During World War I, Patrick bonds with Daniel, but it is Daniel's lover, Julia, who changes Patrick forever. Daniel shares his letters from Julia with Patrick, and soon, Patrick feels Julia's presence wherever he is. Ten years later Patrick and Julia meet in France, and after a brief encounter, Patrick makes a fateful choice.
An epic story of love found and lost, Losing Julia begins in 1928 at the dedication of a memorial to the great War in France. American Patrick Delaney has come to mourn his fallen comrades, especially his best friend, Daniel. When he sees a woman standing alone in the crowd, he realizes she must be Julia, Daniel's lover. Though Patrick is married, he and Julia fall desperately in love during the brief but unforgettable time they spend exploring the still haunted and battle-scarred countryside. Struggling to reconcile their love with the legacy of war and life's obligations, Julia and Patrick cling to each other until one fateful step, when Patrick loses Julia, perhaps never to find her again. From the vicious savagery of trench warfare to the sometimes comic and often tragic indignities of life in a nursing home, Jonathan Hull tells a remarkable story of memory and desire, history and destiny-and of the people who slip from our grasp, only to hold us forever.