3.5 stars

A nurse in the First World War, Laura Iven is back home in Halifax, Canada after being discharged.
Laura's brother, Freddie, is still fighting as a soldier in the war, but one day Laura receives his uniform in the post.
Desperate for answers as to what happened to Freddie, Laura makes her way back to Belgium.
Laura hears whispered stories of ghosts walking alongside the living, and a man with a violin who can make people forget their troubles.
Will Laura find out what happened to Freddie?

The premise for this book really intrigued me, and I was excited to read it.
I really liked Laura as a protagonist - she was likeable and relatable. She had been through a tough time, but was still determined to help others despite still grieving herself.
Freddie, Pim, Winter and Jones were all characters that I liked, but Laura was my favourite.
Faland was an interesting character, and I liked the mystery surrounding him. He was quite a complex character, and I was never entirely sure how he would react.
The setting of Belgium in the First World War was interesting, and I thought the author did a good job of capturing some of the horror of what happened.
The plot was enjoyable and held my attention. I did find that my enjoyment dipped in the middle to second half, but only a little.
I enjoyed the split perspective narrative of Laura in her present, and then Freddie several months previous. It was interesting to see how they lined up/came together.
The writing style was easy to follow and I am interested to see what the author does next.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read that I would recommend.

I’m a big fan of Katherine Arden following the incredible Winternight trilogy and I have a lot of respect for her writing and the mind it comes from, so when I saw that Arden was bringing out another book, I was ridiculously excited. Unfortunately The Warm Hands of Ghosts left me with some mixed feelings.

To be clear, on the face of it, The Warm Hands of Ghosts is a brilliantly written story, and possibly if I weren’t reading this with a critical eye due to needing to review this, I would be able to be less, critical, and enjoy this at the face of it. However following such a brilliantly rich trilogy, the expectation was incredibly high and it mostly gets there but not quite.

The story is set during World War I, between 1917-18 and follows discharged Canadian field nurse Laura Iven who in 1918 has been notified her brother Freddie has died in combat, receiving his trunk and personal effects. However no body has been recovered and Laura is not ready to accept the death of her sole remaining family so she travels to a private hospital in Belgium, close to where Freddie was last stationed, to try and discover the truth. Along the way, Laura and her companions hear about the mysterious Fiddler, appearing as a Hotelier, who helps wipe the memories and trauma of soldiers and give the ‘gift’ of oblivion. Is this the fate of Freddie? The book jumps from Laura’s story to Freddie’s, jumping back to 1917 where Freddie wakes up in an overturned pillbox following an explosion with an injured German enemy soldier, Hans. Relying on each other to survive, the 2 quickly form an alliance and rather than return to opposing sides on the killing field, Freddie and Hans travel together and end up in the hands of the Fiddler, but is Freddie truly lost or can be found once again?

The scenes involving Freddie and Hans in the trenches, under fire, scared and disoriented, are incredibly written. Arden creates a suffocating energy between these 2 characters trapped in the pillbox and then subsequently travelling across the killing field, that drags you into the scene and the relationship between these characters instantly, intensely and intimately. The frustrating thing for me was that with this being the best part of the book, there just didn’t feel enough of these scenes or interactions. Hans quickly becomes very important to Freddie but they spend more of the book apart than together when their relationship is so vitally important to Freddie’s character.

While Arden does a great job of creating the horrors of the war while Freddie and Hans are escaping, a lot of the other realities of that time are, for me, not acknowledged enough. For one thing, Hans is Freddie’s enemy, he is a soldier for the opposite side in the war, and yet there is no real conflict when it comes to this. I know both character are just trying to survive and possibly it feels irrelevant in that greater scheme, but when the feels blossom into friendship and then more, there is no real issue about accepting a person who has possibly played a role in the deaths of your allies. These are 2 good men caught on opposite sides, this should be a complex issue with a deep exploration but it’s quite neatly glided over. Likewise, and I hope this isn’t a spoiler but in case it is, SPOILER, being a homosexual in 1910 was not an easy thing, let alone for men on opposing sides of a war. We don’t ever find out if either character have had homosexual appears prior to each other, there is no fear around this love or the shame that would have been (wrongly) forced on them. This in itself is an ugly part of history but the ugliness is just ignored or hidden away to fully commit to it.

The idea of neatness is reiterated again come the ending of the book. I won’t go into detail because spoilers so it’s difficult to expand on, but bar a character death (obviously my favourite character because I’m cursed), the story is wrapped up quite cleanly and happily with the ugliness, again, glided over.

