First of all I have to say I was a MASSIVE fan of All the things a bright girl can do so expected the same calibre of writing – and I wasn’t disappointed. Set at the first Christmas after the Great War when soldiers were returning home after being battel-scared by their years in service, life in the village is adjusting to a new normal. For Margot, who is home from Durham where she is learning to be a typist, she doesn’t really know what it is to be normal. Her sweetheart, Harry was missing in action during the war but by some miracle he returned. But with his return Margot has to make a decision as to whether she should let him know a secret that she has kept from him for over two years. This book beautifully conveys what life must have been like in the post First World War years with a shadow of the nearly forgotten Victorian ways with an essence of Victorian sensibilities. Women had a very specific role which needed to be done in a very specific order: your trained, went courting, got married and have a family. The order must not be changed otherwise dishonour would befall your whole family. And for Margot she struggles through this Christmas period addressing the order of life and, as she moves from childhood to adulthood, she finds that the careful balance of her emotions and her relationship with her vicarage family could so easily be thrown into turmoil. This book addresses so many issues which were taboo in the period but Nicholls handles them with sensitivity and grace which leaves the reader with a ray of hope and calm. I would heartily recommend reading this book – particularly if you have already read books about the First World War. There are not many books that address the aftermath and the strange new world that emerged in the Post Wartime era. Age recommendation 14+
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