The Poppy Field pays homage to  WWI war veterans. Hence this book was aptly released in 2018, that marks the  100th anniversary of the end of WWI.

Written in dual timelines, readers oscillate between 2018 and 1910s through Alice Le Breton's letters. Romance aside, Deborah Carr gives readers a greater appreciation of the sacrifices made by both men and women during war times for nationalistic endeavours.

Let's be honest WWII sub-genre has to be one of the most popular sub-genres in the publication. Perhaps partly because of the stories of resilience from the Jewish Holocaust and other atrocities. Personally, I never really got into WWI fiction until after watching Wonder Woman in 2017. Mainly because one of the notions that stayed with me was WWI would be the war that ends all wars ( Ha!).

During my brief UK stint, I gathered that there was a great respect for their war veterans which I did not fully comprehend until reading a wounded soldier's delirious comment while receiving treatment on whether future generations would recall their sacrifice.

If you are in the market for a page-turner (forgive the cliche) without heavy-handed romance, then The Poppy Field is the book for you

4 and 1 / 2 stars

Gemma, originally from Guernsey but now relocated to Brighton is a trauma nurse. She is burned out on her job and taking a break. Also after a disastrous affair and an additional personal trauma, she has had enough. She tells her father that she will go to Doullens, France to oversee the renovation of an old cottage that belonged to a relative. It hasn’t been lived in for years. Doullens is near the Somme where some horrific battles were fought during WWI.

The cottage is very dilapidated and in poor repair. She is disheartened. She meets Tom in the hardware store and he agrees to come out to look at the place. He is a contractor. There is one old building that has a painted shut door. Opening it, they discover a box. In the box are letters written by Alice LeBreton, a nurse stationed in France during WWI. Alice becomes entranced with Alice’s letters and the little notes that she has written on the backs of the letters. She is immersed in Alice’s story.

Meanwhile her father wants to put the cottage up for sale, or at least rent and keeps emailing her to ask is it ready yet? Gemma has fallen in love with the place and doesn’t want to leave. She doesn’t want to go back to nursing, but she is ill-equipped to do anything else. She has become quite attached to Tom who is doing most of the renovation work.

I usually don’t read romance novels (no heaving bosoms or sculpted manly chests for this girl), but this book is so much more than that. I would class it as romance light. It is more about war and its horrible effects on both those injured and those treating the injured. The medicines available in the early 1900’s were nothing compared to what we have today. Gemma, and Tom too, were saddened to think that they could have done so much more for the soldiers if they only had…The courageous men who fought the war and the brave women who cared for them are depicted in this book in a highly skilled manner. The reader may be reading a “romance light” novel, but there is so much educating also going on that it cannot be ignored.

The writing and plotting of this book was done very well. The transitions were done well and the book was written logically and linearly. It was informative as well as being entertaining. I liked Gemma and Tom and was pleased to see Gemma learning a great deal about herself while also growing into her personality. Tom was a delight. Alice was a courageous woman with a contagious likeableness about her. I liked this book very much and look forward to reading more novels from Deborah Carr.

I want to thank Harper Collins/HarperImpulse and NetGalley for forwarding to me a copy of this wonderful book to read, enjoy and review.

The Poppy Field by Deborah Carr is super split time Historical Fiction. The story centers around two nurses, Alice serves in 1916 as a volunteer nurse in World War I France and Gemma in 2018 England. Mysterious hidden letters and a brooch are found in a house being remodeled. Vivid descriptions of scenery, people, food, and the medical care in World War I. I loved the story of the reality’s of life in both love and tragedy. Excellent writing style and flow of the story. I really enjoyed this book and hope to read more by Deborah Carr. I am also hoping to read more of Alice‘s story following World War I and more of Gemma’s story in the present. My thanks to the author, Harperimpulse and Netgalley for allowing me to read, review and enjoy this exceptional book.

What a wonderfully written gem this is! The story alternates between modern day France and WWI France. Modern day Gemma and WWI Alice find that their lives are intertwined through letters that Alice wrote. This story is both heartbreaking and full of hope and happiness.

Many thanks to netgalley and HarperCollins for this advanced readers copy.

Working in the medical field has left nurse, Gemma, with a case of PTSD. She leaves her job to help tackle the renovation of a derelict farmhouse in France. It’s in the farmhouse that Gemma finds the letters that Alice, also a nurse, wrote during World War I. Crossing back and forth from past to present, Carr pens a beautiful, heartbreaking novel of war and loss and the resilience of the human spirit