Meghan Holloway’s Once More Unto the Breach is poetic and visceral, lyrical and brutal. A wartime mystery, a family saga, a subtle romance, and an action thriller wrapped up in an epic quest story, this is historical fiction at its best.

The tale begins in medias res with Rhys Gravenor, Welsh sheep farmer and Great War veteran, in Paris with a letter in his pocket. The tumult of the liberation is sweeping through France, and Rhys is desperate to find his estranged son. Joined by a young woman who is equal parts fascinating and suspect and by a poodle who is far more than a pampered pet, Rhys finds himself journeying across a desolated, dangerous country.

Rhys is a protagonist who is Homeric in character. He is not sad or downtrodden, but there is a poignancy about him. His search for his son runs parallel to another man’s race to do the same. Henri is not what he seems, and his character is a darker echo of Rhys’s. Both men are pragmatic, strong, and capable of great savagery. But Rhys is set apart by his compassion and his humanity.

Holloway writes with the cadence of a playwright, and the scenes unfold in such a vividly visual manner that the reader cannot help but be immersed in the character’s perspective. Her writing style is gripping, intelligent, and sophisticated with an impeccable attention to detail and historical authenticity. The cameos of Patton and Klaus Barbie were brilliantly executed.

This is a layered story with numerous threads overlapping into one seamless read. Rhys’s harrowing WWI experiences and his evolving relationship with his son are told in flashbacks interspersed throughout the story. Epistolary epigraphs detail his son’s wartime experience in France and provide an overarching timeline of the country’s occupation. The chapters written from the antagonist’s perspective contain some of the most shocking moments in the tale.

Holloway’s novel is a breathtaking entry in the historical fiction genre. Once More Unto the Breach is a story of fathers and sons, of the sanctuary of home, of bonds forged in hardship, of atonement and sacrifice. This is a tale that resonates long after the final page is turned.

Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction with a literary bent, of thrillers, and of gritty war stories that are hopeful at heart

Many thanks to NetGalley and Polis Books for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review