Laura’s story and the private hospital didn’t feel very relevant or needed for me, at times yes it moves the plot along, but it takes up a lot of the book that could have been used to focus more on the war itself. There’s a romance that has it’s sweet moments but no chemistry (I mean, I genuinely thought Laura and Pim were going to end up together so…).

I can’t say I disliked this book because it’s brilliant in a lot of ways, but it frustrated me at the wasted potential and I finished the story unsure of my feelings towards it. Arden covers complex themes of love and loss and grief and trauma, and the writing is beautifully done. But at times it does feel too nice, too pretty, it’s a book about war but without the brutality, a book about love with too little characters falling in love. It’s so close but just not quite there on so many issues. It’s a lovely book, but I think for me it would have had a greater impact if it weren’t so lovely. I’m still very confused about how I feel, I just know I finished still wanting. At face value it is a beautiful book though, and I get why many people love it, I just wanted more.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is definitely going on my best of the year list. Arden is an author I would always recommend, her Winternight trilogy solidified what an amazing writer and talented storyteller she is. I was only thinking a few months ago that I hadn’t seen a new book and hey presto this popped up.

I have been telling everyone about this book, it’s absolutely remarkable. It has the trademark wandering into the elements of life that cross the lines of preconceived norms and delve into things that lurk in the shadows. Simultaneously it also has such an accurate connection to not only that period in history, but also the emotional and physical wounds caused by the destruction and devastation of the Great War.

Capturing the conflict from a variety of views and people gives a better perspective of the tragedy, the losses and the terrible impact. The allies, the enemy, the medical staff, the volunteers, the civilians, the lost souls and the ghosts. In the end everyone is the same. This is especially evident in the relationship between Freddie and Winter. When push comes to shove, and survival or death are the only choices, is there really any room for two sides?

The scenes with Winter and Freddie, especially when they first meet, they are extraordinary. The reader feels the darkness, the damp, the mud and the fear. Fear is the same regardless of which country you are fighting for.

Laura is on a quest to find her brother, despite the odds of him being dead being very high. Her own trauma makes her vulnerable to Faland, as indeed are many on the fields of battle. I really enjoyed this aspect of the book – it becomes a metaphor, a way to survive, a mindset and a conjured mass hallucination shared by destroyed and frightened souls. Or is it?

I loved this story, wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it and think it is indicative of the power of word, storytelling and suggestion. It is a haunting experience – it is a haunting.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher Century for the digital ARC, it has not affected my honest review.

TW: mental illness, war, injury, PTSD, trauma, violence

“The Warm Hands of Ghosts” is more than just a piece of World War I historical fiction, and absolutely nothing like the author’s previous “Winternight” trilogy, but it is gorgeously written and one of the best examinations of the forms of love I’ve ever read. Starting in January 1918 in Halifax, Canada, the story begins with Laura Iven, a war nurse severely injured in the bombing of a hospital who has been sent home, leaving her beloved brother fighting in the trenches at Passchendaele. After an equally traumatising event happens in the safety of her home, Laura receives terrible news: Freddie has died, but there isn’t a body, just the torn remains of a uniform and no explanation. Intent on finding out more, Laura returns to Belgium as a nurse in a private hospital. However, as soon as she arrives, her patients begin whispering about a man in the dark, a fiddler who gifts wine that takes away the traumatic memories of war, and the many ghosts that follow behind him. Laura soon believes that Freddie is one of those trapped in oblivion. At the same time, the book also flashes back to November 1917, where the reader meets Freddie Iven mere moments after waking up after an explosion. Stuck beneath an overturned pillbox he discovers he isn’t alone but trapped underground with a German soldier, Winter, and that they’re both severely wounded. Gradually Freddie and Winter manage to dig themselves out while also forming a bond that keeps them safe through the desolate and disturbing horrors of No Man’s Land. Unable to return to their respective sides of the war for fear of being shot as deserters or taken prisoner, Winter and Freddie discover the impossible in the middle of No Man’s Land: a fiddler who can make the war around them vanish, one that Freddie jumps at, but there is always a terrible cost for what this mysterious man offers.

When I finished reading, I felt an overwhelming surge of awe for the kind of writer that Katherine Arden is, and for what she’s achieved in writing such a powerful, devastating book. It was difficult and heartbreaking, overwhelmingly honest about trauma and recovery, but at the heart of it all was the one thing that kept Freddie, Winter and Laura going: the human need to love. I adored the character of Faland, who I’m fairly sure is supposed to be the Devil, and the way he’s set up in the middle of a battlefield to make music from the trauma of both sides. He was terrifying and it wasn’t until the book was finished that I truly felt like he was no longer a threat to Laura, Freddie and Winter. “The Warm Hands of Ghosts” is unlike any book I’ve ever read, just like the “Winternight” trilogy was, but it stands entirely as an incredible standalone that was worth the wait.

