Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #289132 in Books
• Published on: 1989-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

Synopsis
This fierce antiwar novel by Irene Rathbone (1892-1980) is told from the perspectives of a cultured former suffragist and several of her friends - young women who work at rest camps just behind the lines in France and as nurses of the severely wounded in hospitals in London. When Joan loses both her brother and lover to the war, she volunteers for work in a munitions plant - but by the end, she is a confirmed pacifist.

Customer Reviews

A Good Read
This book is semi-autobiographical fiction based on Irene Rathbone's experiences as a volunteer worker during the Great War. It tells of life both as a VAD nurse and as a YMCA canteen worker in France, and includes a wealth of interesting detail not found elsewhere. Her story is one of loss and grief - both she and her friends lose many loved ones during the course of the war, but it's also a tale of strong family ties and lifelong friendships. It's longer than most of its genre, and although the language is rather stilted by today's standards, the story bowls along and I found it quite a page-turner by the half-way mark. Perhaps it would have worked better as a straight memoir, but still an absorbing book for those with an interest in women's work during the First World War, and generally a good read.

Excellent social history
The writing is awful (the characters address each other as "my dear"), but for social history this is a terrific book. It shows in detail the impact of the Great War on the lives of women, but only those in the middle and upper classes, which is a pity.
Any one with an interest in the First World War should read this.