Despite being a first-person narrator—which usually assumes a level of intimacy between the narrator and the reader—Thomas Birkin only reluctantly shares his backstory. Fleshing out his character is done against his wishes; his story is revealed in bits, at moments when he lets down his guard. Early on, readers learn he is a veteran with an educational background from London Arts College; he mentions the latter detail in passing during a conversation with Alice Keach. When he meets the dying girl Emily Clough, the horrors of the war flash back to him and he declares loudly to a corn field that there is no God. About two-thirds of the way through the novel, he shares with Moon a few memories of his service days, including his participation in the gruesome siege at Passchendaele in Belgium. Birkin suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, known then as “shell shock.” His mental and emotional exhaustion manifest in his facial tic and occasional stutter.

Birkin comes to Oxgodby a casualty. He admits as much: “And afterwards, perhaps I could make a new start, forget what the War and the rows with Vinny had done to me and begin where I’d left off. This is what I need, I thought—a new start and, afterwards, maybe I won’t be a casualty anymore” (20).