The Shattered Tree by Charles Todd reunites nurse Bess Crawford with
Captain Barkley, an old acquaintance from a previous book.
As with all their books the riveting mystery is combined with
facts surrounding World War I. It is almost as if the Great
War has become a secondary character within the plots. Readers
will enjoy learning and comparing what happened during the
World War to the modern warfare of today.
In this story Bess does not have the support groups of the
past: Her parents, her landlady, and for the most part Simon
only make a cameo appearance. Not only must she work with
different characters but she is also placed in a different
environment, Paris France. Having to find a new support group
she befriends a Nun, a fellow nurse in Rouen France, a Major
recuperating in the same hospital, and the Captain, an American
fighting with the Canadians who is in France searching for
deserters. What makes their interaction enjoyable is that
she uses these people for support while questioning their
trustworthiness and motives.
The plot begins with Bess treating a wounded officer. He is
not British, but is considered French until in a moment of
anger shouts at her in German. Her superior, Matron, suggests
that the soldier must be from Alsace-Lorraine, a province
in the west where the tenuous border between France and Germany
has continually shifted through history, and now is in German
hands. Bess is unsure of his loyalties and wonders if he could
be a spy. Unable to do anything because he has been sent back
to Paris she leaves her suspicions simmer. That is until she
is wounded by a sniper and finds herself recuperating in Paris.
It is here she decides to investigate and uncover the truth
about his loyalties.
The Todds commented, “Nurses at the front were in danger
because snipers see a target and just shoot. For years after
World War I it was bad luck to light three cigarettes off
the same match. If someone was in the trenches, the Germans
would watch the first one flare, the second one flare, and
then would be ready to shoot when the third one flared.”
Always interesting is how the authors incorporate the time
period into their story. People today forget how the civilian
populations during World War I became a part of the war effort
including having to make sacrifices. They had to deal with
shortages of eggs, flour, butter, and gas. These rations also
affected the way coffee was made, so many chose wine instead.
A quote from the book hammers the point home, “Instead
of a clear-cut victory, I thought we were all going to be
starved into submission.”
What is always captivating is for readers to compare and contrast
the war attitudes then and today. Although it’s the
100th anniversary of World War I the outlook of those fighting
have not changed, finding camaraderie with their fellow soldiers.
A powerful quote, “They had struggled to rescue the
wounded who had fallen out of reach in No Man’s Land…And
still they wanted to go back. They could not betray the men
who were still out there, dying in their place. It wasn’t
courage or heroism, it was a strong sense of duty to men they
were closer to than brothers or parents or wives. A comradeship
of shared fear and blood and determination.” The Todds
wrote this quote to explain, “We wanted to point out
what they were going through. They could understand each other
because of the common ground.”
The Shattered Tree is a very plot driven story. The
characters enhanced the story but were more like tools for
getting across the horrific nature of war. Through the gripping
mystery readers will understand how loyalties were questioned,
and the hardships faced by those having to endure World War
I.
Reviews
of other titles in this series
Duty
to the Dead, #1 [review]
Impartial Witness, #2 [review]
Bitter Truth, #3 [review
1] [review
2]
An Unmarked Grave, #4 [review]
A Question of Honor #5 [review]
An Unwilling Accomplice #6 [review]
A Pattern of Lies #7 [review]
The Shattered Tree # 8 [review]
A Casualty of War #9 [column/review]
The Forgotten Place #10 [review]
Cruel Deception #11 [review]
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