The superficial similarities between My dear I wanted to tell you by Louisa Young and Remember Ben Clayton by Stephen Harrigan are many. Both books were published this May and deal in varying degrees with Art and the artistic process. Both are set in the era of World War I and both have characters who suffer facial injuries during the war.

But despite these similarities, the books couldn’t be more different from each other. My dear I wanted to tell you begins in 1907 when 11-year old Riley Purefoy from a working class family, begins taking art classes in the home of an upper class family. Naturally, he falls in love with Nadine, the daughter of the household. Later, when their teenage love is denied them, the now handsome Riley enlists in the war. The bulk of the story shifts between Riley’s life at the Front – and subsequent hospitalization - and Nadine’s life as a nurse to the wounded. Their (unrequited) love story is mirrored by that of Riley’s commanding officer, Peter Locke, whose happy marriage prior to the outbreak of war begins to unravel the longer he remains overseas.

Remember Ben Clayton on the other hand, is the story of Lamar Clayton, a crusty old cowboy from Texas, whose son, Ben, is killed in France. Lamar hires Francis ‘Gil’ Gilheany, a renowned sculptor from New York now living in San Antonio, to create a bronze statue of Ben and his horse Poco to be set on a mesa. Gil and his daughter/assistant Maureen, an artist in her own right, learn that there is more to Lamar Clayton than meets the eye. As a boy, Clayton witnessed his family’s massacre by Comanches and was then kidnapped by his family’s killers and raised as one of their own. The experience forever altered Clayton and led to tension between him and his son Ben before Ben enlisted in the war. Adding another layer of poignancy to the novel is Ben’s soldier-buddy Arthur, who writes to Lamar from France after Ben’s death and once sends him a tin token Ben made just before he died of himself and his horse Poco.

Both stories are recommended. For those who prefer the gristly details of war and recuperation, My dear I wanted to tell you may be the better choice. For those who are interested in the American Indian Wars of the 1800’s, the artistic process or cowboy culture, the latter book may be more suitable.

Place a hold on My dear I wanted to tell you or Remember Ben Clayton