For Your Tomorrow: The Way of an Unlikely Soldier

[observor 69]

For Your Tomorrow: The Way of an Unlikely Soldier

The Year of Magical Thinking meets Fifteen Days in this literary exploration of one Canadian's decision to enlist and go to war.

What compels a young, affluent Canadian to put on a uniform and risk his life for the controversial mission in Afghanistan? And how does his family cope with his loss when he is killed there? Jeff Francis was a thirty-year-old doctoral candidate and student of Buddhism when he decided that joining the armed forces was the best way to make a difference in the world. In elegant, spare prose that captures both the hardness of war and the nuances of a grieving family, Melanie Murray - Captain Francis's aunt - uses the lens of his life and death to give Canada's war in Afghanistan the perceptive, literary treatment its soldiers, families and citizens deserve.

http://www.amazon.ca/Your-Tomorrow-Way-Unlikely-Soldier/dp/0307359786/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1307192143&sr=1-1

Have your crying towel handy, I know I needed one. 

 

[masterchief]

This was a very good book.



Bill

 

[toyotatundra]

I am reading it right now.

 

[Jackson10]

I found the book to be very moving. I emailed the author after the fact to tell her such. I know children lose parents all the time, but reading about his little son Ry, just broke my heart.

 

[jollyjacktar]

I returned to Canada with his repat flight.  Very sad way to come home.  I'll never forget the ceremony at Trenton.

 

[catalyst]

The author taught me first year english in university - I just ordered the book. I went to go sign it out of the library, but there was a looong hold list.

 

[Petard]

Finished the book last night, very tough to get through it, and it will be for anyone else, but especially for those who knew Jeff personally (and I did).
Some people have whined that Melanie Murray gets some terminology wrong; so frggin' what?
In the end it is a good book written from the heart, trying to tell the story of Jeff's remarkable journey, the deep sorrow felt by his family, and the strength of that family, that clan.

http://www.melaniemurray.ca/

 

[muskrat89]

Just finished this. Wasn't grabbing me the first chapter or two but by the end had a firm hold on me and couldn't put it down. The Gunner connection and the NB references were near and dear to me as well.
Deeply moving book.

 

[camouflauge]

touching story of the life and death of one of our brave Canadian soldiers.It makes one more of aware of the sacrifices of both our soldiers and their families.