Stevie‘s review of The Poppy Factory by Liz Trenow
Family Saga published by Avon 28 Aug 14

Having read and reviewed Liz Trenow’s previous novel that covered much of the twentieth century (and a little of the twenty-first), I was very keen to see what she would make of an actual war story that covered the same period. As it turns out, the author exceeded my expectations with this one.

Jess is a paramedic, who joined the army to honour the memory of a childhood friend, after he died in combat. She vows to serve one tour on the frontline and save at least one life to balance out her friend’s death, but returning to civilian life after Afghanistan isn’t as easy as she anticipates. Plagued by flashbacks, alienated from her boyfriend, a teacher who can’t understand why Jess has come back so changed, and drinking far too much to block out her problems, Jess quits her job with the ambulance service. With nowhere else to go, she returns to her parents’ home to work out what to do next. While there, she finds a series of journals written by her great-grandmother, Rose, who married a soldier – her childhood sweetheart – during the First World War.

Just like Jess, Rose’s husband Alfie finds returning to civilian life difficult, particularly after losing a leg in an explosion that occurred weeks after the Armistice. Rose also finds the transition to peacetime tricky – after working in a munitions factory and earning a good wage, she has to give up that job when the bombs are no longer needed – and she has to fight against expectations in order to support her husband financially as well as emotionally while he struggles to find work due to his disability and the mental scars he carries after witnessing the death of one of his friends at very close hand.

Help comes to Alfie and Rose in the form of Major George Howson MC, who takes over the factory premises vacated by the company Rose works for after a company expansion, and uses the building to set up a charity finding work for disabled former soldiers – the Poppy Factory. Rose befriends one of the workforce, as the two groups share canteen facilities, and is persuaded that Alfie – out of work once again – might also be able to find a job there. However, Alfie is still suffering from the effects of his injuries – physically and mentally – while denying that he has any problems at all.

Reading Rose’s diaries, Jess slowly realises that her issues are just as real as Alfie’s and that she needs to seek help just as Alfie eventually does. Alfie, after initially refusing to believe that he was disabled enough to work in the Poppy Factory, is eventually helped by them, while Jess finds support from the expanded organisation of the modern day Poppy Factory, which now provides careers and psychological counselling as well as jobs for disabled service personnel.

This book is well worth reading for anyone with even a passing interest in the First World War, modern-day conflicts, or both. It’s heartrending at times and is most definitely in the historical fiction rather than historical romance category, but I’ll be rereading it a time or two as well as finding out more about the work of the Poppy Factory and how people can help support it and similar organisations.

Grade: A

Summary:

A captivating story of two young women, bound together by the tragedy of two very different wars. Perfect for fans of Katie Flynn and Maureen Lee.

With the end of the First World War, Rose is looking forward to welcoming home her beloved husband, Alfie, from the battlefields. But his return is not what Rose had expected. Traumatised by what he has seen, the Alfie who comes home is a different man to the one Rose married. As he struggles to cope with life in peacetime, Rose wrestles with temptation as the man she fell in love with seems lost forever.

Many years later, Jess returns from her final tour of Afghanistan. Haunted by nightmares from her time at the front, her longed-for homecoming is a disaster and she wonders if her life will ever be the same again. Can comfort come through her great-grandmother Rose’s diaries?

For Jess and Rose, the realities of war have terrible consequences. Can the Poppy Factory, set up to help injured soldiers, rescue them both from the heartache of war?

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