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My Soul, A Shining Tree

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What does the First World War look like when it arrives not as a battle, but as an invasion of home, family, and childhood?

In this episode of Oh! What a Lovely Podcast, we discuss My Soul, A Shining Tree, a novel by Jamila Gavin that explores the opening months of the First World War through the experiences of children, civilians, and young soldiers caught up in the German invasion of Belgium in 1914.

References

Jamilia Gavin, My Soul, A Shining Tree (2025)
Christopher Clark,  The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 (2013)

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