William—An Englishman

William—An Englishman explores the impact of the First World War on a married couple during the rise of Socialism and the Suffragette movement. This is the story of William and Griselda are arrogant social activists who repeat the opinions of others instead of creating their own. They listen only to those who agree with them and consider themselves heroic, even though they risk and sacrifice nothing. They met in the course of pursuing their various idealistic causes and got married. Then they left for a private cottage in the Ardennes for their honeymoon. While they're in the secluded cabin, cut off from contact with the rest of the world, the war starts. Things change for the newlyweds when they find themselves on the Belgian front during WWI, quite by accident. Cicely Hamilton, an English actress, writer, and journalist, was a suffragist, feminist, and a part of the fight for women's suffrage in the United Kingdom. She gently mocked the activism and idealism of the couple in the novel. But when William and Griselda are caught up in the real war, she stops ridiculing, and instead, one senses her sympathy for the victims of war and a great rage against the ones responsible for it.