I am a huge fan of this author. I’ve read all of her books (links to those reviews at the bottom), which have all featured WWII. I was very excited to see that she went further back to WWI for this story.
As with several Historical Fiction novels, there are two storylines, one historical and one contemporary. And, as usual, there is the draw of trying to figure out how the two are connected. In this instance, the connection is pretty clear.
From the blurb and other reviews that recount the plot, the reader knows that Kate (contemporary, 1999) has had a personal crisis and is asked by her father to help clean out his Aunt Florrie’s house, and she is the voice of the historical storyline.
The way Florrie’s storyline is told is clever. It took me a bit to make the connection to an early chapter, but once I did, the story flowed. The method allowed for Florrie’s voice to be clear and her attitudes to color the retelling of her story (which makes sense).
Now that we have the basics out of the way, I want to talk about specific things that jumped out at me.
I found the parallels between Florrie and Kate to be intriguing. As Kate struggles with the stresses of work and rebuilding her personal life, so does Florrie struggle with the events of her time. It’s not a spoiler to say that because of the timeframe, Florrie has to deal with WWI, the Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918, and post-war troubles.
There is a commonality in the way that each woman handles their particular issues. I liked this, because family has always told Kate that she looks like Edith, but it is clear that her mettle is solely Florrie.
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I thought that the historical timeline was much more fleshed out than the contemporary one. In spite of all of the tribulations, there was a lyrical sense to Florrie’s account of history, and those chapters lulled me right into her world.
In other words, there is sometimes a jolt between contemporary and historical timelines in books of this genre. That wasn’t the case for me here. Each time we went back to Florrie, it was literally like stepping back easily into time.
The author did a phenomenal job of recounting the little things of the period. Yes, WWII and the 1918 Spanish Flu were horrific, but so where the countless repercussions that each of them caused.
Men who didn’t want to fight in the first place and then who weren’t released from service post-war, families that were dealing with the double hit of war and illness…not to mention the longer-lasting after-effects of war, including mustard gas.
But where the author really excelled was the slow mental decline of a person who could not face reality. I don’t want to say too much and give away an excellent part of the story. But the way the sisters are written showed two very different approaches to dealing with adversity.
Kate’s storyline seemed almost inconsequential at times, and I think that might have been on purpose. While living in Florrie’s house, she gets to know the people of the neighborhood and realizes how trivial and superficial her knowledge of people can be.
Indeed, it’s a realization that should wake us all up – previous generations have faced much more challenging times and come through them. Although, given the events of the past in this book, not everybody came through them intact and better off.
I know I’m kind of rambling but points just keep popping into my head that I think are important. For example, around WWI, it was important for young women to find a beau and get married young.
But what happens to a woman when her chosen suitor goes off to war? And what happens when that war almost decimates a large portion of the male population? What is a woman supposed to do then? Again, Florrie and Edith have two very different approaches.
I did think that the end of both storylines seemed rather abrupt. The event that essentially ends Florrie’s part (and finally ties the two time periods together) served its purpose in that there was a sense of resigned fatefulness for her – there was nothing more that could be said or done…so there wasn’t. It became what it ended up being.
I promise that all makes sense in the book.
For Kate, it also seemed a tad hasty. I would have liked to see a comeuppance of her sisters-in-law, for example. As it was, they (and her brothers) just sort of faded away. The same could be said with Florrie’s brother. Although, the reader does have to make some connections to realize his importance in the story even though it isn’t specifically spelled out.
This is probably the longest review I have written. I have so much more to say about this book, because each time I think about it, I find some other parallel, or something else that struck me.
I guess that’s the sign of a really good book – it continues to make you think long after the last page has been read. This definitely qualifies.
My reviews of other books by this author: My Name is Eva, Burning Island, The Girl Without A Name
Twitter: @suzannegoldring
Author Bio:
Following an eventful career as a public relations consultant, specialising in business and travel, Suzanne Goldring turned to writing the kind of novels she likes to read, about the extraordinary lives of ordinary people. Whether she is working in her thatched cottage in Hampshire or her seaside home in North Cornwall, Suzanne finds inspiration in the secrets hidden by everyday life.
