Blooms Of War by Suzanne Tierney is a historical fiction book set in World War One. I do love my history, and was really quite excited to read this.
Vera Betts is the main character and she is quite an intriguing woman. For a start, Vera is not even her name nor is Betts her surname. She is a woman from a well-to-do family and if it ever became common knowledge that she was doing what she does, it would cause no end of trouble with her family. Another thing about her is that she has gone into nursing. No problem we say, well maybe if she had trained yes, but she has told a few white lies on the way. Vera does throw herself into it and cares about her job and the patients she looks after, some a little too much.
After the war, Vera returns to her normal life, once again with her real name and her family. These times see her unable to adapt back to her life and she is struggling. There was a doctor she fell in love with while at war and events happen that may affect her and does affect him. These are serious events and Vera has to decide how to find the truth.
I was swept into the story from the start and Suzanne has definitely researched her time period in detail. I did study the first world war at A-Level, so know quite a bit about it, and the horrific conditions and injuries at the front. Her level of detail of injuries was, to say the least, as horrifying as if I had been present.
An excellent depiction of the time and a great storyline as well with characters that were really fleshed out and real in my mind. I would definitely recommend this if you enjoy historical fiction like myself.
Thanks go to Rachel’s Random Resources and Suzanne Tierney for the copy of the book for the blog tour.
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