The Best Post Boy in England by Stephen Frost

 The Best Post Boy in England

 by Stephen Frost

The Best Post Boy in England by Stephen Frost 

was published on 18th September 2023.

My thanks to the author for sending me a copy to review and to 

Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part on the tour.

Why this book evolved

Berrington Hall is a bold red sandstone mansion nestling in the Herefordshire countryside. Built in 1778, it was home to Lord and Lady Cawley from 1901. Much later, Lady Cawley used part of Berrington Hall as a convalescent hospital during the Second World War. When their son, the 2nd Lord Cawley, died in 1954, death duties meant the estate had to be handed over to the Treasury, who in turn gave it to the care of the National Trust. Lady Cawley continued to live at the house until her death in 1978, at the age of 100.

When I visited Berrington Hall back in 2009 there was an exhibition dedicated to the role the house and its occupants played during the First World War, and in one of the rooms were displayed three mannequins dressed in army uniform. There was a sense, even before reading the text beneath the exhibits, of the tragic story hanging in the air around them, and in the wool of the old regimental livery one could almost smell the mustard gas, the cordite, and the sweat of fear.

The uniforms belonged to three of the four sons of Lord and Lady Cawley, three young men all killed in battle in 1914, 1915 and 1918. Of course, I imagined the parents’ ongoing bereavement, and the unbearable pain as it multiplied across each subsequent death. But I also began to consider the strain on the postboy who had to deliver such terrible news. There was no counselling in those days, no time off for stress-related health issues. This was the era of stiff upper lips, men being men, and emotions being given short shrift, if expressed at all. What chance did he have? What coping mechanisms might he employ?

This is not a novel about Berrington Hall or the Cawley family, though there are clearly resonances that have inspired me. Rather, the story evolved out of trying to understand how my imaginary postboy might deal with his trauma, and to uncover, as far as it is ever possible, the reasons why good people do bad things.

Whilst the phenomenon of a false negative was unusual, it was by no means unheard of. There are several documented cases of “dead” soldiers returning from the front, and no doubt many more undocumented ones. The postal system during the First World War was an extraordinary feat of organisation and was enormously efficient and reliable, but with thousands of letters crossing the channel every day mistakes were inevitably made. Further, errors occurred on the battlefield itself with misplaced or swapped name tags (sometimes deliberately so, as a way of escaping the horrors of the trenches) as well as lost paperwork – and lost memories. There is at least one case of a soldier coming home just in time to witness his own memorial service. With war bringing so much tragedy to its participants and their families, these little miracles brought salvation for the few – and hope for the many.

My Review

I found this story incredibly moving and readable for many reasons. Firstly it made me realise that this was the first book that I had read in which the post boy who delivered all those horrendous telegrams that destroyed families and lives, was one of the main characters and the focus is on how he felt delivering these telegrams.

It made me realise how these young boys had such an awful role that has never been really appreciated or talked about when we look back on the war and what it was like for people. Being called The Angel of Death by the villagers was so hard for a fourteen year old boy and is it any wonder he did what he did .

The focus of the book is how he coped with his role and how it changed him, and stayed with him for along long time, and the ending had me in tears.

Suhani, as the wife and mother who had to deal with the tragedies of the war from many aspects as well as having to deal with the racism that she experienced as and Indian lady living in England is so emotively told within the story and I just wanted to wrap her up and protect her from everything that life cruelly sent her way.

The book explores so many angles of the war that affect Suhani and Freddie as well as other characters in the story and you feel for every single one of them.

This is a story that will stay with me for a long, long time and is also one that will keep to read again.

For a first novel this is so emotive and thought provoking and I look forward to reading more from Stephen in the future.

About the Author

Stephen Frost was born in the Suffolk market town of Bungay in 1959, before leaving at nineteen to study music. A motley life in the music industry followed, exploring various avenues and cul-de-sacs from pop to country to rock, until he finally alighted on classical music editing and production.

From his earliest school days a passion for storytelling was never far, an obsession that culminated in writing and directing the award-winning feature film “Leave Now” in 2018.

The Best Postboy In England is his first novel.