The Last Casualty by Andrew Leatham

Rating: ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: December 29, 2016

Belgium, 1917. Wilf joined up at seventeen, wanting to do his bit. But now he is broken by the death and human agony surrounding him. The smell of the rotting corpses, the vermin gnawing on the corpses in No Mans Land, has all been too much. After a brief period of R and R, he knows he cannot return to the line, but off he is sent. When his courage falters, he’s charged with cowardice, court martialled, and shot at dawn. Lancashire England, 1995. Joanne Neally’s grandmother has died. While cleaning out her house, she finds the telegram that informed her family of the death of her great grandfather, simple and unpunctuated: Regret to inform you Private 792163 Isherwood Wilfred 3rd Batt Pennine Fusiliers died of gunshot wounds Ypres August 22 1917. Joanne is moved to tears by the telegram, but it is the diary she finds next that will change her life forever, for Wilf Isherwood detailed his experiences at Passchendaele, one of the fiercest and bloodiest battles of the Great War. A battle that cost the lives of half a million men, and changed the landscape of Belgium forever. Joanne, who is in an unhappy marriage, decides to clear Wilf’s name. It is obvious he was suffering from shell shock, and a pardon is in order. As she enlists help from the local legion, she discovers a man at a care home who knew her great grandfather. The more he tells her about the horrors they saw, the more determined Joanne is to clear Wilf’s name. But as her job and her marriage fall apart, everyone around her wonders about her loyalty to a man she never met, and how much she is willing to pay to clear his name. 

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Shot at Dawn, National Memorial Arboretum
by Harry Mitchell / CC-BY-4.0

I'm not known for mincing my words so if you don't appreciate critical commentary take the hint and jump ship now. I read negative reviews, I write negative reviews, and I am not ashamed of it. You're not required to agree with my stance nor my assessment of the novel in question, but I'm allowed an opinion just the same so you'll just have to deal the fact that this review actually exists. Don't like it? Don't read it. It's no skin off my nose one way or the other. 

Without further ado or disclaimer, I want to say that Andrew Leatham's The Last Casualty wasn't my cuppa tea and I would find the novel impossible to recommend. The historic subject matter boasts natural intrigue, but the fictional elements felt carelessly constructed, incomplete, and underdeveloped. Consider yourselves warned folks, there are spoilers ahead. 

The Shot at Dawn campaign is remarkable in and of itself, but Leatham's protagonist has virtually nothing to do with the movement. Joanne makes contact with the member of the group, but Leatham fails to develop that relationship and takes the story in an entirely different direction. There is a footnote at the end of the narrative about the success of the campaign, but the actual push for the posthumorous pardon of war victims is otherwise absent from the telling. 

Joanne's deterioration, if that is in fact what Leatham was trying to illustrate, is ambiguous at best and I couldn't decide if she was a rational character trying to clear her grandfather's name or an irrational character that suffered the effects of battle fatigue without having actual experience of it. Wilf has moments, but his story is pretty cut and dry. Joanne's husband Frank is easily the most interesting character in the narrative, but he is never fully explored and his vacillating love/hate relationship with his wife proved both contradictory and confounding. 

The nail in the coffin, however, is how Leatham closed the story. The author's conclusion is inconclusive and leaves the reader questioning the purpose of the narrative. Joanne does not fail in her quest, but she doesn't succeed in it either. It actually feels as if she loses her damned mind before she even gets her feet on the ground, but that's just me. I wish I were joking when I say that I finished the book and checked to make sure my ARC had downloaded properly, but I'm not. The main story line doesn't go anywhere and unlike my fellow reviewers, I refuse to excuse that reality out of admiration for the history involved. 

I think the content great, but to be perfectly honest, I've seen it before and I've seen it done better. If you're that interested, save yourself the trouble and track down a copy of The Lost Soldier by Diney Costeloe or Barbed Wire and Roses by Peter Yeldham and call it a day. Leatham's idea had merit, but his execution leaves much to be desired and struck me as a total and complete disappointment.

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He took Wilf by the left elbow and guided him steadily out of the cell where two more armed men from the regiment took up station in front. The party marched quickly along a short corridor, Tubby Clayton following behind, praying loudly. But no one was listening.

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The Alice Network by Kate Quinn

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Obtained from: Publisher

Read: November 16, 2016

1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She's also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie's parents banish her to Europe to have her "little problem" taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister. 1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she's recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she's trained by the mesmerizing Lili, the "Queen of Spies", who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy's nose. Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn't heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth... no matter where it leads.

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Do you know what happens when one of your favorite authors leaves her usual stomping grounds and tackles your favorite period of world history? First, you geek out like the nerd you are. Then worry sets in and you start to psyche yourself out over whether or not the novel will live up to your inflated expectations. After that, you vacillate back and forth between the two. This continues until you actually get opportunity to read the book and are put out of your misery. I know because that’s exactly what happened when I discovered Kate Quinn was writing about World War II.

It was horrible. The highs and lows of my anticipation put Tim Curry to shame, but I was offered an unexpected reprieve in the form of a simple blue ARC. My copy lacked the author’s notes and the attractive jacket, but the story was there and that was all I needed. I inhaled the book in single sitting and then, just because I could, I read it again. I didn’t take notes on the first pass which is unusual for me. I intended to, but my infamous notebook was actually blank when I finished the final page and looking back, I’m glad I didn’t write my review then and there as my thoughts on my first read were remarkably different than those on my second.

