"A compelling post-WWI story from hurts and disappointments to healing and fresh starts!"
Reviewed by Audrey Lawrence
Posted March 13, 2015
Fiction
The First World War - the War to end all wars is over.
The
war Englishmen had eagerly signed up to fight in thinking
it
would be over by 1914 summer's end is finally over. It is
now 1919 and the party is definitely over. Four long
years
of hardship, millions of men killed or injured and women
entering the labour force like never before and expertly
doing jobs they had never dreamed they would be doing.
Much has changed during the war and the rigid English
class
structure significantly altered, but its centuries old
bones
still are fully fossilized in place. Yet now, after
leaving her job as a nurse in a hospital for soldiers
suffering from Neurasthenia (or what is now referred to as
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and returning to her job
at Miss Rathbone's constituency office in Liverpool, it
seems to Charlotte Brown as if nothing had changed and
things are worse. Life is still full of hardship. Women
across the country have been quietly told to leave or have
been kicked out of jobs they desperately need or enjoy
doing
to give work to returning veterans. Even at that, many
badly injured soldier are begging on street corners or
committing suicide.
Things had been so different before the war. After
graduating with her degree and not finding the work she
wants, Charlotte encounters another Oxford scholar with a
smile that captures her heart. Edward offers her a job as
governess for his sister, Lily. Charlotte is exactly the
kind of intelligent and independent woman he would like
his
sister to become. Now, after so many years and changes,
can
Charlotte come to terms with her feelings for him? Will
Edward recover from the physical and mental wounds from
his
horrible war experiences? Will the chasm of class and
wealth
remain a barrier to their friendship?
Charlotte endures more than her share of disappointments,
yet, from the unfortunate clients she works with, she
knows
how well off she is. Her heart burns with compassionate
for
their situations and she can't help but speak out on the
social injustices she sees daily. As her work brings her
in
contact with a young and good looking editor of a radical
newspaper, she will soon have to make choices about her
future. What path should she take?
AFTER THE WAR IS OVER is written by Jennifer Robson, the
international bestselling author of Somewhere in France
and
picks up on the lives of Charlotte Brown and that of
Edward
Neville-Ashford, Earl of Cumberland. While both books can
be read as independent stories, reading Somewhere in
France
first provides a greater backdrop to the war, its horrors
and class attitudes, this making AFTER THE WAR IS OVER a
much richer historical and reading experience.
I am greatly taken with how Robson totally draws me into
the
starkness of the post-WWI times. Her narration of the
story
and authentic descriptions of the times seems as if she
was
there in person. Robson's vocabulary and description of
the
class attitudes, language, and customs brings alive every
nuance and gesture from the cutting glance of an
aristocratic matron to the anger of a proud man stripped
of
everything and unable to support his family from starving.
Robson is particularly effective at recreating the
feelings
and reactions from those suffering PTSD to those dealing
with them.
Robson has an impressive background to draw upon from
being
a Vimy Ridge tour guide, to having a doctorate from Oxford
in British economy and social history as well as
considerable access to her father, the acclaimed historian
Stuart Robson and his WWI expertise. Jennifer Robson's
talent shines in turning this wealth of information and
experiences to making AFTER THE WAR IS OVER such an
insightful and very readable story. A book that history
fans will relish with delight!
In addition to Robson's skills in providing an authentic
context of the times, she excels at character development,
both with main and secondary characters and uses the both
the situations of Charlotte and her friends to highlight
restrictions imposed on women by society and themselves.
This complexity is well reflected in Charlotte from being
raised by a vicar and his wife to being Lily's governess.
From those influences, Charlotte retains many conservative
inhibitions, such as not liking modern bathing suits; yet,
her work experiences fuels her radical views for social
justice.
All in all, AFTER THE WAR IS OVER is definitely worthy of
reading by those liking history or pre to post WWI era
fiction. I also highly recommend it for book clubs
(Resources and Reading Guide included) for lively
discussions. Enjoy!
SUMMARY
The International bestselling author of Somewhere in
France
returns with her sweeping second novel—a tale of class,
love, and freedom—in which a young woman must find her
place
in a world forever changed. After four years as a military nurse, Charlotte Brown is
ready to leave behind the devastation of the Great War.
The
daughter of a vicar, she has always been determined to
dedicate her life to helping others. Moving to busy
Liverpool, she throws herself into her work with those
most
in need, only tearing herself away for the lively dinners
she enjoys with the women at her boarding house. Just as Charlotte begins to settle into her new
circumstances, two messages arrive that will change her
life. One, from a radical young newspaper editor, offers
her
a chance to speak out for those who cannot. The other
pulls
her back to her past, and to a man she has tried, and
failed, to forget. Edward Neville-Ashford, her former employer and the
brother
of Charlotte’s dearest friend, is now the new Earl of
Cumberland—and a shadow of the man he once was. Yet under
his battle wounds and haunted eyes Charlotte sees glimpses
of the charming boy who long ago claimed her foolish
heart.
She wants to help him, but dare she risk her future for a
man who can never be hers? As Britain seethes with unrest and post-war euphoria
flattens into bitter disappointment, Charlotte must
confront
long-held insecurities to find her true voice . . . and
the
courage to decide if the life she has created is the one
she
truly wants.
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