Emilien's Great War

Content : August 1914. Émilien sets off for war, full of confidence. He’ll be back soon. There won’t be time for his beloved Madeleine to miss him.
But the conflict soon bogs down. The letters, initially brimming with enthusiasm, begin to reveal the difficulties of war before taking a more sombre turn. Mud, cold, fear, waiting, disheartenment—and the hope of leave to return home to loved ones.

Written by Béatrice Égémar and fully illustrated with the works of Georges Bruyer himself, this novel takes us to the front just after the declaration of war in August 1914. We follow the journey of Émilien, an innkeeper from Pithiviers, father of a seven-year-old boy and a devoted husband who tries to write to his dear Madeleine as often as possible. Émilien’s letters gradually draw us into the harsh daily life of the soldiers. The tone of the text evolves as the pages turn and time passes, mirroring the morale of the troops. The cheerful optimism of summer—the “flower in the rifle barrel”—withers, then fades altogether, as the war drags into winter.

Though Émilien always takes care not to alarm his wife, he cannot completely hide his sorrow or his anger... The illustrations by Georges Bruyer, who inspired the novel, accompany the text wonderfully. Sometimes full-page in colour, sometimes simple ink drawings sketched in the margins of letters, these images—both ordinary and precious—move us with their simplicity, which gives them their power. These are not grandiose heroes, but ordinary citizens who walk, cook, eat, pass through ruins, dig trenches, take shelter—in short, who stand on the front line.
A remarkable testament.