Quinn’s signature humor was abundant, but the rhythms of The Alice Network are very different than those of her earlier works. I was confused by that on my first pass, but I grew a deep appreciation for it on my second. I loved the characters, Eve, Lili, and Finn had me rolling on floor more often than I care to admit, but the thematic ideas Quinn played with over the course of the novel felt larger and more comprehensive than anything I’d seen from her before.

I was tickled by the appearance of a Legonda LG6, but the car itself was a superficial detail that could have been dropped into any story. The fabric of the narrative, however, speaks to a much deeper understanding of the period than the car and/or cover description suggests. Half the narrative takes place during World War I while the other unfolds just after World War II. Anyone who has studied the politics will tell you the two conflicts are intrinsically related, but as a fan of war era fiction, I can attest that few authors attempt to illustrate the relationship in a single narrative. Though she avoids deep diving into the political side of things, Quinn treats the two wars as continuing chapters in the lives and experiences of her cast and while I’m not sure every reader will appreciate the subtle nuance, I was personally very impressed with the thematic parallel.

I freely admit that some portions of the narrative are slower than others. In terms of tension, Quinn’s work can’t be compared to spy novels like Code Name Verity, but the personal journeys and conflicts faced by each character offer a different sort of intrigue. There are moments, carefully scattered throughout the story, that leave one on edge of their seat, but it is the characters and how they are shaped by their experiences that captivates the imagination.

Would I recommend the book? Whole-heartedly and without hesitation. I expected this novel to be well-written and I expected an exhaustive level of research to be evidenced in the final product. Quinn delivered on both, but she also managed level of creativity, depth and authentic human emotion that caught me entirely off guard.

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"It is my job to find people with certain skills - the ability to speak French and German, for example. The ability to lie. Outward innocence. Inward courage. To find them and put them to work, ferreting out what the Boches have planned for us. I think you show potential, Miss Gardiner. So, let me ask: do you wish to stand for England?"

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Nursing Fox by Jim Ditchfield

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: June 4, 2016

At the outbreak of World War I, Lucy Paignton-Fox enlists in the Australian Army Nursing Service and leaves her family's cattle station in the Northern Territory to join the war effort. During the Gallipoli campaign she serves in hospitals in Egypt, but when the Anzacs are posted to France she moves with them. A talented and spirited nurse, with dreams of one day becoming a doctor, Lucy finds more opportunities than she ever imagined: working alongside doctors and surgeons, sharing the soldiers' dangers, helping them through their pain, and making lifelong friends. But with war comes suffering. Lucy sees it all around: sorrow, disease and death. How long can she stay separated from it all? Adam Hayward joins the British Army after a devastating attack on his family. Accepted into the air force, Adam tests his luck in the cockpit fighting for those he loves. But with aircraft technology booming, can Adam continue to stay ahead of the game? John Mitchell's determination leads him slowly up the ranks. With more responsibility than ever, he becomes disillusioned with the horrors of war, but he can't help admiring the brave nurses who do so much to help the wounded men. Nursing Fox details the experiences of Australian nurses during the Great War. It honours their journeys and shows the impact that the nurses had on the soldiers with whom they crossed paths.

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I enjoyed the time I spent with Jim Ditchfield’s Nursing Fox, but I will not deny that I have mixed feelings about the book. To be perfectly honest, I think the narrative suffers an excess of plot and despite my appreciation for the material, I could help feeling frustrated at being pulled so many directions at once.

Don’t misunderstand, Nursing Fox has a lot going for it and reading the novel affords a great deal of insight to the World World I experiences of Australian forces both on and behind the lines. I was fascinated by the wealth of detail Ditchfield managed to weave into the fabric of the narrative and felt the material was exceedingly well-adapted.

That said, the novel alternates between three distinct points of views and while I found Lucy Paignton-Fox, Adam Hayward and John Mitchell quite interesting, I felt the rotation between them distracting and wished Ditchfield had limited himself to Lucy’s point of view. Lucy’s story arc was the most prominent of the three and I think the novel would have read more cleanly and felt more cohesive if the author had limited himself to a single protagonist.

When all is said and done, I can see recommending Nursing Fox to fellow readers, but I think it could have been stronger narrative if there hadn’t been so much going on.

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Lucy sat on an empty bed, her face buried in her hands as tears of relief streamed down her face. She thought back to the CCS. After all these years, all the bombs and all the shells. The fighting might be finished, but the war would never be over for her. She’d never be able to forget the hundreds of operations and the rows of graves that emphasised the failures.

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Time and Regret by M.K. Tod

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: July 8, 2016

When Grace Hansen finds a box belonging to her beloved grandfather, she has no idea it holds the key to his past—and to long-buried family secrets. In the box are his World War I diaries and a cryptic note addressed to her. Determined to solve her grandfather’s puzzle, Grace follows his diary entries across towns and battle sites in northern France, where she becomes increasingly drawn to a charming French man—and suddenly aware that someone is following her... Through her grandfather’s vivid writing and Grace’s own travels, a picture emerges of a man very unlike the one who raised her: one who watched countless friends and loved ones die horrifically in battle; one who lived a life of regret. But her grandfather wasn’t the only one harboring secrets, and the more Grace learns about her family, the less she thinks she can trust them.

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Time and Regret is M.K. Tod’s third novel. I’ve both of her earlier releases and was eyeing her latest long before it was made available for review. WWII is my usual stomping ground, but I find myself increasingly fascinated with the Great War and, as such, couldn’t help bumping Time and Regret to the top of my TBR when Lake Union Publishing granted my request for an ARC.

