The war between us

My name is Gabriel, a former soldier and witness to the story you are about to discover. When I first held this book in my hands, I felt a wave of emotion that brought me back to a time in my life I thought I had left behind. This story-Louise and Joseph's-is not just a tale of love, but an open letter to all of humanity.

Louise, a nurse with a big heart, and Joseph, a broken man determined to stand again, embody for me the resilience and beauty that can emerge from the darkest moments of our existence. Their letters, their shared silences, their half-whispered dreams-all of it reminded me of my own trials and the flashes of light that have marked my life.

When I was at the front, each letter I received was a treasure. The words on the page had the power to carry me away from the roar of the shells, to wrap me in a long-forgotten warmth. They were a promise: that one day, after the suffering and the losses, another world would await us. A world where hand in hand we could walk again, where the dreams we left suspended could finally come true.

That is what this book is. A promise. A testimony of what it means to love in a world that seems destined to disappear. Louise and Joseph were not perfect, and their journey was not without obstacles. But it is precisely in their imperfections, their cracks, that the truth of their humanity lies.

At my lowest point, wounded in both body and soul, I met a woman who reached out her hand to me. She wasn't Louise, but she shared that same gaze, that same determination not to let darkness devour all that was good. She taught me to walk again, to believe that life-even after being torn apart-was still worth living. As I read Louise's words, I saw that woman again in every line. Proof that people like her did exist, still exist, and will continue to light up the lives of others.

Joseph reminded me of my own struggle to become a man again after the war. He reminded me of those moments when every step felt like a trial, but also a small victory. Like him, I dreamed of a simple and beautiful life, far from the sounds of war. Like him, I realized that this dream, however modest, was life's greatest treasure.

Today, years have passed, and yet, reading this story, it feels like yesterday. I still see the battlefields, the faces of my comrades, but I also see the outstretched hands, the smiles stolen from the darkness. Louise and Joseph are more than characters; they are witnesses.