spent in the company of Edward and Leonora Ashburnham as he attempts to unpick the complex nature of the relationship between these two couples. We slowly discover that the wealth, the good intentions and the seeming respectability of these people serve to conceal deep fissures of temptation and corruption in their characters. The Good Soldier is so clearly the work of a master of composition and a remarkably rewarding and unique reading experience.

Author Biography

Ford Hermann Hueffer was born to a German father and English mother. He became Ford Madox Ford in the after-math of World War I. Having already published The Good Soldier, he was recruited by Britain's War Propaganda Bureau to write their pamphlets. In 1916 he enlisted himself. He became an eminent literary figure and earned a reputation of one of the great Modernists writers.