Sunday 31 July 2016

Sunday WW1 Remembered



As part of my ongoing tribute during this centenary of WW1, I am delighted to feature the work of some excellent authors who have written about The Great War.



29477472

2016



A bit of blurb..

Rose rivals her beautiful, mercurial sister for Michael’s love but calculated lies and misunderstandings alter the young peoples’ course. War breaks and Michael is as eager as the others to go.
Maybe Rose will settle for second best with Thom even though she cannot get Michael out of her soul.
Does a man need the grace of serenity to rediscover his own or is it frivolity and seduction he craves when he has been through the darkest places of war? Michael’s experiences in the trenches gradually alter his grace of serenity to rediscover his own or is it frivolity and seduction he craves when he has been through the darkest places of grace of serenity to rediscover his own or is it frivolity and seduction he craves when he has been through the darkest places of war?
This is a story of deceit and loyalties, complex relationships and love developing from youth to adulthood during a cataclysmic time in history. With mixed up ideas of duty and loyalty can love survive?


My thoughts..

The story opens in Northern England in 1912 where we are introduced to Rose, Delphi and Iris Stone. Three sisters living their lives in gentle splendour, their only excitement comes from their tentative friendship with local boy, Michael Redfern, who is the son of the local department store owner. The girls are typical of their era, sheltered, polite and mainly without ambition, with the exception of Rose, who, with her bright mind and inquiring ways, wants to study at Oxford University.

All is comfortable in the Stone family, Rose gets her wish to study, until the rumblings in Europe start to rear their ugly head and before too long 1914 is upon them and the country is at war with Germany. Like so many brave young men, Michael Redfern enlists and is sent with a Manchester pals regiment to northern France where he, along with thousands of other brave soldiers, face the horrific consequences of trench warfare.

With impeccable research, Flowers of Flanders captures the essence of the First World War, in a well written and absorbing look at what life was like, both for those fighting on the western front, and also for those who were left behind at home, often with no news, or receiving heavily censored letters, which didn't share the true horrors of what was actually happening. It explains the uncertainty of relationships which were conducted in the shadow of war and about the bravado of young men who had little to celebrate and who relished news from home, any snippet of ordinary life, which would give colour to the grey mud of Flanders.

Flowers of Flanders is a poignant story about a group of young people growing up, falling in love, making heroic gestures all within the shadows of war and as it’s the first book in a proposed trilogy I feel that the author has set the scene really well, and nicely concludes the story with enough scope for there to be a worthy continuation.




Best read with...Eggs, fried bread and bacon with bucket loads of tea..



About the Author

Ros writes both historical sagas and contemporary romance and is is a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association and the Historical Novelists' Society. Flowers of Flanders is her third book. and the first book in 'The Strong Sisters' Trilogy

















Find Ros on Facebook 
Follow on Twitter @ros_rendle

Ros was recently my guest on Jaffareadtoo. Read her guest post here.

Amazon UK





Huge thanks to Ros for sharing Flowers of Flanders with me.



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2 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for your comments and positive feedback. It was a story that, for me, needed to be written. I am half way through writing Delphi and her Daughter now.
    Your Sunday feature of WW1 writing of stories, poetry and music has been fascinating. Thanks for the opportunity to be part of such a great blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You're always a very welcome guest on my blog, Ros and thank you for your support of my WW1 feature.
      Will look forward to reading book 2 in the trilogy, and I hope you'll come back and talk to us about it.

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Thanks for taking the time to comment - Jaffareadstoo appreciates your interest.