The Victory Garden: A Novel

It is now no surprise to me at all why this novel and author have received so many awards for an outstanding literary work of historical fiction. From the moment I started the first chapter I did not want to stop reading. Soon I was praying for a sequel so I could continue to live with the characters who were so precisely drawn through their physical and psychological descriptions. It was so interesting to me, an American woman in 2024, to delve into the lives of these women living through what they thought was “the war to end all wars”. Their positions in society, and the constraints from those positions was clearly shown. Human emotions are also the same whenever in time. And oh! the wealth of information about herbs and homeopathic medicine is just as valid now as then. What a worthwhile novel in all ways! So glad I didn’t miss it. That being said, I’ll be reading more from Rhys Bowen while being ever so grateful for her writing.

This is a charming and engrossing book which, despite my being very busy, I gobbled it up in a few sittings. Historically, it was interesting to me, because I knew nothing about the Land Girls in WWI. I’d heard about the nurses, therapists, etc., but I’d never heard of the Land Girls despite the incredibly valuable role they played in England during the war. The story is quite engrossing and you will hate to put it down because the trials and tribulations of the main character and her friends are so interesting and believable. I had just gone through all of Rhys Bowen’s “Her Royal Spyness” series and was sad that the next one doesn’t come out for several months, so I decided to explore her other works. I’m so glad I did, because this was a delight to read. I highly recommend this book as well as all of the “Her Royal Spyness” books. Now, I’m going to find some more of her works, which I suspect I will be recommending too.