The Care and Management of Lies: A Novel of the Great War (P.S. (Paperback)) Paperback – June 30, 2015

I reviewed this book on http://fourthstreetreview.com/ as a part of the September 2014 #30Authors Event, where 30 Authors review 30 Books in 30 Days on 30 Different Review Blogs. It was kind of intense. ;) Here's my review but check out all the event reviews by searching #30Authors on Twitter or FB or just visit www.thebookwheel.com for more info.Review by Author Stephanie Carrollwww.stephaniecarroll.netI found The Care and Management of Lies by Jacqueline Winspear while searching for turn of the century historical fiction. It was the title that first drew me in, as it sounds devious, but when I learned the story follows the perspective of a military wife and of a military husband separated by war, well that clenched it.Published to coincide with the 100th Anniversary of the beginning of World War I, The Care and Management of Lies takes the reader through different facets of WWI history using several perspectives. Through lyrical prose, Winspear reveals the British home front in both the city and the country. She takes us to the battlefield, to the suffragist and pacifist movements, and even to the women’s wartime efforts. As a historical fiction reader and novelist, I was impressed and thrilled with this detailed excursion into the past.The premise reminds me of Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier, and I think readers of that book would enjoy this because of the similarities with the lovers separated by war and the woman having to become self-sufficient on the farm. Although this story unfolds much differently and also employs the perspectives of the wealthy, jealous officer and the feminist, anti-war friend.Plus, the writing is dazzling. The prose were actually what hooked me in the first chapter, specifically this line: “Kezia lay back on the narrow bed in her room, watching fronds of lilac blossom scratch against the window, framed in dawn light.”Author Jacqueline Winspear is known for her New York Times bestselling Maisie Dobbs mystery series. This book, however, is not a mystery but a subtle and literary tale. It’s the characters and their circumstances that keep you reading, the suggestion of what may happen as events unfold, and the beauty of the struggle.

This subtle and compelling novel of Britain's involvement in WWI could easily have been non-fiction for its wholly credible account of how thousands of families and millions of individuals were impacted by the catastrophic conflict. The book's title, "The Care and Management of Lies" says it all. When a country decides to got to war, truth is an early victim. The central characters in the novel are all seduced or pushed into the conflict by political lies, social pressure, misplaced loyalties and deliberate or uncorrected misunderstandings and there are few honest and open discussions of probable consequences. Once the war has started and grinds on, by general agreement, there are no accounts of what is actually happening on the battlefield or on the home front. Even the single pacifist character in the story buys into this once she is part of the war effort.There are some memorable moments in this book--accounts of life on an English farm 100 years ago, fantasy meals created to give hope to a loved one that end up supporting the morale of an entire group, and credible vignettes of the inanities of life on the battle front in northern France. While "lies" is the general theme of "The Care...", there is a real honesty in the story that is enthralling and well worth the reader's time.

This is a must read in the series!

A beautifully written book about female friendship, a husband and wife's love for each other, 1900's era British farm life, and the debacle of WW1. Author Winspear's quiet book has three unforgettable main characters. Thea is a strong willed suffragette and peace activist whose close friendship with Kezia is disrupted after she marries Tom, Thea's brother. Kezia is a dreamer but finds that marriage and farm life suit her well, much to Thea's dismay. Tom is a steadfast and likeable man who farms the family land, until he enlists to fight in far off France. Tom is determined to do his duty for his country, like most men of his generation in Britain. Kezia's writes weekly letters about the savory and creatively inspired meals she cooks for Tom, as an expression of her love. Those imaginary meals are a reminder that war takes a terrible toll on not only those who fight but also for those who are left behind.There are a few other minor characters that are nonetheless just as compelling as the main ones. The farm - with its orchards, fields, gardens, animals, trees and streams - is one character. Another is a wiley farm mare that the farm depends on for its survival. I worried about her just as much as I did about the human character's fates. Would she be taken away by the military to serve on the front lines?Each character's beliefs, morals and values are challenged as WW1 rages. The terrible depiction of trench warfare, with its rotting corpses, rats as big as cats that feed on dying men, and the daily deprivations soldiers encounter in the cold and mud of France, will not soon be forgotten.The Care and Managment of Lies started out slowly but became a page turner for me. I read ahead at one point, desperate to find out the fate of one of the characters.I loved this book. I hope Jacqueline Winspear writes a sequel. I'd like to find out what happens to our characters, those that live, after the war ends.

