March 12, 2021
Kew Gardens in London is one of the largest and most diverse botanical collections in the world. When many of London's men were off fighting in the First World War, women stepped in to keep the historic gardens running. British author Kerry Barrett (The Secret Letter), writing as "Posy Lovell," imagines the stories of a few women who enlist as gardeners. Louisa and Ivy bond over a shared love of gardening, as well as their work with the suffragists. Bernie, one of the few men still working at the gardens, becomes fast friends with Ivy and Louisa, and the three of them find a sense of purpose and joy working there. The characters face many serious problems, including unequal pay, conscription, abuse, and being pregnant and unwed, but all of these are quickly and easily resolved, making the story feel simplistic and unrealistic. VERDICT Readers looking for a simple, unchallenging, pleasant story may enjoy this quick read, but those looking for a story with more depth would do better with one of the many other novels about women during wartime, such as Helen Simonson's The Summer Before the War or Jennifer Ryan's The Chilbury Ladies'Choir.--Melissa Stoeger, Deerfield P.L., IL
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March 15, 2021
When men across England are called up to fight in WWI, London's Kew Gardens, like so many other home-front enterprises, hires women to take their places. Three suffragettes from different sectors of society join the staff, hiding their suffragette leanings from the foreman, who is still angry about the suffragettes who had burned the gardens' tea pavilion two years before. Ivy is an illiterate teen from Hackney, childhood friend of Jim, already on staff; Louisa is a farm girl from Kent, hiding from her abusive husband; and Lady Winifred ("Win") Ramsay is trying to keep busy while her husband is at sea with the Dover Patrol. Joining them is Bernie Yorke, a former schoolteacher and a Quaker. Although still ardent feminists, the women question the movement's branding of conscientious objectors. As the Great War begins exacting its toll, the women overcome their class and political prejudices to help each other. Flourishing under their care, the gardens bind the group together and nurture them all in this endearing slice of wartime life, which is base on real-life events.
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