Born at the turn of the twentieth century, Mae Strickland is only a few days old when her mother suddenly dies. Her aunt Maggie brings Mae up together with her own children, Eddie and Alice, and the girls become like sisters. In spite of Mae's unhappy start, life feels full of promise.
Then, as the First World War looms, everything changes. While the local men - including young Eddie - leave to fight, Mae and Alice train as field nurses. As they travel to the front line in the wake of family tragedy, nothing can prepare them for the hardship that lies ahead.
Yet there is solace to be found amid the wreckage of the war, and for both, romance is on the horizon. But it will take great courage for Mae and Alice to follow their hearts. Can love win out in the end?
As soon as I saw this book available to review I jumped at the chance, for lots of reasons, I have been wanting to read a Lyn Andrews book for a long time, lots of people have recommended her writing but I never knew which book to start with,, she is a Liverpool author and I am from Liverpool and I love war stories. I haven't read many war books before, but it has always been a subject that I am very interested in, whether it is book's, TV shows or just hearing stories about it.
What I really liked about this book was the way Lyn had set it just before and during World War 1, which is something you don't find in many books, this straight away got me excited and made me want to read more. I loved that every place mentioned in the story I knew of, I usually like having heard of place names even though I have not been, but actually knowing and being able to picture the places gives you a whole new insight into the novel. What was interesting was how differently they were in the book to how they are now, obviously I have grown up seeing Liverpool how it is now so this book taught me things about my city that I didn't know.
What makes this story stand out from others of this War genre is that most are based on the front line and the men at war and what they go through. Whereas although this does have scenes from the battlefield we learn a lot of what it is like behind the scenes with Alice and Mae being field nurses, treating the injured soldiers before sending them home.
I loved how Lyn wrote the characters exactly how people would of behaved and lived at that time. This was shown in the way that Billy behaved towards Maggie, he expected her to say at home doing the housework, with his dinner on the table when he returned home (from a day of drinking).
The research that Lyn has put into this book is wonderful, it has so much detail and depth as if she has experienced this first hand. You can really get deep into the story and feel as if you are experiencing it with Alice and Mae. There are a lot of shocking and upsetting scenes in this book, which you will obviously get from such a series plot but what the story is trying to tell you is that among all of that there is still hope, love and families sticking together. It makes you wonder if the same would happen now if a war were to break out again (fingers crossed we never find out)!
I enjoyed this book as a break from the genre’s I usually read and would recommend to anybody that likes wartime stories and stories about how women coped at this time.
The research that Lyn has put into this book is wonderful, it has so much detail and depth as if she has experienced this first hand. You can really get deep into the story and feel as if you are experiencing it with Alice and Mae. There are a lot of shocking and upsetting scenes in this book, which you will obviously get from such a series plot but what the story is trying to tell you is that among all of that there is still hope, love and families sticking together. It makes you wonder if the same would happen now if a war were to break out again (fingers crossed we never find out)!
I enjoyed this book as a break from the genre’s I usually read and would recommend to anybody that likes wartime stories and stories about how women coped at this time.
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