WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS
I love booked that are set during the World Wars and I
really enjoyed this one.
Charlotte was a great character. She was a strong,
independent woman when it was ‘odd’ for a woman to be those things. I really
liked Edward too and how it showed how he was effected after losing his leg and
how the war changed him. Another character I really liked was Robbie (something
about those Scots!)
I found, however, their relationship was a bit choppy. They
were obviously in love since she was Lilly’s governess, but they never acted on
it (understandably). Then they hadn’t seen each other during the war until
Edward was released from the hospital and was found by Robbie (they were still
in love, but didn’t know how the other felt). They don’t act on their feelings
for a good chunk of the book (more or less pushing each other away). Then they
get to spend a month alone in a cottage together (the romantic in me was squeeing
hardcore in anticipation). They confess, get a bit hot and heavy… then agree
that they can’t be together. Um, what? So they continue torturing themselves while
thinking of each other, but end up together in the end. I dunno, it was just a
bit strange to me. I’m happy they ended up together though, I was rooting for
them the whole time.
One thing that stuck with me, however, was the shellshock.
In my research for my own stories, I found that the term shellshock was first recorded
in a medical journal in 1915; even five years after it was used, I doubt it
would be a popular term with civilians. It wasn’t completely understood at the
time and a lot of people saw it as cowardice – yet a lot of people in the book
knew about it and were understanding of it.
4/5
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