The Poppy Field: A gripping and emotional World War One historical romance

As a retired nurse the story of two nurses from differing decades captured my attention. I enjoyed the flow of the two story-lines, one in present day and one in WW1. We learn of the anguish the Great War brought to many, and of how members of our present day forces suffer, too. Emotional and physical pain is written about both sets of couples, and the years between the stories are nothing; love is love. The strength of both women dealing with their past, present and facing unknown futures are what kept me turning the pages of this lovely historical romance.

The Poppy FieldsAuthor Debroah CarPublisher Harper CollinsThis book is set in ww1 in the battlefields of the Somme, also in 2018,It is the story of a volunteer nurse from Jersey in the Chanel Islands who is posted to the Somme.The story is also of Gemma in 2018 who is also a nurse needing to escape from her NHS traumatic job which is in turmoil and atragic relationship.She volunteers to renovate a farm house in France near to the battlefields of the Somme for her her father.This turns of to be more than she bargained for. During the renovations letters were discovered hidden in the farmhouse it turns out to be that her Aunty Alice Le Breton once lived at the farmhouse.This is a story of WW1 romance compared to the modern day challenges.The story is very well written and I enjoyed it immensely.It is well worth a read.

I enjoyed reading this novel. I know this part of France relatively well, as well as the history of the First World War. I thought the author depicted the hardships suffered by the soldiers and the stress endured by the medical staff vividly! It seems to be a common theme these days to tell two parallel stories but in this novel it was successful. The characters came alive. In fact my only criticism relates to the occasional inaccurate use of the French language. As a French speaker that was bound to annoy me.

I read this book with tears in my eyes. It was so emotional. I couldn't put it down. Learning how those poor men suffered so much in the WW1. Reading about Alice and Ed's love was the most moving part of the story. Their love drew you in to travel along their road. Unfortunately the story didn't end as I would have liked for them to be together but their love lived on.Dropping in and out of the modern day. Love developing amongst the young soldier and the young girl just like in the WW1. I would recommend this to all.

I always love a parallel story. It was a shame that it hadn't been proofread properly, the characters in the different time zones got confused towards the end, and there were a couple of other confusions. At one point the chapter heading said 'December 1916' and then went on to indicate within the first couple of pages that the war had been going on for 3 years! A little pedantic but if you're writing about historical events it's nice if they're correct. On the whole though a lovely story.

Deborah Carr paints a wonderful picture with just the right balance between historical fact and romantic nuance. Her characters are believable and interesting. Plot is everything and settings so real you can smell the disinfectant, hear the growl of the great guns and almost feel the splinters in the hidden spaces under the floorboards. I enjoyed 'Broken Faces.' The Poppy Field' is an exquisite find from the same stable that I am very happy to recommend.

The story has an underlying message of love and compassion shining, with a struggle, through the awfulness of the First World War. We use the poppy in remembrance. What we are remembering though is indescribably more than the act of the death of young men and women in war and in our name. That came over as unspoken but well in this book. We remember their lives and the consequences of both their lives and death and we learn from them. There is far more than that as well. We change ourselves and our futures because of remembering.One last thing for the author who mentioned Lord Kitchener.He was drowned in 1916 as the result of enemy attack. Therefore her reference to him may need a correction.

This was my first book by Deborah Carr and I very much look forward to discovering more of her books in the future.An excellent read, although it was quite emotional in places and I found having the tissues to hand useful!I enjoyed the way the story switched between current times and WW1 and Deborah did a brilliant job of brining the characters to life.Totally worthy of five stars and would definitely recommend.