Author’s Note

Though I strove to ensure this story accurately reflects the history of the period, there are no doubt a few errors made by mistake. Here, I would like to acknowledge the places where I knowingly bent the truth.

Firstly, the Earl of Wakeford and Viscountess Stanfield are entirely of my creation, as is the estate of Castle Braemore. I drew my inspiration from a number of English country houses, the dominant (and my favorite) being Castle Howard in North Yorkshire, which appears on the cover of this book.

The catalyst for Bertie’s story, the art contest put on by the Royal British Legion, is a fabrication. The British Legion is a real foundation that has been helping military veterans and their families since 1921. Because I wanted Bertie’s prize painting to be related to the war, I chose to include this charity, which was quite new at the time.

Mutism was a common symptom of shell shock, and was one of many conditions that doctors of the time were unsure how to cure. Gwen mentions that Julian’s mutism was treated with electric shocks. These types of treatments were given by Lewis Yealland, a Canadian doctor in London who was considered at the time to be the expert on treating functional sensory-motor symptoms. However, these sometimes cruel treatments were mainly given to enlisted men—records I have seen show only one officer among Yealland’s patients—so while plausible, it is perhaps unlikely that a man of Julian’s rank would have been in his care.

It would have been very unlikely that Julian and Richard would have had leave to go home the night before embarkation. I took this creative license so I could compile the family’s emotional goodbyes into a single moment.

Finally, I want to acknowledge my choice to include Anna Coleman Ladd as the sculptor who created Julian’s mask. It is estimated that over sixty thousand British soldiers suffered head and eye injuries, and London sculptor Francis Derwent Wood is credited with having raised the need for portrait masks. In 1917, he began to create masks at 3rd London General Hospital, which then became known as the “Tin Nose Shop.” When Ladd heard of Wood, she contacted him and they worked together to improve their techniques until she received permission to work in France. While it may have been easier for Julian to travel to London rather than Paris for his mask, I wanted to take the opportunity to highlight one of the many incredible women who contributed to the war effort. I felt Ladd’s story would resonate more strongly with Bertie, as it had done with me.