Dear Reader,
Thank you for taking this journey with me, I hope very much that you enjoyed Ella’s story – the second in The Girls Who Went to War series.
My research for the series took many turns. I visited the Somme and Dieppe, where I trod the path of many of the theatres of war, and the huge cemeteries tore at my heart, as did coming across many small but unforgotten ones, holding the men who were buried where they fell. All are beautifully kept, with the lines of gravestones giving you a sense of the enormity of the suffering that prevailed. Most were inscribed with the names and very young ages of those who had fallen, but some simply read: Soldier known only to God. These gave me a deeper sadness.
But whilst we will be forever grateful to the millions of young men who gave their lives, we also celebrate the courage of the young women, too: many took on the work at home that men were used to doing, and others showed extreme bravery as they went abroad to nurse the fallen and give comfort to the dying.
For my research into the work of these nurses and the lives of the Voluntary Aid Deployment workers, I found a wealth of information in the book Women in the War Zone by Anne Powell, which I purchased in the Musée Somme 1916 in Albert (pronounced ‘Albear’). The book is a wonderful true account of many of the nurses and young doctors who served in World War I.
I also trawled the internet and there I found a story that gave me the beginning of the series: the diary of Miss Esmee Sartorius, a nurse who took the journey to Brussels that Flora, Mags and Ella take. It can be found at http://www.firstworldwar.com/diaries/august1914.htm and is a story that fills you with admiration. Esmee’s experiences are also published in Everyman at War by Charles Benjamin Purdom (1930) – a book I have promised myself for Christmas.
The first book in the series, The Forgotten Daughter, tells the story of Flora, Ella and Mags: how they met and formed a deep friendship; their extreme bravery when trapped in Brussels behind enemy lines; how they coped with running a hospital that had been abandoned; and how they made their daring escape when all the patients had been despatched. It then goes on to tell Flora’s story as Ella goes to France to continue nursing and Mags, the most damaged of the three girls, goes home to her family. Flora’s story is a love story with a difference as she is banished from her home and her fortunes wane, leaving her to face betrayal, incest and the deaths of some of those she loves most. If you missed this one, don’t worry as all of the books stand alone. You can purchase a copy at any good bookshop or online.
The third in the series, The Wronged Daughter, tells Mags’s story. It begins from her parting with Flora and takes us on her journey through changes in her life that have far-reaching consequences. The only child of a mill owner in Blackburn and Darwen, Mags is treated more like a son. She is taken into the family business and loves everything about the cotton industry, showing great talent and business acumen. However, for a woman of her time, life isn’t easy, especially when she falls in love with Flora’s ambitious, ruthless brother Harold. But Mags has a friend in Betsy, a salt-of-the-earth northern girl who, despite her own troubles, refuses to let Mags fall. This is a story of betrayal and hardship, but also of friendship and ultimate happiness. It is due to be published in Winter 2019.
However, the girls’ story doesn’t end there, as the tragedy of the first half of the twentieth century saw the world flare into another conflict, far greater in its impact on the lives and infrastructure of the home front of Great Britain.
A follow-on book, with a working title of The Courageous Daughters, is planned. This is the time of the sons and daughters of Flora, Mags and Ella, a war that will pit sibling against sibling and break hearts and lives as Flora’s and Ella’s children, brought up in what is to become Vichy – the so-called free France – and Mags’s child, brought up in Blackburn, England, take different sides in the conflict. It is set to be published in Spring 2020.
If you enjoyed this book, do keep the others in mind for future reading, but also visit my website to learn more about my books and me: www.authormarywood.com.
And/or, join me on Facebook. My page www.facebook.com/HistoricalNovels is a lively interaction with my readers, with laughter and love in abundance, as well as all the latest book news, competitions and guest authors. I would love to see you there.
Much love to all, Mary x