Silent Parts

Book excerpt: Every family has its secrets, and the Lamberts have Uncle Harry, who fought in World War I but never came home from France. Each Lambert relative now clings to a different story. Harry died a hero's death on the battlefield . Harry married a sweet French girl. Harry drowned in the mud in Gallipoli. Harry was a coward who ran from the enemy. As his great niece Julie struggles to properly research Harry's fate, she sees how easily history can be rewritten. Slowly she uncovers an awkward boy growing up in turn-of-the-century Australia, an obedient son caring for his aging mother, and finally a 40-year-old bachelor heading off to the European theater as a reluctant soldier. Eventually she finds evidence that Harry was called to the front--after serving in a post out of harm's way--and on the way he made a decision that changed the rest of his life.