From the bestselling author of The Tuscan Child comes a beautiful and heart-rending novel of a woman’s love and sacrifice during the First World War.
As the Great War continues to take its toll, headstrong twenty-one-year-old Emily Bryce is determined to contribute to the war effort. She is convinced by a cheeky and handsome Australian pilot that she can do more, and it is not long before she falls in love with him and accepts his proposal of marriage.
When he is sent back to the front, Emily volunteers as a “land girl,” tending to the neglected grounds of a large Devonshire estate. It’s here that Emily discovers the long-forgotten journals of a medicine woman who devoted her life to her herbal garden. The journals inspire Emily, and in the wake of devastating news, they are her saving grace. Emily’s lover has not only died a hero but has left her terrified—and with child. Since no one knows that Emily was never married, she adopts the charade of a war widow.
As Emily learns more about the volatile power of healing with herbs, the found journals will bring her to the brink of disaster, but may open a path to her destiny.
Reader Reviews
“Interesting story from England during WWI. Emily Bryce is about to be 21 and really needs to feel more like an adult. She has two very protective parents who because they already have lost a son to the war are very wary of letting Emily become the grown-up she desires to be.
Everything begins to change when she visits a recovery center with her very restrictive mother. She meets a young man, Robbie Kerr, from Australia who was shot down in his plane. Emily feels a real warmth with Robbie and they look to become a couple . But when Robbie heals, he will be back off to the war.Emily realizes that it is time to break away from her restrictive parents and so she first volunteers at a recuperative center but they don’t have a place for her. And so she voluhteers as a ‘land girl’ …..someone who will work at a farm . There are many places for women doing farm work because so many men are away fighting the war. And this will turn out to be the turning point in her life.
Per usual Bowen will draw you into a fascinating story and you can ‘almost ‘ feel like you are actually there.” – Dr. Stephen M. Bank
“This is the first non-mystery book by Rhys Bowen I have read. I am a huge fan of her mysteries because I love the accessible style, her capable ability to render a historical setting and world to life and her characters. Such memorable characters.
The Victory Garden proves that Bowen can write with easy elasticity in any genre. While I found the book lacked a certain emotional depth; it was still a worthy snapshot of one woman’s experience during a time when women were seen to have much more agency ( while the men were at war) and yet little ability to decide their own fate at all. It is in the crux of this double standard we find Emily, a 21 year old who works as a land girl and back breakingly does her bit for the war effort even while mourning the soldier she loved and lost.
It is the female friendships and sphere that rounded out Bowen’s usual talent for character and I was impressed by how quickly I fell into their world, their quirks and dialogue.
This is not so much a romance between a woman and a man; rather a woman and possibilities when all seems hopeless and uncertain and the makeshift community she becomes a part of.” – Rachel McMillan, Reviewer
“It’s May of 1918 in Devonshire, England, WWI has been raging for almost 4 years and Emily Bryce is about to celebrate her twenty-first birthday. She is also about to celebrate her independence and become her own person. Her family has suffered the hardships of war, having lost their only son and brother to Emily, Freddie. Now with only one child, both parents have sheltered and over protected their daughter, her mother only wanting to have Emily marry “well.” Yet in one instant moment, that is all about to change and Emily’s life will never be the same again.
Bored with the tedium of life that is her everyday existence and wanting to do her part for England, Emily signs up to become a land girl, working on farms that no longer have the man power necessary to harvest and supply food for the country. Yet that is not all that she encounters, as she has fallen in love with a “fly boy” from Australia, a young man that captures her heart.
This book is well written, it shares the value of friendship when the world is being torn apart. As you follow along, you see the rise of independent women, those who now can stand on their own two feet, not only because they have no choice, but with the end of WWI times had changed, values that were once “tried and true” were no longer being adhered to.
With heartwarming and memorable characters, “The Victory Garden” was an enjoyable read. I read this book in one day, because once I started I had to finish it, I couldn’t put it down. I only wish this would be book one as part of a series.” – Artisan Writing Blog
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About the Author:
Rhys Bowen is the New York Times Bestselling Author of the Royal Spyness Series, Molly Murphy Mysteries, and Constable Evans. She has won the Agatha Best Novel Award and has been nominated for the Edgar Best Novel. Rhys’s titles have received rave reviews around the globe.
On March 1, 2017, Rhys is excited to announce the publication of her first big stand-alone thriller, In Farleigh Field, set in World War Two at an English stately home. It has already received stellar reviews.
Rhys currently writes two mystery series, the atmospheric Molly Murphy novels, about a feisty Irish immigrant in 1900s New York City, and the funny and sexy Royal Spyness mysteries, about a penniless minor royal in 1930s Britain. Her books have made bestseller lists, garnered many awards, nominations, and starred reviews. She was born in England and married into a family with historic royal connections. She now divides her time between California and Arizona.
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