"A Bitter Truth" is an engrossing depiction of the life of a battlefield nurse in WWI and an upper class family in rural England. We observe the interactions of this family as they attempt to deal with a particularly embarrassing situation.

Bess Crawford is a nurse who returns to England on leave from her duties in the battlefields of France. She is surprised to find a well dressed woman huddled in her doorway. When Bess sees that the woman, Lucy Ellis, has a bruise on her face, Bess's compassionate nature takes over. She invites Lucy to her flat and learns that it was Lucy's husband, Roger, who struck her. Lucy is aftaid of returning home and Bess offers to accompany her.

At the Ellis home, Bess meets Roger and understands about the argument. Roger is about to return to his unit and go to the front. Lucy wants to attempt to concieve a child so that if anything happened to Roger, she would have part of him to remember and love.

Bess is a steady character who is a delight. As a nurse, she deals with the wounded and faces the horrors of war so she doesn't put up with petty bureaucrats at home. She is also a problem solver and has the ability to analyze a situation and provide logical alternatives.

Charles Todd describes the relationship between family members and the responsibility toward maintaining the family reputation at all costs. There are a number of murders and we enjoy Bess analyzing the situation to attempt to find the killer.

There is a well placed plot twist that adds to the reader's interest and places the novel in the top realm of creative story telling.

This is a story where the plot and the character were made for each other and combine for a wonderful reading experience.