Vera Brittain’s Testament of Youth

Of all the books that I have come across in my time, none compare to the literary accomplishment of Vera Brittain’s Testament of Youth. Much more than just a memoir, this 661-paged book outlines a generation of England’s youth during one of the most tragic periods in all of history—The Great War. Brittain, an exceptional youth, leaves behind her Oxford education to become a nurse in the war, much to the chagrin to her formal, Victorian-styled parents. She serves in hospitals in London, Malta, and even close to the front lines in France, while subsequently learning that her lover, friends, and brother have been killed in action. By the time the war ends, Brittain is struggling to redefine herself void of all her intimate relationships.

Testament of Youth begins with Brittain’s childhood years, growing up in provincial Buxton. As grounds for her familial relationships, she develops a close kinship with her brother Edward, a kid of the musical sort. Reaching her teenage years, however, she is not satisfied with the lifestyle that Buxton has to offer young women, and so sets her sights on completing her education at Oxford. She, after much hard work, finally achieves a seat in one of Oxford’s colleges, Somerville. During this time, she is introduced to Roland, an intellectual, poetic man, with whom she slowly develops an intimate relationship.

When the Great War breaks out, it is but a ripple in the pond of her little world. As it slowly becomes apparent that the War is more akin to a tsunami, she realizes that it will soon mean separation from the men she loves. Brittain’s new perspective does not allow her to return to the arbitrary schooling she once endeavored in, so instead she seeks refuge in the laborious profession of nursing. Enlisting in 1915, she thinks of the work as something she must do for Roland. “I never minded those aches and pains, which appeared to me solely as satisfactory tributes to my love for Roland (164),” she says. She finds peace in the work which led her to Malta and even the front lines.

Brittain’s use of language and description evokes emotion in a way that no other book does. Some parts of the book devastate the reader in an instant, and other parts overwhelm the reader with joy, just the way she felt it. She depicts the attraction between her and Roland, her lover, so poignantly that when the reader gets to the page of his death, he or she is left in tears as if they had lost his or her own love. Similar feelings arrive at the death of her life-long friend and brother, Edward. In her diary she describes her thoughts after Roland’s death, “I have learnt through him that love is supreme, that love is stronger than death and the fear of death (265).”

As the War concludes, she finds herself sadly alone. She wonders of the meaning of war, and what the men she loved really fought for. She states, “Modern war is nothing but temporary—though how disastrous!—forgetfulness by neighbors that they are gentlemen; its only result must be the long reaping in sorrow of what was sown in pride (635).” Through her meditation, she develops a strong pacifist sentiment very characteristic of her generation.

In Brittain’s post-war life she continues to contemplate her past. Despite haunting memories, she goes on to earn a history degree from Oxford, advocate feminism, publish her first book, The Dark Tide, lecture in schools, tour Europe as a writer, and finally reach a conclusion to this half of her life—a husband. All of her past seems to coalesce as she finally decides to marry; she finds that marriage, children, and moving on are really the test of her character.

Although Testament of Youth is a long read, and may be tedious at times, it offers more thought-provoking material than any other book I have ever read. From the poetry that she includes of her own hand, and Roland’s, to the brilliant quotes from famous figures of her time, she created a work worth remembering. Instilling a deeper thought process behind the Great War, Testament of Youth gives voice to the “Generation of 1914.”