The book impressed me on a number of levels, but I was floored by Tod’s illustration of a woman trying to move forward after an unexpected divorce. By coincidence, I intimately understood a lot of Grace’s insecurities and I was both impressed and appreciative of the authenticity Tod managed to convey in her make-up. Trends favor young, confident women, but Tod chose to feature a woman with relatable life experience and I think her novel stronger for it.

Secrets buried in letters and diaries are war lit clichés, but I really liked how Tod used Martin’s service memoir in Time and Regret. The volume contains many surprising revelations about Martin’s experiences at the Front, but I felt the way he repurposed it to convey his final wishes to Grace gave interesting insight into both his character and the relationship he shared with his granddaughter. I am used to relatives discovering the letters and diaries after the fact, but I found Martin’s active role as ‘game master’ refreshingly engaging.

Cynthia was a difficult character for me, but I grew to appreciate her very deeply in the end. I’m not used to seeing grandmothers portrayed as difficult, but here again I found myself applauding Tod’s unconventional approach. She threw stereotypes out the window and created a very unique personality in Cynthia and I like how the revelations into her character led me to believe different things about her character at different points in the narrative.

The climax of the novel was entertaining in its way, but I felt the intensity and emotion faded in the final chapters. I don’t mean to sound critical, but I appreciated those elements more than the mystery surrounding the paintings and while I liked how the story ended, I would have favored a more emotive conclusion. That said I greatly enjoyed the time I spent with this piece and would definitely recommend it to my fellow readers.

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If the newspapers reported the truth, if they wrote about the mud and filth and the body parts littering the ground and how young men look old before their time, would we still be here?

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The Extinguished Flame: Olympians Killed in the Great War by Nigel McCrery

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: August 5, 2016

In August 2016 the world will be spellbound by the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro as 10,500 athletes from 206 countries compete in 306 events. Tracing their origins back to the Greeks in 776 BC, the history of the Olympics is a glorious one but it has had its darker moments.During the First World War no fewer than 135 Olympians perished. Many had won Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. They came not just from the UK, Germany, France, USA but from all over the globe.Wyndham Halswelle, killed in action on 31 March 1915, won a Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in both field and track events. The Frenchman Leon Flameng, the fastest cyclist ever, died on 2 January 1917, having won Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in the 1896 Olympics. The German Fritz Bartholomae, killed in action 12 September 1915, won a Bronze in the rowing eights during the 1912 Olympics. The list of these heroes goes on and on. Each Olympian, who made the supreme sacrifice, is honored in this magnificent book by a summary of their life, sporting achievement and manner of their death.

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George Eric Fairbairn

I jumped when I stumbled over Nigel McCrery’s The Extinguished Flame: Olympians Killed in the Great War. It sounds disrespectful considering the subject matter, but I enjoy stories of those who served on the front lines and I especially like those volumes that treat them as individuals rather than military units.

McCrery uncovered a lot of forgotten stories in this volume. I can’t imagine the level of research that went into it, but I think the author’s dedication quite obvious. The book is section by year – 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, and 1918 – with each Olympian chronicled in order by their date of death. The bios include general details about each athlete with specific information about their service and the Games and events in which they competed. Where possible the author also included photos of each Olympian.

Personally, I quite liked the volume and think it offers an interesting snapshot of lives cut short by the Great War. That said, I found the presentation a little dry and unbalanced. Some of the bios are a few pages long while others are only a few paragraphs. One can’t blame the author for this, there simply a lot of information out there on some of these individuals, but as a reader I was frustrated that some stories are very well-documented while other lives boiled down to only a few lines.

I found the writing itself a little bland and didn’t appreciate how the flow felt punctuated as if the author were hitting bullet points with each statement, but I think the book rather insightful just the same and I would definitely recommend it as resource to anyone interested in the men who gave their lives to the Great War.

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People are not numbers on some casualty list, so many lost on this day, so many on that, they are people who had jobs and lives, and who loved and were loved.

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Fall of Giants by Ken Follett

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Obtained from: Local Library

Read: July 28, 2016

It is 1911. The Coronation Day of King George V. The Williams, a Welsh coal-mining family, is linked by romance and enmity to the Fitzherberts, aristocratic coal-mine owners. Lady Maud Fitzherbert falls in love with Walter von Ulrich, a spy at the German Embassy in London. Their destiny is entangled with that of an ambitious young aide to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson and to two orphaned Russian brothers, whose plans to emigrate to America fall foul of war, conscription and revolution. In a plot of unfolding drama and intriguing complexity, Fall Of Giants moves seamlessly from Washington to St Petersburg, from the dirt and danger of a coal mine to the glittering chandeliers of a palace, from the corridors of power to the bedrooms of the mighty.

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I can't really say what kept me from picking up this behemoth when it came out, but Ken Follett's Fall of Giants never demanded my immediate attention. I stumbled over it here and there, but it wasn't until I saw the audio edition available for check out through Overdrive that I really considered tackling the title.

I wont lie, Fall of Giants is long, the story lines are unbalanced, the cast is unusually large, the characterizations are not complex, and many of the individual arcs are not satisfactorily concluded by the final page. That said, the book is not about any one person, it is about an intense period of time, a few short years that changed the course of human history, and in that light I feel the novel an indisputable success.

A fully comprehensive snapshot would be impossible to create, but Follett's representation is the next best thing. He captures the experiences of individuals from a variety of backgrounds and social standing and pairs it with the political, international, and social issues that dominated their lives. The end result is an intensely personal and multifaceted illustration of both WWI and the Russian Revolution.

