Author Description

In the first days of shooting in 1914, Officer Adrien F., a lieutenant in the French army, is hit by mortar fire and part of his face is blasted away. Never to know the terrible hardships his comrades will suffer in the trenches, he is sent to a hospital on the outskirts of Paris to a closed ward without mirrors, specifically reserved for those who have been disfigured. Adrien's world becomes this one room, and his war the endless round of pain and reconstructive surgery. But among these men a special bond of friendship is created, and when their select group is joined by a beautiful woman, Adrien discovers that hope and humanity and humor can endure even in there, in the officer's ward. "The Officer's Ward" won the Prix des Libraires, the Prix Deux Magots, the Prix Notre tremps, the Prix Litterarire du Rotary Club International and the Prix du Rotary Premier Roman. It was also shortlisted for the Grand Prix of the Academie Francaise.