A Generation of Poppies

When Saga Hillbom contacted me and asked if I wanted to read her novel I felt so incredibly honored. Authors are a unique breed, I love reading but honestly do not think I would ever be able to do what they do. As her second edition is coming out on September 1st Saga sent me her novel "A Generation of Poppies". 

This novel follows Rosalie a young Englishwoman who volunteers to be a nurse during the first world war. And Charles a college age Frenchman drafted into service at the same time. Rosalie and Charles meet at a military hospital in France where Rosalie has been assigned and are instantly drawn to each other. However Rosalie is engaged to a childhood friend and Charles must return to the front upon recovery. Their paths are not complete however when Charles is in a recuperation center that Rosalie has been transferred to. It is there that their affair begins. I say affair because of the time period, Rosalie's husband has since passed and in modern day no one would bat an eye at their relationship. Once again Charles returns to the front, only this time Rosalie and he write to each other, until he is captured and they lose touch. After the war they both go their separate ways. Rosalie believes Charles no longer wants anything to do with her or is dead. Charles is shattered and wants nothing more to go home. Finally Charles recalls the name of Rosalie's brother and a mutual friend who had been in the same airforce regiment as him and upon locating Rosalie's family address writes and asks of her whereabouts. Only to discover she has traveled to Paris and is therefore in the same city as him. Their affair begins again much to the chagrin of Charles' family. 

I have read several historical novels based in Europe during war time. However all the ones I have read to this point are centered around world war two. The more prolific of the wars given the horrors it contained. This novel made me realize that though I'm sure I learned about it in school, I know little to nothing about the first world war, why it started etc etc. Maybe it's just me, but I have certain periods of history I get mildly obsessed with and read several books both fiction and a few memoirs about. World War II is one, Henry the VIII is another (He was such a hoe its entertaining), I also used to read a lot about the civil war though that fascination has died down. Now I want to read all the books I can find based in the first world war because I am now curious and must know. 

Back to the book however. Rosalie was definitely relatable. In one way she is before her time, wanting her independence and to help as many women of her generation did but also having the guts to go after it. On the other she is still clinging the traditional beliefs, that to marry and have children is her sole purpose in life. Can I say how glad I am that she became disillusioned with that idea pretty quickly in the book? I get very fed up very quickly with women who genuinely believe that is a woman's place. Nothing against women that choose to stay home and do just that. But it irks me that some women still cling to the idea that it is their place. I'll make my husband a sandwich every time he asks, but if he ever expected that, that was my purpose in life I'd lose my shit. To me it's a matter of choice. So many women fought for so long to have that choice. Does it make one choice better than another? No, you can go work, you can stay home, raise a family, don't have a family. As long as it is what you want and what fulfills you then I will never say a bad word about it. You can tell that Rosalie does not want that life, I'm not saying she never wants a family but it is obvious as we read her thoughts that she knows that is what is expected of her and she reluctantly complies. She never wanted to marry Harry, she said yes because if she had to get married he wasn't a bad choice and she felt bad saying no as he was headed off to war. 

I also appreciated the subtle inclusion of LGBTQ characters in the novel. So often in historical novels they are left out even though we know they were there, their stories aren't mentioned, even in brief side characters. What I especially loved were Rosalie and Charles' separate reactions on the matter. 

When Charles' discovers one of his men is gay, it doesn't matter to him. Firstly I think because Charles' has a good character and is not that petty and stuck in tradition. Secondly as Charles' put it himself there was so much devastation going on, why should he begrudge someone having their beloved near. For me it was shocking that in the trenches, when they might not live to see the next hour some officer still gave a damn about the sexuality of one of his soldiers. I suppose he was merely a product of his time and it fully fits to the story but I still found it grating.

I will admit I was totally thrown by Isabel, I thought Fred was gay. With the way he was speaking of his friend in the air force I 1000% thought that he was in love with him...my bad, or maybe he is and hasn't admitted it to himself and that's why he's so angry with Isabel....I really need to stop overthinking the characters past their story. I loved Rosalie's response, she basically told her brother "and?" she didn't care if anything it helped her understand her sister better. 

You don't find out the meaning of the title until the epilogue, but not only is the title beautiful it is significant. As Charles and Rose stand on a field in Ypres years later after even the second world war and while they are not sure if it is the exact spot Charles reminisces over the men he lost in the trenches back in the war and says "'We are a generation of poppies, Rose, ploughed down and ground to sticky red dust.'" This is probably the most beautiful and sad line of the entire book to me. They are a generation of poppies because so many are buried in unmarked graves beneath fields of poppies as though they had never been. 

This novel was intense but I enjoyed it immensely. Sometimes I worry my fascination with certain parts of history and the stories around them is morbid. But really I'm drawn to it for the displays of strength and true character people show in the face of such awful events. 

If you like historical fiction that is based on real events then check out the second edition being released September 1st of this year.