What a truly beautiful, haunting book this is! A fantasy set against the harrowing backdrop of trench life in World War 1 is exactly the kind of book I knew I'd love and this did not disappoint. Laura is a strong MC. A Canadian nurse who was sent back from the front after being injured and finds herself returning to the front lines to try and discover the truth about her beloved younger brother, Freddie.
Arden brings the abject horror and the pointless waste of life suffered by those soldiers on the front line to life on the page. As much as I adored Laura, with her strength and common sense, I found my heart was pounding as I journeyed along with Freddie and witnessed his desperation to stay alive and sane while the whole world was falling to bits around him.
Arden has woven the historical facts with the threads of magic in a beautiful, effortless manner. Her narrative is stunning to read and I found I devoured this book.
As someone who is fascinated by this period in history, I loved the way Arden transported us to that awful time. Meticulously researched, I learnt a great deal from this book too.
This is a must for anyone who enjoyed Addie La Rue. Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an arc in return for an honest review.

I liked the first book of Katherine Ardens Winternight trilogy (even if I think the later books got worse and worse because of the love relationships) and even if I was a little bit hesitant because a book set during one of the World Wars is for me as a German person always a little bit tricky.

But gothic they say and gothic I hear and gothic I want, but … there wasn't anything gothic unfortunately. And the scenes in the trenches of the battle field felt despite being gut wrenching a little bit … romanticised? Why had the German soldier had to have a surname that is very easy for english speaking persons? At one moment he said "Gott in Himmel" - that is wrong grammar, it has to be "Gott im Himmel".

Even as the perspective of the sister was better everything felt quite set up and I couldn't get into the story so I had to dnf the book at about 40 %.

I read a lot of fantasy, science-fiction and horror and just because the name of Katherine Arden tried another historical novel. But it is not my genre and I'm very sorry that I'm not able to give better feedback.

I’m a massive fan of Katherine Arden’s Winternight trilogy but The Warm Hands of Ghosts doesn’t compare in terms of quality. Both of the siblings we follow are quite bland characters and I struggled to really engage with their stories. Their main adversary, Faland, was enigmatic to begin with but not interesting. The narrative didn’t have a natural flow that I’ve found in Arden’s other works – something about the writing was too choppy maybe? Loved the concept but it was quite and surprisingly, given the subject matter, emotionally hollow, for me. There are quite a few of those beautiful hit you in the gut sentences from Arden but not enough to redeem this.

A wonderful emotive novel from Katherine Arden. It is heartbreaking tragedy wrapped in love and loyalty. Very different to the Winternight Trilogy, but equally well-written and engaging right from the off. Based in World War 1, the story is written in two timelines following the lives of sister and brother, Laura and Freddie, who are both based in Belgium on the frontline. Although it is more akin to historical fiction than her usual fantasy, it also features a supernatural element that fits perfectly into the narrative. Beautiful stuff.

Jan 1918 & Canadian, Laura Iven, returns home injured from volunteering as a nurse in the war. A unexpected disaster sees both her parents killed, so the only family Laura has left is younger brother, Freddie who is fighting on the front lines. Soon after returning home, Laura receives a box containing Freddie's jacket & tags with a note saying that he is missing presumed dead. Haunted by her mother's last moments, Laura cannot bear the uncertainty & decides to return as a volunteer at a private hospital in Belgium to find out what happened to her brother.

Nov 1917 & Freddie Iven finds himself buried under a damaged concrete pillbox following an assault on the German position. Freddie is not alone though, there is an injured German soldier, Hans, buried with him. The two manage to claw their way out but find themselves in danger from both sides of the conflict. A strange man appears & offers them a way out, he plays the fiddle & entrances the men with music & wine. Who is he & can Freddie ever escape his clutches?

This was a read which mixes the realities of life on the front line of war with the supernatural. The narrative switches between Laura & brother Freddie, as she searches for him among the many casualties. I think one of the major plus points of the book is how well the author conveys the callous attitudes of those in charge of the war effort, who have little compunction in sending men to their deaths by either the enemy or disease, whilst they enjoy the comforts of home miles from the fighting. I thought that the supernatural element was underplayed though, & that 'the fiddler' could have been a much darker character. He seemed to promise menace but delivered only slight unease. Overall I thought it was an intriguing read but that it fell a little short in some areas.

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Random House UK/Cornerstone/Century, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

This book was everything I love. I knew it wouldn’t be like Winternight from the blurb, but it did share many of the same lyricism and themes. I loved the way it weaved in a supernatural element, using the rumour and superstition of soldiers as a plot element to great effect.

