Coming Home

"Coming Home: 1916" by Edith Wharton is set in France during the First World War. The story is told by an American aid worker. While doing his duty, he meets a wounded French soldier, Jean Réchamp, at a Flemish camp hospital. Jean is alarmed by what he has heard of the destruction wrought by the Germans in the Vosges, where he lived; he is worried about his family and his fiancée. Another chance meeting finds once again the ambulance driver, encountering the young man. The two manage to get permission to visit his home village on their way to pick up more of the wounded and see if Jean's worries were right.