Her Darling Boy (Book Review)
- Sharron Arksey
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
A book review is the best way to get an overview to see if you would like to read a book. This review comes from Sharron Arksey, on of our volunteers with Icelandic Roots who is the team lead for the IR Writers Group. Summer is made for relaxing and this just might be a great book to enjoy while relaxing. This summer, sit back and relax with a good book.
Her Darling Boy
Tom Goodman (author)
2016: Great Plains Press Winnipeg, MB
“War is sometimes about winning but it is always about loss,” reads the back cover of the book, Her Darling Boy: The letters of a mother, her beloved son and the heartbreaking cost of Vimy Ridge.
Vimy Ridge is touted as a battlefield victory in World War 1 and a testament to the courage and skill of Canadian soldiers, but it also resulted in the death and injury of more than 10,000 Canadians. Private Archibald Jon Polson (I616233,) the darling boy of the book’s title, was one of those many.
Archie, son of Agust and Elisabet Polson of Gimli, MB, was born November 25, 1895. He enlisted in 1916 and was seriously wounded when an enemy shell exploded near him at Vimy Ridge on April 5, 1917.
His injuries required the amputation of his right arm and the removal of shrapnel from his leg. After months of convalescence in two hospitals in England, he was counting the days until his return to Canada when he succumbed to tetanus.
Archie died on September 1, 1917, and was buried in the Ramsgate Cemetery, Kent.
To Manitoba author and retired lawyer Tom Goodman, Archie was the uncle he never got to meet. Goodman’s mother Fjola was one of ten children in the family; Archie was her older brother.
When Goodman decided to author a book about his uncle, he was surprised and delighted to learn that an archive of Archie’s war-time correspondence was available at the University of Manitoba.
The title of the book is a reference to letters from his mother which almost always began with the words “My Darling Boy.” She always closed the letters more formally with her full name El. Thuriður Polson.
Archie’s letters are a glimpse into the world of war training and battles of the time. In return, the letters from his family and friends provide a view of life in Gimli and other Icelandic communities in Manitoba.
There are missing pieces. For example, a young woman who had been seeing Archie before his enlistment began dating someone else during the war and her “Dear John” letter cannot be found in the archives. Neither can any response from Archie.
Overall, the correspondence paints a picture of life in great detail on both sides of the ocean during the war.
Archie’s death, coming as it did so near to the date of his expected return, was a shock to the family and Elisabet’s faith never recovered. She had placed her son’s care in the hands of God and God had failed her. She would not set foot in a church again until her husband’s funeral in 1944.
Her Darling Boy is available in Canada through Great Plains Press, Chapters Indigo, and Amazon.ca. In the U.S., it can be found at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. It can also be found at Abe Books.
Author Tom Goodman was a finalist for the 2017 Manitoba Book Awards in the “Most Promising Writer” category. He died in 2023.