Product Description

Russia, 1854: the Crimean War grinds on, and as the bitter winter draws near, the battlefield hospitals fill with dying men. In defiance of Florence Nightingale, Rosa Barr - young, headstrong and beautiful - travels to Balaklava, determined to save as many of the wounded as she can. For Mariella Lingwood, Rosa's cousin, the war is contained within the pages of her scrapbook, in her London sewing circle, and in the letters she receives from Henry, her fiance, a celebrated surgeon who has also volunteered to work within the shadow of the guns. When Henry falls ill and is sent to recuperate in Italy, Mariella impulsively decides she must go to him. But upon their arrival at his lodgings, she and her maid make a heartbreaking discovery: Rosa has disappeared. Following the trail of her elusive and captivating cousin, Mariella's epic journey takes her from the domestic restraint of Victorian London to the ravaged landscape of the Crimea and the tragic city of Sebastopol. As she ventures deeper into the dark heart of the conflict, Mariella's ordered world begins to crumble and she finds she has much to learn about secrecy, faithfulness and love.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2086 in Books
• Published on: 2007-12-27
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Review
"absorbing" (My Weekly )

"Brilliant... if you like Jane Austen, you'll probably like this. It's beautifully written" (Amanda Ross )

Synopsis
Russia, 1854: the Crimean War grinds on, and as the bitter winter draws near, the battlefield hospitals fill with dying men. In defiance of Florence Nightingale, Rosa Barr - young, headstrong and beautiful - travels to Balaklava, determined to save as many of the wounded as she can. For Mariella Lingwood, Rosa's cousin, the war is contained within the pages of her scrapbook, in her London sewing circle, and in the letters she receives from Henry, her fiance, a celebrated surgeon who has also volunteered to work within the shadow of the guns. When Henry falls ill and is sent to recuperate in Italy, Mariella impulsively decides she must go to him. But upon their arrival at his lodgings, she and her maid make a heartbreaking discovery: Rosa has disappeared. Following the trail of her elusive and captivating cousin, Mariella's epic journey takes her from the domestic restraint of Victorian London to the ravaged landscape of the Crimea and the tragic city of Sebastopol. As she ventures deeper into the dark heart of the conflict, Mariella's ordered world begins to crumble and she finds she has much to learn about secrecy, faithfulness and love.

About the Author
Katharine McMahon is the author of five novels. She has taught in secondary schools, performed in local theatre and worked as a Royal Literary Fund fellow teaching writing skills at the Universities of Hertfordshire and Warwick. She lives in Hertfordshire.

Customer Reviews

Captivating.
This book is a lovely read even though it takes place during the crimean war. I bought this book because of it's reviews but i didn't realise just how good it would be. Mariellas relationship with rose is like one of two young lovers at first they become great friends but once seperated they realise just how much they love eachother. i'm 16 and this is really my first step into adult fiction and what a step! i'm so glad i chose this as the book to help with that transition since reading this book i haven't read anything other than adult fiction. very highly recommended.
i felt i came of age with mariella in a way.The Outcast

Mariella
Although this is an excellent read and, as far as one can tell, both historically and geographically well-researched, I found Mariella one of the most irritating heroines I have ever come across. I understand her protected upbringing and the limitations of women of that era but she is such a weak character that I continually wanted to slap her. Perhaps if it had been written in the third person she would have been more acceptable. As it stands, she almost appears to be proud of her lack of spirit.

Beautifully written but very slow
The story started out promisingly enough but moved at a snail's pace and towards the middle of the novel I was forcing myself to continue. I didn't really warm to the character of dull-as-ditchwater Mariella and I found her to be boring and aimless and even all her efforts in the midst of the action in Crimea did nothing to redeem her to me.

Having said that, I found some parts of the book to be beautifully written. Contrary to the opinion of most of the reviewers, the ending was the best part for me. I didn't feel that there was anything unanswered and I didn't want everything spelled out after that as it seemed obvious enough. The last chapter was particularly poignant and everything about Rosa's strongly passionate character seemed to fall into place in the last scene.