I\’m thrilled, gratified, satisfied and generally chuffed to bits with this latest review. Yes, I\’m grateful for 5 stars but more than that, this reader really got what motivated me to write this story. It was an ambitious aim – to show how country life in the depths of Wiltshire was irrevocably changed by this massive war. How no family, high or low born, was untouched. How life was tough for the working classes and how the gaps between them and their employers narrowed through the crisis caused by global conflict. THis is an intelligent review by a thoughtful reader.
Here it is:
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Daffodils is set in the time of World War 1. At the beginning, the heroine, Katy Beagle, attracts the attention of the son of the big house where she works as a maid. It seems the story will follow a well-trodden path from here but instead Charles goes off to war and Katy\’s childhood sweetheart, Jem, stands by her. They marry and have a daughter. I won\’t give away any more of the plot, suffice to say that life and the Great War have many bitter blows to deal Katy and Jem, as well as happy times.
Alex Martin has clearly done her research and she uses it skilfully. For me one of the great strengths of the novel is the way it brings out how at first the war seemed far removed from the concerns of the insular, parochial life of an English village in Edwardian days. As time went by, however, the juggernaut of war broke down the protective barriers of lives that had changed little in hundreds of years. It is also interesting to see how much the horrors and sacrifices of the war led the lower social orders to question and doubt the time-honoured authority of their \’betters\’. The scenes in France are particularly good in this respect.
I enjoyed The Twisted Vine, Alex Martin\’s previous romantic novel. In Daffodils, she has taken on a much more challenging subject and made a very good job of it. It will be interesting to see what she tackles next.
Alex Martin has clearly done her research and she uses it skilfully. For me one of the great strengths of the novel is the way it brings out how at first the war seemed far removed from the concerns of the insular, parochial life of an English village in Edwardian days. As time went by, however, the juggernaut of war broke down the protective barriers of lives that had changed little in hundreds of years. It is also interesting to see how much the horrors and sacrifices of the war led the lower social orders to question and doubt the time-honoured authority of their \’betters\’. The scenes in France are particularly good in this respect.
I enjoyed The Twisted Vine, Alex Martin\’s previous romantic novel. In Daffodils, she has taken on a much more challenging subject and made a very good job of it. It will be interesting to see what she tackles next.
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