Stella Bain by Anita Shreve is a historical novel that tells the story of Stella Bain, a young American woman serving as a volunteer in WWI France who wakes up in hospital one day with no memory of her identity or her past. It follows her struggle to discover who she is and then to reclaim her life. What I liked Engaging characters. I really enjoyed reading about the character of Stella and those who help and hinder her. She was well written and I felt absorbed in her story. The actions and reactions of the characters seemed authentic and consistent. I am not familiar with shellshock, but I can easily imagine its playing out as it did in Stella Bain. Beautifully drawn setting. The setting changes from a WWI field hospital to post war London and America, and each of them was wonderfully detailed and described. Each was very different, but well written. Nicely executed concept. Sometimes amnesia story lines can be very cheesy – think Teri Bauer in 24 – but it was well grounded and developed in Stella Bain. I’m not personally familiar with the psychology behind shellshock, but I felt the author had done her homework…