Parade's End, by Ford Madox Ford

Parade's End is unlike anything I've read before. On so many different levels Ford Madox Ford's book is etched in my memory. It's truly a masterpiece. Weeks after I've finished, it's lingered. As I'm out for a walk my mind wanders to it.

Benedict Cumberbatch as Christopher Tietjens

It has a rich plot, there are so many nuances. The scenes are often explored from more than one point of view so you get to know the characters on a more intimate level and with each perspective you learn more about either their history or a piece of the plot left out earlier; it's non-linear.

Christopher Tietjens has the courage to say exactly what he thinks and feels under no obligation to take nonsense in the sense of gossip and society-- Let people say what they will about himself; He doesn't pretend with anyone.

He's a true gentleman, the kindest character, intelligent and noble but because of misunderstandings and the selfish motives of some contemporaries he's thought of as disreputable.

He has great inner strength and is a gentle old soul. But he is very protective of the reputation of those he loves or is under obligation to, like his wife the beautiful and brazen Sylvia. He feels it's his duty to continue in their parade of marriage.

Rebecca Hall as Sylvia Tietjens

Sylvia's determination is uncontrollable. She's 'clumsily' in love with her husband:

It was all very well to say that every one of Sylvia’s eccentricities had in view the sole aim of getting her boy’s father to return to her. No doubt they might be. He... was perfectly ready to concede that even her infidelities, notorious as they had been, might have been merely ways of calling his unfortunate brother’s attention back to her —of keeping herself in his mind.

After the marriage Christopher, finding out that he had been a mere catspaw, probably treated her pretty coldly or ignored her —maritally… And he was a pretty attractive fellow, Christopher... A regular saint and Christian martyr and all that… Enough to drive a woman wild if she had to live beside him and be ignored.

She's reckless in her love for him and doesn't know how to show it, partially because her first romance was with the brutish Drake.

She reduces herself to stratagems and with Christopher's grand breadth of knowledge she feels at a disadvantage-- something very rare for her.

Valentine Wannop has the same boldness of spirit as Sylvia but puts it to a different use. She's active in promoting woman's rights, a suffragette. She nurtures and encourages.

Adelaide Clemmens as Valentine Wannop

There's a mutual attraction between her and Christopher; They're intellectual equals. That's not to say Sylvia is less sharp or quick, but their minds are dissimilar, they think in different languages.Valentine understands his fluently.

“It was no good anymore, he said to himself. She loved him, he knew, with a deep, and unshakable passion, just as his passion for her was a devouring element that covered his whole mind as the atmosphere envelopes the earth.”

But Christopher feels he cannot divorce Sylvia, no honorable gentleman would. And he is torn between what he feels is his duty and acting for his own happiness. Admist this love triangle WWI begins and we witness the kinks of the logistics and the imagery which only a veteran could describe:

It had just announced itself, saying protestingly , ‘CAN…NON’, and its shell soaring away to an enormous height caught the reflection of the unrisen sun on its base. A shining disc, like a halo in flight… Pretty! A pretty motive for a decoration, tiny pretty planes up on a blue sky amongst shiny, flying haloes! Dragonflies amongst saints.

There are many aspects of the books I haven't even touched but I'm so grateful to Tom Stoppard for adapting it, otherwise I may not have come across this beautiful work. I'm looking forward to watching the BBC/HBO production sometime when it airs (in the US) next year.