Somewhere in France: A Novel of the Great War by Jennifer Robson

          When I first saw Somewhere in France: A Novel of the Great War in the Bas Bleu catalog I immediately thought of the History Channel’s mini-series The World Wars.  The first episode of the mini-series was about World War I and I can’t tell you how many times I watched it.  While we learned about World War I in school, I don’t remember the lessons being as extensive as those for other wars.  The World Wars sparked my interest in World War I, so when I saw Somewhere in France I was intrigued.  I became especially more so when I saw the book was about a woman serving her country in the war and not a man.        

                Lady Elizabeth, more commonly referred to as Lilly, has led a privileged life.  With a title and a lot of family money she has the ability to get pretty much whatever she wants.  The problem is the one thing Lilly truly wants cannot be bought with money and her family won’t let her have it.  What Lilly wants is to be free.  She doesn’t want to get married and have her life consist of only the duties of a wife, mother, and those of an exalted status.  Lilly desires to learn and see the world.  She wants to be more than what everyone expects her to be.

                When the war breaks out, the need to become something more than her title will allow grows stronger.  She is permitted to do little tasks for the war effort, such as roll bandages, but is forbidden from doing anything on a larger scale.  Determined to do something, Lilly secretly learns how to drive while staying at one of her family’s other estates.  Unfortunately her parents find out about what she is doing and bring her back home.  They forbid her from driving and say they are going to evict the man who taught her despite his many dedicated years of service. 

                This unfairness is the final straw for Lilly.  She packs her things and leaves home.  With little to support herself, Lilly goes to live with her former governess and dear friend, Charlotte.  Lilly then gets a job as a bus conductor until her brother, Edward, visits her while he is on military leave.  He tells Lilly about the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC).  It is a corps that will send women to work behind the lines so that more men can be freed up for the front.  Lilly is excited about the idea and applies to the WAAC.  They accept her and Lilly trains to be an ambulance driver.  Happy to be of service, when the opportunity arises to help at a field hospital in France, Lilly jumps on it.  She and three of her friends travel to war where they experience things like they have never seen before.            

                During all this time, Lilly has been writing back and forth to Edward’s best friend, Robbie.  He is a surgeon working at a field hospital in France.  Lilly loves him, but due to the fact that he comes from a poor background, her family has made it clear Robbie is not “the sort” that Lilly should marry.  Of course Lilly does not care about Robbie’s background, but she does not know what her mother has done to deter Robbie from returning her affections.

                While at a ball Lilly and Robbie see each other for the first time in years.  They talk happily together until Lilly’s mother interrupts and sends Lilly away.  With Lilly gone, her mother tells Robbie that Lilly is engaged to be married.  This is a complete lie, but it keeps Robbie from pursuing Lilly.  When Lilly starts to write to him, Robbie is curious that she never mentions a fiancé, but his feelings for her have him keeping up the correspondence.  Robbie does what he can to keep the letters platonic and Lilly does the same since she thinks Robbie does not have any romantic feelings for her.  But as they write their feelings for each other grow.  Then Lilly ends up working at Robbie’s field hospital.

                When Lilly volunteered to go to France, she asked to be sent to where Robbie was working.  She didn’t tell him she was coming, as there was very little time between volunteering and her arrival, and she takes Robbie by surprise.  Of course he is happy to see Lilly, but he is also worried about her safety.  This concern becomes too much when Lilly gets injured.  Robbie asks Lilly to leave but she refuses.  He then breaks off their relationship.  As long as they are together he will be worried about her and not able to do his job as well as he should.  It is better for all for them to not be together.  At least that is what Robbie tells himself.

                With Lilly refusing to leave and Robbie not going anywhere, they live a painful existence.  They don’t speak and do whatever they can to come into as little contact as possible.  As hard as this is on both of them, this unspoken agreement works until Lilly receives word that Edward is missing in action.  As Robbie is Edward’s best friend, Lilly knows she has to tell him about Edward.  She doesn’t know what Robbie’s response to her will be when she shows up to talk to him.  He might not take the time to listen to a word she has to say.  Even though this would hurt, Lilly knows that in order to honor her brother she is going to have to take that chance. 

                 This is the first book in awhile that I was excited to read all the way through. I will admit I did skim ahead when I began to get impatient at some bogginess in the middle, but I went back to where I left off and fully read the rest of the story. It was important to me to know not just what happened but how it happened. If I didn’t care for the book I wouldn’t have done that. But I did care and I wanted to read the entire book, not just skim it. All of the main characters I liked. None of them are perfect by any means, but they all mean well and are doing the best they can. They want to make a difference in the war and with each other, and they are willing to risk their lives to do it.