Follett's work is meticulously researched, but his ability to deftly weave together the stories and experiences of five families against such a massive and immersive backdrop sets Fall of Giants apart. It's intimidating as hell to look at, but if anyone ever asked if I would endorse it, my answer would be an immediate and enthusiastic yes.

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“It was a sunny day in early summer, and he could hear birdsong. In a nearby orchard that had so far escaped shelling, apple trees were blossoming bravely. Men were the only animals that slaughtered their own kind by the million, and turned the landscape into a waste of shell craters and barbed wire. Perhaps the human race would wipe itself out completely, and leave the world to the birds and trees, Walter thought apocalyptically. Perhaps that would be for the best.”

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The Lost Soldier by Diney Costeloe

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: March 25, 2016

In 1921, eight ash trees were planted in the dorset village of Charlton Ambrose as a timeless memorial to the men killed in World War One. Overnight a ninth appeared, marked only as for 'the unknown soldier'. But now the village's ashgrove is under threat from developers. Rachel Elliot, a local reporter, sets out to save the memorial and solve the mystery of the ninth tree. In so doing, she uncovers the story of Tom Carter and Molly Day: two young people thrown together by the war, their love for each other, their fears for the present and their hopes for the future. Embroiled in events beyond their control, Tom and Molly have to face up to the harsh realities of the continuing war, the injustices it allows and the sacrifices it demands.

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Originally published as The Ashgrove, Diney Costeloe’s The Lost Soldier begins in 2001, during a public meeting over a housing development in a village called Charlton Ambrose. Rachel Elliot, a local reporter for the Belcaster Chronicle, is captivated when one of the local residents objects the construction plans as they’d necessitate the destruction of a memorial grove planted to honor the village residents who died during the Great War. Rachel takes it upon herself to learn more about the trees and uncovers a long buried secret of honor, sacrifice, tragedy, and enduring faithfulness.

Looking back on the narrative, I freely admit that elements of the modern story felt unnecessary. Rachel’s romantic interest in Nick Potter seemed entirely superfluous in my eyes and the familial connection she unearths struck me as contrived, but Molly Day’s history was so poignantly portrayed that I couldn’t bring myself to rate the novel any lower than five stars. Her story surprised me on a number of levels and I loved how relevant her experiences become to those trying to understand her trials through modern eyes decades after they occurred.

Henry Smalley is a minor character, but one I grew very fond of over the course of the narrative. His journey is not chronicled in detail, but he is the kind of individual who exudes genuine compassion in an era when law and order did not bend to accommodate such sensitivities. Molly’s life is irreparably altered by the conflict, but Henry finds new purpose in the carnage of the Somme and takes it upon himself to look after those left scarred in its aftermath.

There is something very human in this story and I appreciated how Costeloe’s themes drew her audience into the narrative. The action depicted during the first day of the Somme Offensive is brutal, but I was intensely appreciative of the authenticity such detail lent the text. Beginning to end, the novel capitalized on the human elements of the war and I felt Costeloe’s manipulation of the material bridged the gap between a century old conflict and contemporary readers.

I didn’t have any expectations when I picked up The Lost Solider. Not one of the reviewers I follow had read the book and while I was intrigued by the subject matter, I wasn’t entirely convinced it’d be the kind of war story that would hold my interest. That said, the novel surprised me and I feel it one I will recommending many times over in the years to come. 

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“Who do you belong to, I wonder?” she asked aloud. There was nothing to indicate whom each tree commemorated… or that the place was a memorial at all. She moved from tree to tree until she had rested her hand on each trunk, and thought of all the young, fresh-faced men who had gone so jauntily to war, never to return to their homes here in Charlton Ambrose. Such high hopes they must have had. The adventure of fighting in a war, seeing a bit of the world, before settling down to their humdrum lives here in the country.

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A Woman's Diary of the War by Sarah Macnaughtan

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: April 11, 2016

This is one of the most powerful descriptions of the scourge of the First World War by a woman who was on the front lines and ultimately gave her life for the cause. Sarah Broom Macnaughtan volunteered with the Red Cross Society when World War One broke out, and that is when she started keeping a record of what she saw. In September 1914 she travelled to Antwerp in Belgium as part of an ambulance unit, and as Head of the Orderlies she was witness to hundreds of wounded and dying men passing through her hospital. Her and her staff desperately tried to help them as best they could despite limited resources, and bombs falling all around them. For her bravery and work under fire in Belgium, she eventually received the Order of Leopold.

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Sarah Macnaughtan's A Woman's Diary of the War caught my eye the moment I stumbled over it. I've been looking for a surgeon's memoir from either world war for ages, but a nurse's memoir was an equally welcome discovery. 

Macnaughtan's observations are poignantly honest and unguarded. Her perceptions regarding the war in Belgium are not shaped by political affiliation or historic interpretation. They are personal, the kind of simple contemporary insights that are priceless to those interested in understanding the conflict through the eyes of those who witnessed it firsthand. I wish there had been more biographic information included in the book, but the writing is solid and the material itself makes the title more than a little worthwhile.

A Woman's Diary of the War is a short piece, only ninety-three pages in length, but it makes an interesting companion to Sapper Dorothy: The Only English Woman Soldier in the Royal Engineers 51st Division, 79th Tunnelling Co. During the First World War and stands as a brilliant example of British understanding and rectification of the conflict.

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We were breathless, not with fear, but with astonishment.

