This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Kate Appleton
Coinciding, whether opportune or calculated, with the centenary of the First World War, where everything and everyone is looking back on the impact of this event, this social reflection on the lives of four women promises to be both interesting and entertaining. Unfortunately, like with many before it, the substance lacks and the characters disappoint.
Although the story circulates a friendship group of four, our attention is fundamentally drawn to Lydia. Everything in life has come easily to her, wealth, beauty and a husband of means to create a powerful match. Her husband Lawrence didn’t fight at the front therefore he’s a coward and deserves a white flower from women he passes by. This was a sad fact for the men who were forced to stay behind the front line and do other necessary war work. The redeeming feature of the story comes not from Lydia, but the men surrounding her, who criticise her attitude and the hero worship she bestows on the soldiers she comes into contact with. Quite rightly they attempt to educate her, advising there was no glory in war, however, her fanciful ideals take her down a very different path.
My favourite of the women was in fact Bea, being a plain girl she has had her idyllic dream of a comfortable life in the country with a husband and children. No grandiose life plans, but ones that have equally been scuppered by the atrocities of the war and a lost generation. Unlike Lydia, she rallies and grows as a character through the pages, a progression that is reflected in her growing friendship with the appointed feminist of the group, Ava.
There are strengths in the story that I appreciated and found interesting, largely associated with the wounded men and their imprint the war has left on them, especially with Edgar and his overwhelming anger at being duped. Men were forced to fight by ‘sex’ – women would only love them if they defended Britain, and if they didn’t they were deserters.I found the book strangely addictive, however, I confess pages were skimmed and I wasn’t left satisfied by the typical format of four friends + different problems = happy ever after. This book will do well because Parks is an accomplished writer, unfortunately, for me, the characters were weak and the ending sudden and especially slapdash.
5/10