I really enjoy reading about this time period for all the reasons that were emphasised in the book. It was an awakening for many people at the time into the horrors of modern warfare, bringing new terrible weapons onto the battlefield and I loved how Faland’s character was so entrenched in the grief and horror that was prominent at the time.

I also loved how gay this book was. It wasn’t something I was expecting from Arden, but I was so, so happy to see it.

Whether you’re a fan of Winternight or new to Katherine Arden’s writing, this is a great book to choose.

Such a good read, and quite different from any other war story I've read.

This is set during WW1, and is the story of Canadians, Laura and Freddie, brother and sister,

Freddie is a soldier out on the western front, and he's been reported as killed in action. Laura is a nurse, and has returned injured to Canada. With news of Freddie's death, things don't quite make sense, and Laura returns to the scene of war to discover the truth.

This is a story of the horrors of war and of PTSD, but also of the power of love and relationships to mend and to heal, It's full of beautifully written and vivid characters, and a real sense of the devastation and horrors of the military environment.

I’m a fan of the author so wanted to read The Warm Hands Of Ghosts. I read a decent amount of historical fiction and really enjoy books set during WWI and WWII so this book really appalled to me. I also loved the title. The book was a must read for me. I really enjoyed this. I enjoyed many aspects of the book including the way the chapters move between Laura’s story and Freddie’s story until they gradually come together. This is a dark book at time especially as Laura gets the closer to the truth about the strange fiddler and her brother. This is an engrossing read. I’d recommend this book.

If you’ve ever wondered “What if *All the Light We Cannot See* were actually good?” Wonder no more.

I got a copy of *The Warm Hands of Ghosts* by Katherine Arden from Netgalley – it caught my eye because I love WWI stories and history. This was everything I wanted from a WWI historical fiction book with a touch of fantasy. Katherine Arden is most well-known for her wildly successful folklore fantasy trilogy *The Bear and the Nightingale* which I have been meaning to read for years now. I think *Warm Hands* has given me the push to finally bump *Nightingale* up my TBR list.

Arden’s writing style is smooth and lyrical and I understand why fantasy readers would love Nightingale so much. I think it’s a challenge to use this style of writing for historical fiction, but it works! The fantasy elements are not introduced until about halfway through the story, so the first half feels reminiscent of *All the Light We Cannot See* but set in WWI and without glaring ableism. If you’ve ever wondered “What if *All the Light We Cannot See* were actually good?” wonder no more.

Laura Iven is a field nurse injured in an explosion that struck the field hospital at which she was working and was sent home with a limp, permanent scarring, and a Croix De Guerre. In 1917 she is boarding with a set of creepy old sisters reminiscent of Lillian and Adelaide Proctor in *The Diviners* after she has lost both her parents, her family home, and received word from the Canadian army that her brother is missing and presumed dead when she receives a ghostly message saying her brother Freddie is still alive. We get a dual-perspective narrative (also like *All the Light We Cannot See*) with Freddie in this book – not only is he still alive, but he has teamed up with the enemy to escape a deathtrap in no man’s land, only to fall into the hands of a mysterious stranger who seems all too eager to help them. Laura returns to field nursing (and the traumatizing horrors of war) in Belgium to follow up on the cryptic message.

This story is grueling and heartbreaking. All the characters have endured unspeakable tragedies in the process of WWI unrelated to the meat of the main story, where they endure even more. Despite the dark nature of the narrative, it does not feel like trauma porn. Every line and action has a purpose and I felt transported into the action and the characters. Solid four stars.

Dark, historical and very well written. This was a beautifully written book with lots of creepy undertones. I loved the setting of WW1 and the horrors of war and death. My thanks to netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

This book was certainly a bit unusual and very different.

Laura Iven is living in Halifax who is recovering from a bad injury she got while a Nurse helping the soldiers in the War. Her brother Freddie has gone missing presumed dead she decides to go back to Belgium to search for him. Freddie is trapped with this German. Eventually they get out and through time meet this strange man who plays the fiddle.

I found it a bit of a strange book but did enjoy it which it was dealing with loss and the tragedy of War.

It was well written and the characters all worked well together.

Sadly I found The Warm Hands of Ghosts was a boring book for me. To be fair, it wasn't a given that I was going to love this book since it's historical during WWI, but I went ahead anyway because there was a promise of fantasy (ghosts!), the setting was my home country, Belgium, and I was very curious to discover Katherine Arden's writing. As I said, I was pretty bored waiting for the ghosts and at 100 pages, these were only mentioned so I DNF it. I'm disappointed because the synopsis still sounds really good, but I just couldn't continue.