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The Girl from the Savoy by Hazel Gaynor

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Edelweiss

Read: February 10, 2016

Dolly Lane is a dreamer; a downtrodden maid who longs to dance on the London stage, but her life has been fractured by the Great War. Memories of the soldier she loved, of secret shame and profound loss, by turns pull her back and spur her on to make a better life. When she finds employment as a chambermaid at London’s grandest hotel, The Savoy, Dolly takes a step closer to the glittering lives of the Bright Young Things who thrive on champagne, jazz and rebellion. Right now, she must exist on the fringes of power, wealth and glamor—she must remain invisible and unimportant. But her fortunes take an unexpected turn when she responds to a struggling songwriter’s advertisement for a ‘muse’ and finds herself thrust into London’s exhilarating theatre scene and into the lives of celebrated actress, Loretta May, and her brother, Perry. Loretta and Perry may have the life Dolly aspires to, but they too are searching for something. Now, at the precipice of the life she has and the one she longs for, the girl from The Savoy must make difficult choices: between two men; between two classes, between everything she knows and everything she dreams of. A brighter future is tantalizingly close—but can a girl like Dolly ever truly leave her past behind?

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Hazel Gaynor is not a new author for me. I had the privilege of reading Hush, her contribution to Fall of Poppies: Stories of Love and the Great War in December 2015 and was so impressed with the piece that I made up my mind to read at least one of her full length titles during 2016. I own a copy of The Girl Who Came Home, but it was The Girl from the Savoy that I ultimately picked up. I wish I could say something intelligent about the subject matter piquing my interest and/or imagination, but the shameful reality is that I am cover slut and the volume has an absolutely gorgeous jacket.

Generally speaking, I liked the premise of Gaynor’s book, but the structure and format confused me. I felt protagonist Dorothy 'Dolly' Lane an intriguing young woman and I liked how her experience paralleled that of fellow narrator Loretta May. I felt their ties a little coincidental, but when push comes to shove fiction is chock full of such twists and there was nothing overtly annoying in the connection these women shared. I’d have been quite happy if the novel had centered on Dorothy and Loretta alone, but the inclusion of third narrator Teddy Cooper left me scratching my head. The character had enormous potential, but his role carries little weight alongside Gaynor’s leading ladies and while I enjoyed his scenes and the ideas they inspired, I couldn’t help feeling his perspective superfluous to the story at hand.

I felt Gaynor’s descriptions of life at the Savoy brilliantly imagined, but the hotel is not a character in and of itself. The comparison to Downtown Abbey is inevitable given the time period, Goodreads reviewer Sheena Lambert actually made it in her review, but I feel the television series only emphasizes what the novel lacks. The house is an integral part of the show and most of the drama is tied to the mansion, what it represents, and the lives lived within its walls. Gaynor’s Savoy is colorful, but it does not factor in the story the same way. It is one of many backdrops on which Dorothy’s story unfolds, but it is not fundamental to the drama of her experience which I found disappointing in light of the novel’s description.

In terms of pacing, I felt Gaynor spent too much time laying her groundwork. There are many inspired moments in the first two thirds of novel, but the narrative took so long to find its feet that I was bored by the time I really took interest in what was happening. The concept of life after loss, especially during the Great War held a lot of appeal for me and I thought the diversity of Gaynor’s illustration intensely creative, but its delayed delivery left me frustrated and only partially satisfied.

Would I recommend the novel? As usual, that answer depends on the reader. The Girl from the Savoy is an emotional piece and I think it touches on a lot of intense and deeply compelling themes, but I found it difficult to appreciate the style and tone of the narrative and offer caution to those readers who require instant gratification from their fictional experience.

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"By the time the war was over, my heart was broken, my dreams were shattered, my hopes were bruised. Without ever stepping onto a battlefield, I too was wounded."

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Fall of Poppies: Stories of Love and the Great War by Heather Webb, Hazel Gaynor, Beatriz Williams, Jennifer Robson, Jessica Brockmole, Kate Kerrigan, Evangeline Holland, Lauren Willig, & Marci Jefferson

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

Obtained from: Author

Read: December 6, 2015

Top voices in historical fiction deliver an unforgettable collection of short stories set in the aftermath of World War I—featuring bestselling authors such as Hazel Gaynor, Jennifer Robson, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig and edited by Heather Webb. On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month... November 11, 1918. After four long, dark years of fighting, the Great War ends at last, and the world is forever changed. For soldiers, loved ones, and survivors the years ahead stretch with new promise, even as their hearts are marked by all those who have been lost. As families come back together, lovers reunite, and strangers take solace in each other, everyone has a story to tell. In this moving anthology, nine authors share stories of love, strength, and renewal as hope takes root in a fall of poppies.

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There are a handful of authors I truly love reading and when I get an email from one asking me to review their work... Well, it's not a question of if I'll review it so much as when I can fit it into my schedule. It doesn't happen often, but this is how I came to possess an ARC edition of Fall of Poppies. 

I'd been eyeing the anthology since it was announced and thought it'd make a great companion to Grand Central. It is an entirely different group of authors, but it in terms of subject matter, I felt the two complimented one another and having loved the first, I couldn't help being drawn to the second. 

I suppose I should admit that I was familiar with the works of Jessica Brockmole, Marci Jefferson, and Heather Webb prior to Fall of Poppies. I've recommended Letters from Skye, Enchantress of Paris, Girl on the Golden Coin, Rodin's Lover, and Becoming Josephine several times each and I was eager to see how each writer would navigate storytelling on a smaller scale. I admire each greatly and couldn't have been happier about getting to experience their latest publications before the official release date.

