long but persevered ! ( )

A vivid historical novel tracks a feverish love triage/mystery across the battlefields of the Crimean war. ( )

We enjoyed the middle of this book the most! (We had problems with the beginning - Mariella not likeable, beginning rather strung out) and the end (loose ends not tied up) but despite this, our overall impression was that we enjoyed it. The nursing/medical information was interesting, the nature of women's lives in the 19th cent... Two of us would recommend this book, two of us wouldn't! ( )

This is a romance story set in the crimean war with a particular interest in looking at the changes in medicine and nursing during this period of history. I found it hard to identify with any of the characters in this book and did not feel for them, which made it hard to really enjoy the story. I did find the medicine parts interesting though. ( )

This turned out to be a very disappointing book. There were so many elements that should have made it work from its rich historical setting, to the war going on and the general human dynamics that were taking place. But it fell short in both plot, execution and will win prizes for unsatisfying endings if they give out such awards.

Mariella is the quiet and dutiful daughter who is the complete opposite of her cousin Rosa who she spends a very memorable summer with when they were little girls. It is their lifelong friendship and devotion to each other that sets the basis of this book. With the 1854 Crimean war in full swing, Rosa and Mariella's fiance, Henry, set off to do their part in the war effort. Though Mariella remains home that will soon change due to the illness of her fiance and Rosa going missing. Mariella sets off in search of both and supposedly discovers a strength that she never knew she had in being able to withstand the rigors of war and the grief of loss.

The author managed to create characters who were hard to relate to or truly like. Rosa is held up as this revolutionary who wants to change the face of nursing, one woman at a time. I have to say that I personally could not stand her and her know it all attitude and quite frankly found her to be reckless and dangerous. Her idealism while admirable in the beginning was annoying after awhile. She wanted the whole world to adopt her notions of how things should play out and when that did not happen, she lost patience and moved on. I found Mariella's journey into a war torn region to find her cousin to be so unrealistic that it was almost funny. It would be one thing to have a man going into the war zone to find his loved one but a young woman doing same armed only with her maid is just ridiculous and unrealistic. And please lets not even mention the smug, I-am-so-great-cause-I am-a-doctor, Henry. What a piece of work he turned out to be. The only character I ended up liking was Max Stukeley and he was not even a major character.

The ending was just as bizarre as the rest if the story. I thought I had bought a copy that lost its last chapter and had to go online to make sure of the number of pages in order for me to know that that was indeed the end. It was abrupt and felt like the author had stepped away to get a glass of water and her publisher came in and stole the manuscript before she could conclude. The writing was good but the unlikable characters made the book feel like a chore and by the end I was racing to the end so it could be over and I could read something else. ( )