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Mar 28, 2014Bearwomyn rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
A friend recommended this book. I cannot recall who but am pleased for it. A fast read, interesting. During WWI an American woman flees, or perhaps it is more appropriate to say escapes, the violent confines of her prison-like home and abusive husband - an act, by default, that results in her also leaving behind her two young children. Unsure where to go and not knowing just how far away "safe" will be...she finds a temporary answer when a posted billet calls out to her "wartime help needed along the European front." She becomes a VAD, learning her nursing skills boat wise during the voyage over seas. This is a tale of her journey with complexities interwoven; a women of that century with limited rights, the traumatic face of war, a mothers loss, an abused wive's fears...broken relationships, personal self discovery. She finds herself, loses herself, hates herself, heals herself. We have rape accusations, custody battles, ambulance runs through muck and blood, an orangery, doctors, tin faces, private schools, shell shock, lost memories, broken hearted children, shrapnel both real and mental...uniforms, the admiralty, love, deceit, longing and resolve. I recommend this story.