The Hero by Somerset Maugham

THE HERO is an early novel by Somerset Maugham. Set just after the end of the Boer War, the story follows a young English veteran, Jamie Parsons, who returns from the war to find he no longer has the same values or worldview he had prior to the war, and no longer wants to marry his longtime financee. This aggrieves his conservative parents, who continue to see the world as they always did.