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Life ClassSeries

This series delves into the world of art and wartime conflict, following the lives of young artists profoundly impacted by World War I. It charts their personal journeys through uncertainty, love, and loss as they navigate a rapidly changing world. The works explore the fragility of the human spirit and the power of art in the face of unimaginable destruction.

Life Class
Toby's room
Noonday

Recommended Reading Order

  1. 1

    Life Class

    • 256 pages
    • 9 hours of reading
    3.7(249)Add rating

    In the Spring of 1914 a group of students at the Slade School of Art have gathered for a life-drawing class. Paul Tarrant is easily distracted by an intriguing fellow student, Elinor Brooke, but when Kit Neville � himself not long out of the Slade but already a well-known painter � makes it clear that he, too, is attracted to Elinor, Paul withdraws into a passionate affair with an artist�s model. As spring turns to summer, Paul and Elinor each reach a crisis in their relationships until finally, in the first few days of war, they turn to each other. Paul�s new life as a volunteer for the Belgian Red Cross is a world away from his days at the Slade. The longer he remains in Ypres, the greater the distance between himself and home becomes, and by the time he returns, Paul must confront the fact that life, and love, will never be the same again.

    Life Class
  2. 2

    Toby's room

    3.8(384)Add rating

    Toby has always protected his sister, Elinor, their bond closer than they can acknowledge. Then comes war, and in 1917 on a French battlefield Toby is reported 'Missing, Believed Killed'. Elinor, an artist now involved in helping surgeons reconstruct the faces of injured soldiers, is determined to find out what happened and writes to the horrifically wounded Kit Neville, the last man to see Toby alive. But Neville is in hospital, himself damaged beyond recognition, and he will not talk - until Elinor asks fellow soldier and her former lover Paul Tarrant for help. But are some truths better left concealed? 'Magnificent; I finished it eagerly, wanting to know what happened next, and as I read, I was enjoying, marvelling and learning.' Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, author of Half of a Yellow Sun 'A heart-rending return to the Great War. A superb stylist . . . forensically observant and imaginatively sublime.' Independent 'Once again Barker skilfully moves between past and present, seamlessly weaving fact and fiction into a gripping narrative.' Sunday Telegraph 'Strong, truthful and beautifully controlled. Magnificent.' Saga 'Dark, painful, yet also tender. It succeeds brilliantly.' John Vernon, New York Times 'Raw, visceral . . . A fiercely honest account of the effects of war.' Daily Express 'The plot unfurls to a devastating conclusion . . . a very fine piece of work.' Melvyn Bragg, New Statesman Books of the Year

    Toby's room
  3. 3

    Noonday

    • 272 pages
    • 10 hours of reading
    3.8(100)Add rating

    Paul Tarrant, Elinor Brooke and Kit Neville first met in 1914 at the Slade School of Art, before their generation lost hope, faith and much else besides on the battlefields of Ypres and the Somme. Now it is 1940, they are middle-aged, and another war has begun. London is a haunted city. Some have even turned to seances in an attempt to contact lost loved ones. As the bombs fall and Elinor and the others struggle to survive, old temptations and obsessions return, and all of them are forced to make choices about what they really want ...

    Noonday