Poppy by Mary Hooper
Bloomsbury, 2014. ISBN 9781408827628
(Age: 12+) Highly recommended. War, World War One. Historical
fiction like this is a treat to read, not only encompassing a page
turner of a story but giving information in the background that is
new to the reader. In this case the tale of a young girl joining the
VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment) during World War One is riveting, not
only for her story as a volunteer nurse, but also because it shows
what happened to the wounded in France during the war.
Poppy, a parlourmaid in a country house, joins the VAD, with the
help of a former teacher who pays her way. All the other women she
meets in her training and while working are from higher class
families who can afford to support their daughters when they
volunteer. Poppy's letters back and forward to her brother Frederick
on the Western Front, give us a view of the soldier's life at the
front, while her work as a volunteer nurse shows what happens to the
men who return wounded. Poppy works in a ward where some are not
physically wounded enabling the reader to see the extent of wounds
inflicted by war. The descriptions of the hospital ships coming into
Southampton are astonishing. She feels for the wounded soldiers but
has to come to grips with the mental wounds she must deal with. When
her brother is one of the men sent back with a self inflicted wound,
she must reappraise all her thoughts about courage and loyalty.
I thoroughly enjoyed this read, it was fresh and new, and even
though I felt that I had read enough books about World War One to
last me for a while, this one opened my eyes to bits about the war
that I knew little about. Told in a refreshing almost pictorial
style, the images thrown up are amazing. Poppy is a believable
character and I look forward to the sequel when she arrives in
Belgium, due out in May 2015.
Fran Knight