A moving portrait of attitudes before and during the first world war. The interview with the author in the About the Book section at the end is edifying.

Each book hooks you more than the one before. Great author; great series!

The characters Winspear creates in are people like those we knew back home, in our youth, people we knew well and continue to carry in our hearts when they are lost to us. A young farmer must leave his new city wife alone to manage their farm while he is away as a soldier in WWI. Drawing on his love of good meals, her letters to him are composed of descriptions of the unusual foods she prepares in practice for him when he returns. They describe the herbs and spices that she picks from their garden and combines in original mouth-watering ways with a cut of beef, with a rabbit. The letters are read aloud to appreciative comrades in the too few days before he and they must run up and over to meet the enemy. It is a book you might not want to lend to untrustworthy borrowers.

`The Care and Management of Lies' è un romanzo di Jacqueline Winspear ambientato durante la Prima Guerra Mondiale e pubblicato proprio in occasione del centenario dell'inizio della guerra. Il libro racconta la storia dei giovani Kezia, Thea e Tom e dell'impatto della guerra sulle loro vite; vite normali di persone normali, per sempre cambiate, spezzate, da un conflitto disumano e devastante.Benché sia complessivamente un bel libro, questo `The Care and Management of Lies' non ha quella scintilla che ho trovato nei libri della serie di Maisie Dobbs, la psicologa-investigatrice protagonista dei romanzi precedenti di Jacqueline Winspear. Anche nei romanzi di Maisie si parla della Grande Guerra; perché Maisie l'ha vissuta come volontaria della Croce Rossa, perché vi ha perso l'amore della sua vita, perché le sue indagini, molti anni dopo, riguardano spesso fatti accaduti durante la guerra, persone che ne sono state segnate in modo indelebile. Ma dagli episodi raccontati nei libri di Maisie, dai `flash-back', dalle vicende a volte solo accennate, la drammaticità della guerra emerge in modo più potente; la povertà nella Londra degli anni 30, le difficoltà di reinserimento dei soldati nella vita civile, l'alienazione degli `shell-shocked' convogliano il senso delle proporzioni gigantesche e delle conseguenze drammatiche di un conflitto terminato già da molti anni. Inoltre Maisie è un personaggio molto riuscito, complesso, umano; cresce libro dopo libro, cambia, riflette su se stessa e sul suo mondo, cerca strade sempre nuove di crescita umana e professionale, di equilibrio, di serenità. Mentre Kezia, Thea e Tom sono personaggi più distanti, meno approfonditi, forse non completamente riusciti.Tre stelle quindi a questo romanzo che, pur non essendo il migliore di Jacqueline Winspear, è comunque piacevole e interessante, con il pregio di una scrittura curata e misurata e l'usuale attenzione dell'autrice alle molte, delicate, a volte imprevedibili sfumature della psicologia umana.

This is truly wonderful book, in this year when we have been somewhat saturated by the horror that was WW1 this manages to shine a new light on both the grim reality of trench warfare but most of all the about about face that society had to accept as women took up the men's mantle on the home front.As a farmers daughter the description of the sheer hard work and unrelenting endlessness of the agricultural life rang absolutely true. We have also echo's of 'War Horse' when when we see the scouring of the countryside to compulsory purchase the animals. The destruction of the beautiful woods to be replaced by turnips to feed the nation giving us an echo of those ugly and mud filled trenches in France. Then the main theme of a woman's place and the expectations that society, men and other females have on those who now step out of the expected role and step up to meet the nations needs.At times it was so painful I could hardly bear to read on, the house is much cleaner thanks to this displacement activity!Some facts were amazing I should love to know if they really did have open fires in trains in 1914, there is a scene where the guard comes to put coals on the fire and although I was aware of foot warmers and early steam heating systems and the Russian Samovars I had never thought of them having open fires - can anyone enlighten me on this point?I have been full of admiration for the Massie Dobbs series but this is a work of real genius and can one hope for a sequel as (as is usual with Jacqueline Winspear) she gallops to a very speedy finish and leaves one wanting more.My favourite book of the year - please read it and think of buying a poppy (made in Stoke on Trent) to support the lovely art work being displayed at The Tower of London this year in memory of all those who lost their lives in The Great War.Thank you Jacqueline, you can be very proud!