The Nurses of St Croix
3.5/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
From bestselling author Diney Costeloe, a young woman fights to save a treasured war memorial and uncovers a tragic story that reverberates from World War I to the present day.
'This is our secret, pet. You mustn't tell anyone about us planting this tree for dad. It's our secret.'
1921.
In the sleepy village of Charlton Ambrose, eight ash trees stand as a timeless memorial to the men killed in the Great War. On a dark and chilly night, a ninth tree appears. Who planted it and why? And who was 'the unknown soldier' for whom it is marked?
2001.
Eighty years later, the memorial is under threat from developers. Local reporter, Rachel Elliott, is determined to save it, and to solve the mystery of the ninth tree. The trail will take her into the dark heart of her own family history; to a great, but tragic, love; and to a secret that has been kept since the war to end all wars.
This ebook edition was previously published as The Lost Soldier.
This title is published in paperback as The Lost Soldier.
What readers are saying about THE NURSES OF ST CROIX:
'I didn't want it to end. It is beautifully written and pulls on every emotional string in our bodies'
'I loved reading this... Diney Costeloe is a fabulous author... I really felt as though I was living the story with the characters. I definitely recommend this book!'
'Diney Costeloe is an awesome writer, all her books are just wonderful and unputdownable'
Diney Costeloe
Diney Costeloe is the daughter of a London publisher and has been writing since she was five. First published under the name Diney Delancey, she has written romance as well as historical novels set against the backdrop of war in Europe. She and her husband enjoy traveling and have five grandchildren.
Read more from Diney Costeloe
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Reviews for The Nurses of St Croix
8 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This engaging novel of love and loss in WWI may be forgiven for leaning hard on the strong arm of concidence to haul itself over the rockier portions of the plot, as it winds toward its heartbreaking conclusion.Set initially in 2001, the story kicks off when a proposed housing development in a small English village runs into local opposition when the developer notes that the project will require the removal of a small grove of ash trees. The problem is that the grove was originally planted in 1921, as a memorial to the eight village lads who died in The Great War, and some of them still have family in the village.Sensing the possibility of a good story, a reporter from a regional newspaper begins digging into the history of the grove, at which point the narrative begins to bounce back and forth between contemporary times and 1915, when the daughter of the local squire determines (against her father’s wishes) to go to France as a nurse, and convinces a young maid from the household to accompany her. The truly horrifying conditions they find when they arrive at the nursing convent change their lives forever, and those changes form the core of the novel. Most of the action takes place off the battlefield, focusing on young women and their families. It’s only in the last section of the novel that she takes the reader onto the battlefield itself, to view the horror through the eyes of Tom Carter, whose love for one of the women leads him to a desperate act.Costeloe creates characters here who are engaging though clearly assigned “good guy” and “bad guy” roles, with only the mysterious Nick Potter, whose ambivalence about the development project leaves his motivations in doubt. She clearly understands the class distinctions present in England well through the WWI era, and uses them to advantage as the characters meet the challenges their choices create for them. She also includes an author’s note with an update on the “Shot at Dawn” campaign undertaken to clear the names and military records of 306 British soldiers executed by their own army during WWI for alleged desertion under fire, cowardice, or refusal to carry out orders.