Summary
Howard Crandall Jr., heir to a considerable fortune, emerges from the trenches of World War I bearing not just psychological scars, but a profoundly disfiguring facial injury. Choosing self-imposed exile in post-war Paris, he finds a peculiar solace among a clandestine brotherhood of men similarly marked by the conflict. His eventual, reluctant return to the gilded cage of his family home and the embrace of his fiancée, Muriel, is initially met with a brittle shock, quickly masked by an overt, almost performative, acceptance. Yet, Howard, acutely sensitive to his altered appearance, perceives their gestures as pity rather than genuine affection. This festering insecurity reaches a critical point with the re-emergence of Arthur Wells, Muriel's former suitor, whose easy familiarity and warm reception by Muriel ignite Howard's deepest fears, confirming his suspicion that his value in their eyes, and perhaps Muriel's heart, has been irrevocably diminished by his ruined visage.
Synopsis
Howard Crandall Jr., who comes from a wealthy family, has suffered a disfiguring facial injury during World War I, and at war's end stays in Paris rather than return home to his family and sweetheart Muriel looking the way he does. While in Paris he forms a secret society of men who are in a similar position. When he finally does decide to return home, his family and Muriel are at first shocked by his appearance, but they recover and try to make him feel comfortable and accepted. However, it's not before Howard begins to feel their actions are motivated more by pity than love, and when Arthur Wells, who was once Muriel's suitor, shows up one day and is greeted warmly and intimately by Muriel, Howard starts to think that his suspicions are justified.
