Soldiers' Pay

Soldiers' Pay William Faulkner - "A deft hand has woven this narrative. . . . This book rings true."—New York Times





Faulkner's debut novel, Soldiers' Pay (1926), is among the most memorable works to emerge from the First World War. Through the story of a wounded veteran's homecoming, it examines the impact of soldiers' return from war on the people—particularly the women—who were left behind.



William Cuthbert Faulkner (/ˈfɔːknər/;[1][2] September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer known for his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, based on Lafayette County, Mississippi, where Faulkner spent most of his life. Faulkner is one of the most celebrated writers of American literature, and is widely considered one of the best writers of Southern literature.



Born in New Albany, Mississippi, Faulkner's family moved to Oxford, Mississippi when he was a young child. With the outbreak of World War I, he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force but he did not serve in combat. Returning to Oxford, he attended the University of Mississippi for three semesters before dropping out. He then moved to New Orleans, where he wrote his first novel Soldiers' Pay (1925). Returning to Oxford, he wrote Sartoris (1927), his first work which is set in Yoknapatawpha County. In 1929, he published The Sound and the Fury. The following year, he wrote As I Lay Dying. Seeking greater economic success, he went to Hollywood to work as a screenwriter.