This is the second book in the “Regeneration” trilogy. I read the first book a few years ago and kind of felt a little ambivalent about it. It’s possible I would still feel that way if I read it again, but I also barely recall any specific details. In broad terms, it’s about a WWI combat psychologist in England dealing with the trauma of soldiers wounded in the war or experiencing PTSD. It also focuses particularly on the case of Siegfried Sassoon, the famous poet, who is one of the few “combat poets” to have survived the war.
This book goes in the same direction, but I liked this one better. It focuses on Billy Prior, a combat veteran now on the homefront working as a home agent — censoring letters, and doing other administrative tasks. He’s still experiencing “battle fatigue” as they call it, but is also dealing with his complicated relationship with his own sexuality, something that he’s unclear of whether is simply the way he is, a result of being in the homosocial environment of wartime, or a product of his mental damage. His psychologist Dr. Rivers is also unclear, as he also deals with what he can tell are the current limits of modern psychology (as of 1915 or so).
The book also expressly deals with the social limits of compassion in relation to homosexuality (or bisexuality, depending on how Billy Prior would be able to see and define himself with freedom to do so), as Billy pursuing sexual relationships with men while also exploring romantic (and sexual) relationships with women tries to also sort out how to hide this other part of his life, which is still very much illegal and consider social deviance.
(Photo: https://www.amazon.com/Eye-Door-Pat-Barker/dp/0142180610/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3E3J2P2OP6FGW&keywords=the+eye+in+the+door&qid=1553688978&s=gateway&sprefix=the+eye+in+the+door%2Caps%2C203&sr=8-1)