Diney Costeloe

1912. London.

"Life has a way of kicking you in the teeth, you know."

Mabel Oakley didn’t know that life could be so cruel. At 15, Mabel had plans for her future. She planned to become a secretary like Miss Harper, the secretary to the senior partner at the law firm where her father worked. However, a day in February that everything changed for Andrew Oakley had a ripple effect that changed the future for everyone in the family. Circumstances and dreams would change, and no family member could stop it. Mabel would be going into domestic service, employed by Sir Keir and Lady McFarlane, the same family that employed her cousin Lizzie.

To move onward, new experiences, new ways of doing things, and new circumstances must be accepted. Some are scary. Some seem impossible to endure. But there is never any doubt that this family will stay together and push through, resolute and determined.

I loved the character of Mabel and the relationships with her family, Miss Chapman, and Mr. Clarke. From the early days of excitement encouraged by her teacher to disappointment and disillusionment as she realizes that dreams don’t always come true to acceptance to betrayal to finding her way. Mabel was always aware that her path would be different from other girls her age, not realizing that, ultimately, changes would bring a future that suited her perfectly.

The differences between men and women are well portrayed within socio-economic differences and cultural dictates, expectations, opportunities for education, employment including apprenticeships, and social norms. A beautifully written, captivating story with hardship, sacrifice, courage, resilience, and love.… (más)

I almost didn't read this book, mostly because of the length and some of the subject matter was a bit disturbing. Also, I usually don't like books that use the f word or other swearing, but thankfully it was contained to a couple of bad characters, which made it realistic for the time period. I thought of "Call the Midwife" when Mavis had her baby as well as "Oliver" when the girls were in the orphanage. Overall, I think it was an okay book and didn't take it as long to read as I thought it would.… (más)

This engaging novel of love and loss in WWI may be forgiven for leaning hard on the strong arm of concidence to haul itself over the rockier portions of the plot, as it winds toward its heartbreaking conclusion.

Set initially in 2001, the story kicks off when a proposed housing development in a small English village runs into local opposition when the developer notes that the project will require the removal of a small grove of ash trees. The problem is that the grove was originally planted in 1921, as a memorial to the eight village lads who died in The Great War, and some of them still have family in the village.

Sensing the possibility of a good story, a reporter from a regional newspaper begins digging into the history of the grove, at which point the narrative begins to bounce back and forth between contemporary times and 1915, when the daughter of the local squire determines (against her father’s wishes) to go to France as a nurse, and convinces a young maid from the household to accompany her. The truly horrifying conditions they find when they arrive at the nursing convent change their lives forever, and those changes form the core of the novel. Most of the action takes place off the battlefield, focusing on young women and their families. It’s only in the last section of the novel that she takes the reader onto the battlefield itself, to view the horror through the eyes of Tom Carter, whose love for one of the women leads him to a desperate act.

Costeloe creates characters here who are engaging though clearly assigned “good guy” and “bad guy” roles, with only the mysterious Nick Potter, whose ambivalence about the development project leaves his motivations in doubt. She clearly understands the class distinctions present in England well through the WWI era, and uses them to advantage as the characters meet the challenges their choices create for them. She also includes an author’s note with an update on the “Shot at Dawn” campaign undertaken to clear the names and military records of 306 British soldiers executed by their own army during WWI for alleged desertion under fire, cowardice, or refusal to carry out orders.… (más)