The English Patient

About “The English Patient”

The English Patient is a 1992 novel by Canadian writer Michael Ondaatje. It follows four individuals brought together at an Italian villa during the Italian campaign of World War II: an unrecognizably burned man known as the English patient, his Canadian Army nurse, a Sikh sapper, and a Canadian thief. The story is set during the North African campaign and focuses on the patient’s past, revealed gradually. These revelations affect the other characters emotionally. The narrative is told through the perspectives of the characters and the books they read. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.)