The Victory Garden: A Novel by Rhys Bowen

    You have no idea how much I would love to see The Victory Garden turned into a film or mini-series.  And you have no idea how much I would love to write the screenplay for it.  That is how good this book is, and how much I loved it.  There is a little bit of a slow start, but once I got past that, I did not want to put this book down.

    Emily Bryce is eager to strike out on her own.  While others are off fighting in the war (World War I), she is at home living in luxury.  Emily feels she should be doing something important for the war effort, but doesn’t know what.  So far all she has done is visit the wounded soldiers in the hospital next door, and the few other parent-approved tasks she has been allowed to do.  Her friend, Clarissa, is a nurse.  Her brother, Freddie, died while fighting.  She, herself, has done and sacrificed nothing.

    Her parents are the biggest reason why Emily has done so little for the war effort.  Devastated over the death of Freddie, they want to keep their only remaining child close (they had another daughter who died at a young age).  They also hold the belief young ladies of their class do not do certain things.  Things like nursing or working the land.  Those are tasks for the lower class, common people of life.

    Emily does not believe any of this.  Her best friend is a nurse after all.  Still, Emily finds it hard to get out from under her parents’ rule.  Until she meets Robbie Kerr.

    Flight Lieutenant Robert Kerr is an Australian flying for the Royal Flying Corps.  He is recovering from a broken leg when he meets Emily during one of her visits to the hospital.  It is a chance meeting, occurring during one of the rare moments when Emily is away from her mother.  Later, they meet again when Robbie breaks onto the Bryce family property to look at the roses.  After this, Emily and Robbie meet in secret.  During these meetings, they become fond of each other to the point Emily invites Robbie and some of his friends to her 21^st birthday party.  An event her mother insists on having.

    At the party, Mrs. Bryce takes an immediate dislike to Robbie.  He does not follow the social norms she expects all “proper” people to do.  He’s also in the way of her attempts to set Emily up with a “suitable” husband.  Mrs. Bryce’s dislike of Robbie is so strong, she uses her influence to get him transferred to another hospital.

    The transfer is the final straw for Emily.  Now that she is twenty-one, she has more freedom to do as she chooses, and she decides to act on it.  Emily goes to the town where Robbie is staying and tries to become a nurse.  Lacking the training, she is turned away.  Emily then joins the Women’s Land Army.  She becomes a Land Girl.

Vegetables/Artwork by Kate Dorsey

    Emily becoming a Land Girl does not go well with her parents.  They believe working the land, even if it will help feed the country, is beneath someone of their class.  Her parents dislike what Emily has done so much; they go so far as to pull strings to get Emily out of her contract.  Her father, a judge, has the connections to do this.  And yet, Emily refuses.  She agreed to be a Land Girl, and she’s sticking with it.  Her father, in return, tells her she can never come home.

    As much as losing her parents upsets her, Emily knows she is not alone.  She still has Robbie.  And being without her parents makes it much easier for her to accept his proposal and agree to move to Australia.  They just have to wait until the war is over.

    It seems the war will be over soon.  It’s 1918.  The Americans have joined the fight.  There is great hope the war will end any day.  Until that day comes, Emily is happy to work the land and be near Robbie.

    While the work is hard, and not always enjoyable, Emily likes being a Land Girl.  She likes getting to know the other women she works with.  Two she has become particularly close to: Alice and Daisy.  When a special assignment comes up to care for the grounds of a well-off elderly woman, Lady Charlton, they go together.  They stay in a cabin on the grounds and work the property until they are called back to the Land Girls.  It is after they leave Lady Charlton’s that Emily learns Robbie has died.

    Soon after Robbie’s death, Emily discovers she is pregnant.  Unsure where she will go once the war is over, Emily visits her parents to test the waters.  She receives a cold a greeting, a bashing of Robbie, and the clear message she will be cast out if she comes home with a baby.  Returning home is not an option for Emily.  She must come up with another plan.

    The superintendent of where Emily is stationed, Miss Foster-Blake, offers Emily another option.  She can help Emily get into a home for unwed pregnant girls.  After the baby is born, the baby will be put up for adoption.  It is an option many feel they must take, but Emily refuses.  She wants to keep the baby.

    The only plan left is to return to Lady Charlton’s.  She became friendly with the elderly woman when they worked there, and hopes Lady Charlton will let her stay in the cabin again in exchange for maintaining the grounds.  Emily will, however, tell Lady Charlton the truth about her situation.  She has to.  Otherwise, she will never feel right about the arrangement.

    Lady Charlton completely accepts Emily’s situation.  For the town’s sake, though, she does suggest Emily claim she is a war widow.  In some ways she is.

    Emily does not return to Lady Charlton’s town alone.  Daisy gets a position in Lady Charlton’s house.  Alice works in a nearby pub.  And later, another Land Girl, Maud, works at the blacksmithy.  It is a great support system for Emily.  A support system Emily greatly needs.

    As Emily stays in the cabin, she begins to read the journal of a previous resident.  With the journal, she finds recipes for herbal remedies.  Recipes Emily starts to experiment with and administer to those in need.  She helps a great many people this way, but when one of the people she treats becomes ill, Emily is accused of attempted murder.  With the police unwilling to listen, and her having to fend for herself, Emily has no idea how she’s going to prove her innocence.

    So much happens in this book, and it all gets more exciting as the book goes on.  The reason for the slow start I think is all due to the class and society talk of Mrs. Bryce.  It makes for slow reading.  Once Emily joins the Land Girls, and is away from her parents, the story really starts to move.

    I could definitely see myself reading this book over and over again.  It is that good.  I borrowed it from the library, but now that I have read it, this book is definitely one I want to own.