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