Book Review - The Four Feathers

Upon Les' recommendation, I recently read "The Four Feathers." Here is the description from Amazon:

Written by A. E. W. Mason, “The Four Feathers” is a riveting tale of redemption woven in the complex interrelationships between love, friendships, trust, and courage.

Harry Feversham, a young man who finds himself born into a historic family of proud British military men, wants nothing more than to be free of such a heritage. Whereas his forefathers fought and died with great courage, Harry is petrified of risking his life for his country and mentally labels himself a coward. Nevertheless, he has little choice but to follow in his father's footsteps. When Harry's regiment is finally summoned to go to war in the Sudan, Harry's fear of his own cowardice overcomes his fear of his father, and he accordingly resigns his commission.

Once three of Harry's closest companions uncover the reason for his decision to resign, they decide to each send him a single white feather to signify his cowardice. What ensues is a story of Harry's heroic attempts at redemption, not only from his friends and from his father, but also from the girl of Harry's dreams, who, being present at the time Harry receives the feathers, adds her own to the original three.

Throughout the exciting events and plot twists of The Four Feathers, Mason presents to readers a reality of human emotions and impulses which cannot draw comparison. As one of the masterpieces of 20th century literature, Mason’s novel is highly recommended.

This was such a great book! I enjoyed every chapter. Harry's decision to redeem himself through acts of courage is courageous in itself. He doesn't rejoin his regiment, but goes on his own. The book is fast paced, with likeable characters.

Harry's fiance, Ethne, is a fascinating character. She doesn't even know that she has pushed Harry to be courageous. She feels terrible for giving him the fourth feather, but once the deed is done can't take it back. As she is later contemplating marriage to someone else, she uses the phrase "Two lives must not be spoilt because of me."

I don't want to give too much away, but I highly recommend this book. As with most literature of that era, the book is morally clean and never uses vulgar language of any kind. It's free for the Kindle or you can probably get it at your local library.