Where the Souls of Men are Calling

In Short

Set during the early months of American involvement in the First World War, this wartime novel traces the internal and physical journey of Jeb Tumpson, a small-town young man crippled by a secret, paralyzing fear of combat. Ashamed of his panic as his neighbors eagerly enlist, Jeb quietly slips away into medical service. On the Western Front, exposed to the horrors of German bombardment and the devastation of innocent civilians, his paralyzing fear gradually yields to a fierce moral resolve. Harris delivers a melodrama of redemption, patriotic duty, and the crucible of modern war.

The Story

The narrative opens in the sleepy, picturesque town of Hillsdale, an idyllic American community straddling past tradition and modern progress. When the United States enters the Great War in April 1917, the town erupts with patriotic fervor. Colonel Hampton and newspaper editor Amos Strong quickly resolve their long-standing political differences to raise a local company of militia. They immediately look to Jeb Tumpson—a well-liked young man whose sweetheart, Marian Strong, has just completed nursing training—to serve as its captain.

To the town, Jeb appears to be the ideal officer. Inwardly, however, he is consumed by an absolute, suffocating terror of physical pain and death. The mere thought of flying bullets leaves him physically ill and spiraling into silent hysteria. Incapable of confessing his cowardice to Marian or his doting aunts, Miss Sallie and Miss Veemie, Jeb stalls. When Marian immediately leaves for Europe with a nursing unit, Jeb's shame reaches a breaking point. Unable to face registration day or his draft board, he flees Hillsdale under cover of darkness, joining a non-combatant medical transport unit bound for the Western Front as a stretcher-bearer.

Crossing the Atlantic on a converted transport, Jeb finds temporary relief in the camaraderie of Canadian soldiers and the frantic work of sea travel. Yet he cannot escape his reputational shadow. In France, he is stationed near the front lines under the command of Doctor Bonsecours, a brilliant French surgeon. There he unexpectedly crosses paths with Marian and a fiery Irish sergeant, Tim Doreen, who has survived horrific ordeals. Marian, discovering Jeb serving as a humble stretcher-bearer rather than leading his company, reacts with bitter disappointment and horror at his obvious cowardice.

Jeb's trial by fire arrives during a massive Allied offensive. Forced to gather the wounded under heavy shellfire, he is paralyzed by horror. When his bearing partner's head is suddenly blown off beside him, Jeb breaks completely and flees into the smoke, abandoning his duties.

Desperate to die rather than live with his disgrace, Jeb wanders into ruined, enemy-held territory. Amid the rubble of a shelled village, he discovers a group of starving French orphans hidden in a cellar, terrorized by German soldiers who murdered their local priest. The sight of their suffering triggers a profound psychological shift. No longer focused on his own survival, Jeb single-handedly overpowers a garrison of fifteen German soldiers, rescues the children, and marches his captives back to the Allied lines. Transformed by this ordeal, he rejects his medical exemption and immediately requests a transfer to the front-line infantry, determined to fight until victory is achieved.

How It Unfolds

The call to arms When news of war reaches Hillsdale, local leaders unite to form a volunteer military company, eagerly picking young Jeb Tumpson to serve as captain. Jeb conceals his overwhelming fear of combat, while his love, Marian Strong, departs for France as a military nurse.

Flight from home Unable to face the prospect of battle or confess his cowardice to his family, Jeb slips away from Hillsdale in the middle of the night. He enlists as a stretcher-bearer on a transport ship to avoid front-line infantry service.

Crossing into danger Surrounded by Canadian veterans and medical personnel on a covert transatlantic voyage, Jeb experiences a brief respite from his anxiety. Upon arriving in France, he is assigned to a chaotic field dressing station managed by Doctor Bonsecours.

Crucible in the trenches During an intense bombardment, Jeb is sent into No Man's Land to clear casualties. When his fellow stretcher-bearer is violently killed at his side, Jeb panics and flees into the battlefield smoke, completely abandoning his post.

Ruin and redemption Wandering through a destroyed village in a state of despair, Jeb stumbles upon a cellar of starving, traumatized orphans. Moved by their plight, he recovers his resolve, disarms a unit of German soldiers, and leads the children to safety.

A new resolve Returning to the dressing station a changed man, Jeb turns down medical relief. He insists on immediate assignment to an active American infantry unit to fight on the front lines.

The People

• Jeb Tumpson begins the story as an agreeable, pampered young man paralyzed by a secret, agonizing fear of death. He longs to be heroic but is driven to desertion by his own imagination. Through the horrific realities of the French front and the sight of vulnerable victims, his self-absorption burns away, leaving a genuinely courageous soldier.
• Marian Strong is an independent, brave young woman who does not hesitate to offer her skills as a nurse. She loves Jeb deeply, but her uncompromising sense of duty makes her bitter and unyielding when she discovers his initial cowardice.
• Colonel Hampton is a fiery, traditional mid-Victorian gentleman whose patriotic zeal drives the town's war effort. He sees Jeb as a son and an ideal warrior, entirely blind to the young man's internal turmoil.
• Doctor Bonsecours is a tireless French military surgeon of heroic resolve. He demands absolute duty from his staff while holding a deep, unspoken affection for Marian.
• Sergeant Tim Doreen is an indomitable Irish soldier whose humor and fierce loyalty under fire serve as a constant model of unselfish courage for Jeb.

In Its Own Voice

"Because there's a limit, Jeb, to the patience of a country, just as there is to the patience of men and women."

Marian offers this crisp warning as the nation prepares for conflict, unaware that Jeb's endurance has already fractured.

"To be caught between the two was an endless terror--since tomorrows are always tomorrows, and todays face us with every dawn."

This quiet reflection exposes the relentless psychological agony Jeb endures as he anticipates the horrors of the battlefield.

"I'm only asking for a chance to make good----"

Jeb speaks these words to Doctor Bonsecours after rescuing the orphans, marking his final transition from panic to dedicated service.

What It's Really About

Beneath its wartime adventure, the novel explores the psychology of fear and the nature of moral courage. Harris presents cowardice not as an inherent character defect, but as a failure of perspective—an obsessive self-focus that distorts reality. The narrative argues that true bravery is not the absence of dread, but the discovery of something larger than oneself. By contrasting the comfortable innocence of small-town America with the brutal realities of European trench warfare, the book asks how an unprepared generation can adapt to modern horror. Ultimately, it asserts that trauma and shame can be redeemed through active sacrifice and responsibility for others.

Why Read It Today

This novel offers a vivid, contemporary window into the American home front and the ideological atmosphere of 1918. Readers interested in World War I fiction will appreciate its raw depiction of the period's wartime propaganda, medical field work, and emotional pressures.

The book's style reflects its era, featuring heightened melodramatic prose, dialect-heavy dialogue for secondary characters—such as Sergeant Tim's phonetically rendered Irish brogue—and unambiguous moral sentiments. While its uncritical patriotism and idealization of military service reflect the immediate wartime environment in which it was written, the core portrait of a young man wrestling with sheer panic remains surprisingly empathetic. It is a brief, engaging read for anyone curious about how popular fiction framed trauma, duty, and redemption during one of the twentieth century's defining conflicts.