Woodbine has its first review and I\’m thrilled to report it has gained 5 Stars. It\’s a comprehensively written review and contains no spoilers.
Here\’s the review:
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 April 2020
I very much enjoyed the Katherine Wheel series, following the fates of Katy Phipps and Cassandra
Flintock Smythe at Cheadle Manor through the early decades of the 20th century, so I was delighted
to find that the story continues into the next generation, with Woodbine, focussing on Katy’s son Al
and Cassandra’s daughters, Lottie and Isobel. A triangle involving two young women and one
young man is bound to spell trouble at any time, but the drama in this case is quadrupled
by the setting of World War II. Family and friends are divided by internal disappointments and shocks,
but then they are divided even more by war, with Lottie marooned in occupied France, Al determined
to fly and Isobel joining the land army. The feel of the times is brilliantly conveyed, in the interminable
boredom of waiting, the moments of panic and the shock of real and sometimes horrific action, all
uncomfortably realistic. All aspects of the story are gripping, with Lottie especially emerging as a
heroine in heart-stopping scenarios, but we are left at the height of the war, so I desperately await
the next volume.
www.intheplottingshed.com 