I have enjoyed previous books by this author so I knew that I was in for a treat as her writing style is quite different and it is this quirkiness which appeals to me. The Warm Hands of Ghosts is set during the First World War when Canadian nurse Laura Iven receives news of her younger brother Freddie's death. Laura has already been discharged from her duties as a WW1 nurse and is back home in Halifax, however, determined to go back to Flanders she volunteers to work in a private hospital in order to find her brother. Freddie fighting in the trenches in Flanders has a very special story and it is Laura's quest to discover what happened to Freddie which forms the basis of the story.

What then follows is a powerful story about love and loss which cleverly combines the historical accuracy of trench warfare especially capturing the horror of the mud and blood of Passchendaele. The story is bleak in places and there were times, particularly with Freddie's story, when I had to stop and take a minute to assimilate what I had read and the direction in which the story was heading. I liked Laura from the start, she's doggedly determined to discover the truth, which I'm not about to spoil, and yet Laura is also chasing her own demons which are cleverly interpreted by this author's ability to capture even the smallest nuances of character.

Haunting, melancholy but beautifully imagined, with spectral elements, hence the title, The Warm Hands of Ghosts is a thought provoking read about the power of love and the overwhelming sadness of devastating loss which leaves you chilled to the bone.

I was so happy to grab this, Bear and the Nightingale is one of my fave trilogies ever!

January 1918, Laura is back home in Canada and her brother, Freddie is still on the front, fighting. Their parents are both gone so all they have is each other. When Laura gets her brothers effects, she goes off to Belgium to find him as she feels in her bones that he isn't gone.

Meanwhile Freddie comes to in a strange place with a companion, a German soldier called Winter....

You'll need to read the rest but this is where our story begins....

I can tell you that the writing was beautiful, it made me feel all the emotions.

This story was also beautiful and it was dark and haunting, I could not stop reading it! Would totally recommend.

Heartbreaking, honest, imaginative, compulsive and just amazing!
Not a book to sit down with and enjoy with a cup of cocoa and chocolate biscuit but a book with a message about the futility of war, the human suffering and hope for change.

I loved Katherine Arden’s Winternight Trilogy, set in medieval Russia and drawing on elements of Russian history, folklore and fairytales. I’ve been waiting for her to write another adult novel for five years and my patience has finally been rewarded with The Warm Hands of Ghosts. Taking us to the battlefields of World War I, this is very different in terms of setting, atmosphere and scope, but I’m pleased to say that it’s another great book.

Laura Iven has been serving as a military nurse in Belgium but in January 1918, when the novel begins, she is back at home in Halifax, Canada, having been wounded and discharged. It has not been a happy homecoming for her, as not only has she left behind a brother, Freddie, still fighting on the front line, but soon after her return to Halifax a ship exploded in the harbour, destroying part of the city and killing her parents. When Laura receives a box containing Freddie’s belongings and a note telling her that he is missing in action, she is reluctant to believe that he has also died and decides to return to Belgium as a volunteer at a private hospital where she can search for more information on his disappearance.

A second thread of the novel is set several months earlier and follows Freddie, who awakens on the battlefield to find himself wounded and alone with an enemy soldier – a German, Hans Winter, who is also badly injured. Lost in no man’s land, together they try to make their way to a place of safety, knowing that depending on whom they encounter first, one or both of them could be shot as either an enemy or deserter. It’s here that they first meet Faland, a fiddler who seems to offer them a way of escape. When Laura arrives at the hospital a few months later and hears tales of the mysterious musician who can give soldiers the gift of oblivion – if they are prepared to pay a price for it – she begins to wonder whether this is what has happened to her brother.

As I said above, this book is quite different from the Winternight Trilogy and I wouldn’t really describe it as fantasy – although it does contain some elements of the supernatural, mainly surrounding the appearances of Faland the fiddler. I don’t want to say too much about him but as Katherine Arden explains in her author’s note, if he reminds you of Woland from Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita it’s not a coincidence! Faland is one representation of evil in the novel; the vast horror of the battlefield is another and the tired, desperate soldiers face a difficult choice between the two.

I found the opening chapters set in Halifax very interesting as I previously knew so little about life on the Canadian homefront during the First World War. This is the first time I’ve read about the explosion of the Mont Blanc and the massive loss of life it caused (nearly two thousand people were killed and thousands more injured). In Flanders, meanwhile, the details of the Battle of Passchendaele and its aftermath and the conditions faced by nurses and patients in the field hospitals are equally interesting to read about.

This is not my favourite Katherine Arden book – I preferred the characters in the Russian trilogy and the more magical setting – but I still enjoyed it very much.