Why read Rain?

Book cover of Rain

Book description

ONE OF THE EVENING STANDARD'S BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2015
Barney Campbell's Rain is a searingly powerful debut that reads like a British Matterhorn
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'A wonderfully achieved, enthralling and moving novel of war. Its authenticity is as telling as it is terrifying' William Boyd

'No better on-the-ground description of…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Rain as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Simon Akam

Author

In the interests of full disclosure, I knew Campbell at university so my judgment on this novel of the Afghan war cannot be fully impartial.

I found it powerful though. There are obvious overlays between the experience of Campbell himself and his central protagonist Tom Chamberlain – both serve in high-period Afghanistan as officers with cavalry units. (Campbell was in the Blues and Royals). That overlap grants the novel its authenticity – from its dissection of 'ally,’ British army slang for cool, to “rock star” bomb disposal officers capable of “squaring up to colonels” and coffins of blast victims reduced…

From Simon's list on The best novels about the British Army.