ok i get it this book has a lot to say and in some parts i was interested but mostly i was not. and tbh i have discovered i don't like when authors insert real people in their work and have them say whatever they want especially these poets and authors because they have a lot to say and have already said it. it kind of feels like barker has just re-arranged their memoirs and added one character of her own and made the book a digestible read of all of the real people's memoirs at once. and no i don't really care about whether sassoon's poem has a break there or there - especially when barker doesn't even mention which poem of his he's dissecting!!!!!! sorry but like no thanks this book was not for me and tbh was not even written that well so not really sure how this series has a book winning the booker... and rivers, the protagonist, is so dull i almost cried. i'm sure he was cool in real life. but not here. stfu rivers!!!! way more interested in the pov of the working class women in the novel but they were barely part of it. so great!