Hazel Gaynor, Evangeline Holland, Kate Kerrigan, Jennifer Robson, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig were names I knew well. I'd eyed many of their titles with interest, but Fall of Poppies marks my first experience with each. It was a long time coming, but Fall of Poppies was an introduction I wont soon forget and I'll likely be on the lookout for each of these ladies in the coming year. 

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The Daughter of Belgium by Marci Jefferson

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Marci Jefferson's The Daughter of Belguim, like many of the stories, touches on a lot of interesting subject matter. Taking inspiration from the story of Edith Cavell, Jefferson tackled the silent struggles of those who dedicated to tending the wounded. Strength tempered by pain and loss is not something I see everyday, but Jefferson's presentation of Amelie proved both convincing and powerful. I liked the combination and felt the complexity of her personality and past experience intensely relatable.

"This man's nationality was not his choice. He followed orders, and not he cannot even speak."

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The Record Set Right by Lauren Willig

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Lauren Willig's The Record Set Right was bittersweet in tone, but the drama it depicted brought a smile to my fact. A tale of misunderstanding and missed opportunities, Millie's retrospective narrative stuck a chord with me. Romance isn't only for the young and I liked how this short defied trends to illustrate that idea. The pivotal moment was slightly predictable, but characters themselves were uniquely drawn and held genuine appeal in my eyes. 

He was my impossible dream, my lady in a tower. Such loves are never meant to be requited; like a falling star; they fade before they hit the earth, leaving only a faint memory of brightness lost.

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All For the Love of You by Jennifer Robson

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Jennifer Robson's All For the Love of You highlights one of the more intriguing chapters of WWI in that it deals with mask making and the effort help those who'd been disfigured in the conflict. The struggles Daisy witnesses are illuminating, but the craftsmanship and professionalism she witnesses in the studio is what captured my attention. Anna Coleman Ladd is not a character I'd encountered in my studies, but I enjoyed learning about her through Robson's effort and appreciate how the piece illustrated both her and her work. 

The notion that a man might have his face blown apart and yet live, and then be expected ti spend the rest of his life exposed to the horror and fear his appearance provoked, was something few people had thought of before the war and its chilling modern apparatus of death.

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After You've Gone by Evangeline Holland

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The plot details of Evangeline Holland's After You've Gone were a little far-fetched for my personal tastes, but I loved the subject matter she explored and the way the author approached it. It is the first of the anthology submission to include the male POV and the story touched on larger concepts, such as racism and artistic pursuits in times of war. Holland's work is not heavy-handed, but flows naturally toward a subtle touching conclusion. 

What was it about these colored Americans - Negroes, as they were called and called themselves - that made them open their hearts and their arms to people of their shared skin...

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Something Worth Landing For by Jessica Brockmole

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In terms of plot, Jessica Brockmole's Something Worth Landing For was my favorite submission to Fall of Poppies. I love the balance she found in her portrayal of Victorie and Wes, the vulnerability she brought to each character and the material she covered, but there is an authentic quality to the drama these characters experience that struck so close to home it made my heart ache. Simple, but beautifully drawn, the story took my breath away and brought a tear to my eye. 

Life is full of decisions, some made in fear, some made in loneliness, some made in a tavern over two mugs of wine. Even those that happen in an instant can last a lifetime. But they don't have to be wrong. Do not the best intentions sometimes reveal the best people? 

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Hour of the Bells by Heather Webb

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Conceptually, Heather Webb's Hour of the Bells stopped me dead in my tracks. Born a German citizen, Beatrix married a Frenchman and watched as their son took up arms against her homeland. For her, the war is intensely personal and threatens crush her heart and soul. Hour of the Bells is a love story, but not the kind I'd anticipated when I accepted Fall of Poppies for review. Emotionally it is raw, powerful and poignant. The kind of story that haunts you long after you've said goodbye. 

Time's passage never escaped her - not for a moment. The clocks made sure of it. There weren't enough minutes, enough hours, to erase her loss. 

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An American Airman in Paris by Beatriz Williams

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I cheered when I realized Beatriz Williams' An American Airman in Paris was written entirely from the male POV. I was quite vocal about my frustration with the marginalization of the male narrator at the 2015 Historical Novel Society Conference and adored Williams for bucking the trend. Octavian's struggle is a mosaic of varied emotion, but I felt the passionate depth Williams portrayed in him was as refreshing as it was provocative. The story is somber and somewhat difficult in terms of theme, but in my eyes it stands as the most pleasantly surprising submission of the anthology.

There was something in his blood, something that chilled and slowed when danger approached, like the thickening of sea ice in the middle of January. The higher the stakes, the more everything slowed, the clearer his mind became: an extreme economy of thought and motion, as if her were a machine directing his own actions.

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The Photograph by Kate Kerrigan

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Kate Kerrigan's The Photograph stands out in that it is the only one of the Fall of Poppies Submissions that doesn't take place on the continent. Centered in Dublin, the story incorporates a larger world view of the conflict and I couldn't help appreciating how it touched on additional conflict of the age. The modern elements didn't appeal to me as much as the historic ones did, but like Williams, I think Kerrigan characterizations of Clive and Eileen defied both stereotypes and trends.  

There was something certain in history, a dependable truth in knowing where you came from. It made her feel secure. 

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Hush by Hazel Gaynor

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Hazel Gaynor's Hush anchors the collection as the final submission in Fall of Poppies. It was hardest of the stories for me to get into, but ultimately I think it the most comprehensive. All the stories highlight a love of some sort, but Hush touches on many. It plays with other emotions, notably courage of conviction and individual guilt, but I was particularly drawn to Gaynor's illustration of hope in the face of tragedy and loss. 

