Thank you so much to the author for giving a review copy of this book!
A Generation of Poppies by Saga Hillbom is a WWI historical fiction centering around the lives of Rosalie Wilkes and Charles D'Aboville and their experiences in the war effort. I almost described it as a historical romance but opted not to as, while romance is very much a big part of the plot, our two main characters spend large swaths of it on other endeavors alongside their desires for each other. Rosalie, an upper-class young woman from England, lies about her age to join the VADs and is sent to France to take care of injured soldiers. Charles, meanwhile, had no active desire to join the war efforts, and only did to avoid the consequences of refusal.
There's a lot of set-up, as there always is in Hillbom's books, showing us the idyllic lives both characters lived before the war. Good friends, ample free time, and delicious food make a harsh contrast to the horrors of war later in the book. It's almost easy to forget the normal lives that Rosalie and Charles once lived as bombs, gas attacks, and gunshots plague Charles' forces and send soldiers back to Rosalie so she can stitch and wrap their grievous injuries. Friendships are made and broken by death and scandal as quickly as a day passes, social propriety changes before our eyes, and two people of no significant title or awards live through it despite not being the ones to start the war in the first place.
The romance is quiet despite its forbidden nature, happening in quiet meetings where they vex and fascinate each other and long times spent apart, pining for each other in the rare moments when they have some time to spare between traumas and tragedies. I will say that I do love how much they both have going on in their lives. They don't spend every moment of every day thinking about each other. Charles has men to lead in battle, politics to worry about, people to mourn. Rosalie has injuries to treat, family and friends to fret about, and at one point even a stint among the suffragettes that takes up her time.
The plot moves slowly but at an even pace. Yet, despite its slow nature, you're constantly pulled in twists and turns as you read. I was surprised time and time again by a new development, a scandal, a plot twist that defied all expectations. No scenes are wasted in the progressions of time and character development. My favorite by far was the one thing I was hoping for the most in a WWI historical fiction: the unofficial Christmas Eve Armistice, where soldiers from both sides formed a truce for one night, sharing cigarettes and chocolate, singing Christmas songs, and even playing football. It's a surreal scene, written as though even Charles isn't entirely sure what's happening as he witnesses it, and that's just what makes it perfect.
Hillbom remains the ever-vigilant historian that previous readers know her to be, too, leaving history buffs with no dearth of facts and accuracy, and even includes an afterword at the back where she notes the few creative liberties she took and talks a little bit more about WWI. I know many people skip afterwords, but Hillbom's are always worth a read.
Overall, it's a tale of two young people who had years of their lives stolen by a war they didn't choose to wage, but find comfort between each other despite a constant fear that the war will tear them apart before winding down to a quiet, satisfying conclusion.
Saga Hillbom has three other books out: City of Bronze, City of Silver, Princess of Thorns, and Today Dauphine, Tomorrow Nothing. All of them are available on Amazon! To learn more about her and her upcoming books, you can find her site here, and her Amazon author page here!
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