Daniel Mason
The Winter Soldier by Daniel Mason opens in 1914 when twenty-two-year-old medical student Lucius Krzlewski reports for duty as a doctor at an improvised field hospital in Lemnowice in the Carpathian Mountains in Eastern Europe. His thoughts of a grandiose medical facility shatter when he arrives at this destination. The make-shift hospital is in a converted church; the conditions are appalling; medical equipment is in short supply; and medical staff is reduced to a single nurse, Sister Margarete from the Sisters of St. Catherine. With minimal clinical practice, Lucius is thrust into operating on men with broken limbs, performing amputations, removing shrapnel, healing wounds, and administering medications. Fortunately, Sister Margarete, who has no formal medical training, tutors him. Without being officious or patronizing, she guides him through each procedure until he gains confidence and is able to conduct difficult operations unassisted. Their bond eventually leads to a clandestine love affair.
Lucius and the staff fall into routine periods of lull interrupted by new arrivals of wounded or dying soldiers. Jozsef Horvath, oHHHhhhhhha traumatized patient with no physical injuries, presents a unique challenge since he won’t speak, won’t move, and won’t eat. Lucius administers medication and watches as Horvath begins to make a slow recovery. To Horvath’s detriment, Lucius refuses to release him to a different facility, a decision that proves to have devastating consequences and which continues to haunt Lucius for many years.
As the battle front inches its way toward the field hospital, Lucius and Margarete are separated. He is reassigned to different hospitals but never stops searching for Margarete. He eventually moves back to Vienna, and after a brief, unsatisfactory marriage, renews his search for Margarete. He eventually finds her but under entirely unexpected circumstances.
The novel focuses on the effects of war, not on its battles and skirmishes. Its unwavering lens is on the casualties of war and on the medical staff who are tasked with healing them. Mason immerses the reader in the sights, sounds, and smells of the field hospital. He describes broken limbs, amputations, head injuries, lice infestations, typhus, and various other afflictions in gruesome, graphic detail.
The characters are well-drawn and believable. Margarete remains a fascinating enigma. Lucius is shy, self-effacing, prone to self-doubts, and with an authentic interiority. He struggles with the aftermath of war, with his guilt for the damage caused to Horvath, with his meandering search for Margarete, and with questions concerning her true identity.
The novel concludes on a hopeful note. Although her background remains a mystery, Margarete plays a pivotal role in Lucius’ healing. Just as she taught him to perform amputations and heal wounded limbs, she offers him a path to relinquish his feelings of guilt and to redeem himself from the horrors of war.
A skillfully executed intense, compelling narrative.