She would fight for him if she could, would become his bones, his skin, his very breath, if only he could come home safe to her. 

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Not by Sight by Kate Breslin

Rating: ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Netgalley

Read: October 5, 2015

With Britain caught up in WWI, Jack Benningham, heir to the Earl of Stonebrooke, has declared himself a conscientious objector. Instead, he secretly works for the Crown by tracking down German spies on British soil, his wild reputation and society status serving as a foolproof cover. Blinded by patriotism and concern for her brother on the front lines, wealthy suffragette Grace Mabry will do whatever it takes to assist her country's cause. When she sneaks into a posh London masquerade ball to hand out white feathers of cowardice, she never imagines the chain of events she'll set off when she hands a feather to Jack. And neither of them could anticipate the extent of the danger and betrayal that follows them--or the faith they'll need to maintain hope.

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Members of the Women’s Forage Corps posed in front of laden General
Service Wagons. Image from the Hampshire and Solent Museums 

Kudos to the Bethany House cover artist who designed this jacket. I don't know your name, but without your efforts, I'd have next to no positive commentary to offer on Kate Breslin's Not by Sight. I'm sorry folks, but I honestly feel I wasted my time on this piece. My sincere apologies for any offense my blunt assessment might inspire, but I found the narrative shallow, unconvincing, predictable, and preachy. There's no depth to the story, the themes lack complexity, and there is absolutely no atmospheric detail to be had.  

Heroine Grace Mabry struck me as a holier than thou, self-righteous, goody two shoes. I found her outlook exceedingly naive and couldn't credit the patriotism Breslin meant to express in her character. The spoiled socialite possesses little if any substance and her championing of the suffragette cause felt both awkward and quixotic. There is no natural correlation between Grace and the subject matter Breslin forced on her, which probably explains why the sections dedicated to Emmeline Pankhurst's movement felt strained, forced and contrived.

Jack had potential in the opening chapter, but his accident reduces him to little more than a wishy-washy, insecure, faltering mess of a human being. His emotional journey put me in mind of Archibald Craven, but I noted very little intensity and/or significance in his structure and disposition. To get right down to it, I found him dull as dishwater and I'm sorry, but I don't have time for banal, platitudinous, and/or cliché-ridden romantic heroes. 

I felt the pacing tedious and the tone pretentiously didactic. I also thought the narrative grossly stereotypic and one-sided. Historically there were some interesting moments involving the Women's Forage Corps and stigmas attached to conscientious objectors during WWI, but I don't think Breslin put enough meat on the bone and I had difficulty sinking my teeth into the story she presented.

It probably goes without saying that I'd have trouble recommending Not by Sight, but I'd like to point out I'm in the extreme minority. Most have adored the title and have nothing but good things to say about it. 

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Jack laughed, and it was a hollow sound to his own ears. “You do sound convincing, my dear. But what else could you say to persuade me, especially in my circumstances?” A pause. “I doubt you even know what love is.”

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Truce by Jordan Taylor

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Kindle Unlimited

Read: September 7, 2015

Great War Centennial short stories take you from home front to Western Front, into the trenches, across No Man’s Land, into the hearts of soldiers and civilians whose fates are forever altered by war. 1914, a bitter Christmas Eve on the front line; not how Thomas imagined spending his holiday. Even a Christmas parcel from family disappoints and, when his company becomes aware of strange sounds from No Man’s Land, he fears the worst. Now the young private is unsure what lies in store for his Western Front Christmas...

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I read most of Jordan Taylor's Great War Centennial series in November 2014. Young Blood, Old Grey, Poppy Lane and A Simple Mind were short reads, but enjoyable and I was initially quite thrilled to learn the author had added an additional title to their number. 

Unfortunately reality doesn't always meet expectation and Truce failed to live up to the standard set by its predecessors. Despite their modest length, the earlier installments had a clear beginning, middle and end. Truce, on the other hand, stuck me as vague and incomplete. 

I was also frustrated by how similar the novella felt in comparison to Sainsbury's 2014 Christmas Ad, Following the same format and formula, the novella covered the same emotional topic and historic scope as the commercial that went viral a month before its release. There are a handful of unique details, but generally speaking, if you've see the video, you've read the book. 

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More in khaki join those in gray. Lighters and matches are produced. Thomas hears greetings of, "Merry Christmas," and "Frohe Weihnachten."

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The Orange Lilies by Nathan Dylan Goodwin

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Obtained from: Kindle Unlimited
Read: September 5, 2015

Morton Farrier has spent his entire career as a forensic genealogist solving other people’s family history secrets, all the while knowing so little of his very own family’s mysterious past. However, this poignant Christmastime novella sees Morton’s skills put to use much closer to home, as he must confront his own past, present and future through events both present-day and one hundred years ago. It seems that not every soldier saw a truce on the Western Front that 1914 Christmas… 

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I discovered Nathan Dylan Goodwin's The Orange Lilies while browsing the Kindle Unlimited catalog. None of my Goodreads contacts had read the novella and the Amazon reviews weren't particularly detailed, but the premise held promise and I decided to give it shot.

Before I get too far ahead of myself, I want to make a couple of things perfectly clear. The Orange Lilies is book 2.5 of Goodwin's Forensic Genealogist series, but it can be read as a standalone. I know because it's the first I picked up. It's also a bit of a slow starter so don't toss it aside if you aren't captivated by the end of chapter one. Here again folks, I'm speaking from experience.

Despite being a mere one hundred pages in length, the book is filled with several wonderful characters. Charlie, Nellie, Margaret and Morton in particular struck a chord with me. They each enjoy relatively modest face time with the reader, but they feel fresh and original nonetheless.

