The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion Paperback - 1999

The Good Solider: A Tale of Passion by Ford Madox Hueffer (later, Ford Madox Ford) is set just before World War I. The “good solider” of the title is Captain Edward Ashburnman, a retired Indian army veteran, who — along with his wife Leonora — from relationships with two Americans, John and Florence Dowell. The novel follows the unraveling of Ashburman’s and Dowell’s marriages through a series of flashbacks and deals with issues, such as adultery, betrayal, and moral confusion, which often go unmentioned in polite society.

The Good Soldier was originally titled The Saddest Story, a reference to the first line: “This is the saddest story I have ever heard.” However, with the onset of the war, the publisher requested a title revision. Ford sarcastically suggested The Good Soldier, as he himself had already enlisted in the war, and the name stuck. Ford left to serve in World War I as an infantry solider later on in 1915, the same year the book was published. The Good Solider is ranked 30th on Modern Library’s list of “100 Best” English-language novels of the 20th century.

This is the saddest story I have ever heard. We had known the Ashburnhams for nine seasons of the town of Nauheim with an extreme intimacy - or, rather with an acquaintanceship as loose and easy and yet as close as a good glove's with your hand. My wife and I knew Captain and Mrs Ashburnham as well as it was possible to know anybody, and yet, in another sense, we knew nothing at all about them.

Details

• Title The Good Soldier: A Tale of Passion
• Author Ford Madox Ford
• Binding Paperback
• Edition [ Edition: Repri
• Pages 192
• Volumes 1
• Language ENG
• Publisher Penguin Group, New York
• Date 1999-10-01
• Illustrated Yes
• ISBN 9780140283310 / 0140283315
• Weight 0.51 lbs (0.23 kg)
• Dimensions 8.45 x 5.66 x 0.53 in (21.46 x 14.38 x 1.35 cm)
• Reading level 1040
• Library of Congress subjects Domestic fiction, Friendship
• Dewey Decimal Code FIC