This first book in the series, The Three Fry Sisters, begins in 
London shortly prior to The Great War. The girls are being 
gently raised by father Gerald Fry and mother Christina, and 
it’s hoped they will marry well, into an auction house family, 
for instance. Ominous developments are discussed at the tea 
table. LOVE IN A TIME OF WAR is never going to be plain 
sailing.

Cecelia Fry loves Max, a German lecturer in college. She takes 
his classes and wins his heart. However, he has to enrol in 
the obligatory military service. This will separate them for 
at least a year, but they can write.

Etta, the headstrong arty girl, elopes to Capri with Carlo, 
her Italian lover, because they do seem to have a talent for 
picking trouble. 

Jessie has been attending nursing classes, and her 
determination catches the attention of a Matron who nursed 
through the Boer War. She feels Jessie should enlist in the 
army as a military nurse.

The equally militant suffragettes are rallying, demanding, 
once the war begins, to be given the jobs done by men – 
drivers, engine operators, typists, farmers – to free up men 
to serve. Cecelia takes photos, like her father, who has a 
photography studio, and develops an eye for the work.
On top of all this, we get many flashbacks to Christina, at a 
similar age, living happily in Italy during the 1800s. The 
idea is to compare her life and mishaps to explain why she is 
so protective of her girls. I did find these confused the 
issues, with timeframes changing and names multiplying. The 
three sisters (two are twins) would have been enough to 
follow.

LOVE IN A TIME OF WAR becomes a traumatic story, as indicated 
by the title, so you have been warned that there will be gore, 
sudden horror, and shrapnel being removed from wounds. Don’t 
get too attached to anyone, although the fact that the series 
is named for the three sisters is a bit of a giveaway. Scenes 
include Gallipoli and Egypt, Germany, Capri and an 
unexpectedly scary London. Adrienne Chinn has done a lot of 
research and provided maybe more detail than you’d prefer to 
read. Lest we forget.