Goodwin's descriptions of the Western Front are brilliant. The author worked far more detail into the piece than I'd expected and I was quite impressed with his realistic portrayal life at the front. From the mud and blood to the mental fatigue and gallows humor of those struggling to survive the trenches, these scenes demonstrated both Goodwin's skill and dedication to authenticity.

The modern day story line is equally captivating. The multi-generational mystery of family secrets took longer for me to appreciate, but as the pieces fell into place, I recognized a growing fascination with the puzzle that represents Morton's personal history.

Highly recommended to fans of both historic and contemporary fiction.

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He wondered, if he survived all of this, if he could simply go back and find that naive man again. He doubted it. He was sure that he was forever lost, consumed inside the broken man that he was today, who had seen and been the cause of so much horror and brutality.

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This Time Tomorrow: A World War One Novel by Rupert Colley

Rating: ★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Personal Kindle Library

Read: January 12, 2015

Two brothers. One woman. A nation at war. A compelling story of war, brotherly love, romance and betrayal during World War One. Vast in scope and intimate in the portrayal of three lives swept along by circumstances, 'This Time Tomorrow' moves from the drawing rooms of Edwardian London to the trenches of the Western Front and to the uncertainty of post-war Britain. When Guy Searight volunteers to fight with the British army in the early days of World War One, he leaves behind his girlfriend, Mary. While away fighting, Guy’s younger brother, Jack, seizes an opportunity to woo Mary for himself. Forthright and self assured, Guy has always looked out for his confident but frail brother and blithely promises his fretting mother that he’ll look out for him when Jack’s turn comes to join up. But embittered by Jack’s betrayal, Guy vows that when Jack has to face the horrors of war for himself, he won’t be there to look after him. When the brothers are reunited in the trenches of the Western Front, their thoughts are both with Mary. As Jack buckles under the strain of war, can Guy sustain his anger and allow his brother to suffer alone? A shocking event, catastrophic in its intensity and barbaric in its conclusion, forces Guy to re-evaluate his relationship with his brother, with Mary and ultimately himself. This Time Tomorrow: a World War One novel is a tale of love, loss and longing. 

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Rupert Colley's This Time Tomorrow was in impulse buy. I love war era fiction and despite its similarity to Private Peaceful, I thought the romantic story line had potential. The novel had a number of good reviews and I was genuinely optimistic going in which is probably why I fell so hard when the execution proved impossibly disappointing. 

Several reviews cited intense emotional drama and well-rounded characters, but I recognized neither between these pages. Take for example, Mary and Guy's relationship. The novel hinges on this affair, but the two are together only a few short paragraphs before Searight leaves for the trenches. Colley denies readers the opportunity to embrace this connection so there is no reason to get worked up when Mary is snogging Jack a few pages on. This happens over and over throughout the novel. The audience is told what the characters are feeling, but never experiences the development of those emotions. The end result lacks depth and appeared exceedingly superficial.

Colley's style was also difficult for me to get into. The narrative is very linear with little atmospheric detail or embellishment. The bones of the story are here, but it needed to be fleshed out. The narrative is also heavy with dialogue which would be fine if the conversations weren't wooden and stale. Nothing sounded genuine or authentic to my ears, a fact which greatly contributed to my lack of enthusiasm for the Searight brothers both on and off the front line. 

When all is said and done, This Time Tomorrow was a bust. Not unreadable, but not for me and not something I see myself recommending down the line. 

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For this, all of this, they had endured the hardships and depravity of war; had lived daily with indiscriminate death, pain, boredom and fear. For this, they had sacrificed so much – their youth and the illusions that come with innocence.

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A Simple Mind by Jordan Taylor

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆

Obtained from: Personal Kindle Library

Read: November 23, 2014

Private Sharp would never be accused of over-thinking orders. Or anything else. Simultaneously the butt of jokes and recipient of confidences, fears, and fantasies shared by his comrades, Sharp is, in many ways, the perfect soldier. What finally sets this simple infantryman apart, however, will reach beyond isolated trenches in a way those serving with him could never have fathomed.

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Personally, the subject matter in A Simple Mind made it the most difficult of the Great War Centennial series. Private Sharp is slow, but the bullying he experiences and the consistency with which he’s taken advantage of because of his condition took a lot out of me. Much more than I’d anticipated with a piece only twenty-three pages in length. 

More than the rest of the series, A Simple Mind illustrates the brutal realities of life on the front and the mentality of those struggling to survive the trenches. Taylor’s portrayal is unapologetically crude and carnal. Again, there is no Author’s Note to verify Taylor’s intent, but I found the contrast in the savagery she created and Private Sharp’s naïve innocence striking on a number of levels. 

And as much I deplore the idea of someone being victimized as Sharp is here, I can’t ignore the fact that the prejudice he suffers ultimately saves his life and immortalizes those who fell in No Man’s Land. Like the other books in the series, A Simple Mind has an acute and stirring message that rivals those seen in fully developed narratives. 

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“You’re a good lad. You know—” Gran looked around to the deserted firebay. It was lunchtime in the third line and even shelling sounded as distant as the first roll of thunder. “I don’t think any one of those duffers gives a damn. They don’t mind living like this. It’s all gas over the same jam and lice everywhere, but they don’t give a damn about anything important. I only want to sit a spell in a park: hear birds, see children playing in the fountain,beautiful colors on the ladies’ gowns. What’s one tin of jam and a few bugs compared to that?”

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