Intense. Evocative. Depressing. Those are the three words I can best use to sum up The Cartographer of No Man's Land. Set during WWI this is the kind of book that requires time and dedication from a reader. You can not plan to simply pick it up for a casual read because you will be overwhelmed by the sheer power of the story. Each sentence must be read and thoroughly processed or you will miss the deep meaning in the subtle layers of Duffy's novel. It requires slow deliberate reading.

It's intense and gut-wrenching. This is a story of fathers and sons, husbands and wives, and the toll that war takes on relationships of all kinds. It's an amazing story that will rip your heart to pieces and leave you wounded but you'll be a better person for having read it.