melancholy

[Gillian]

I am about half way through this book -- and I just find myslef being sad when I read it. What friends she made she loses and while she never seems to lose her sense of who she is, a feeling of sadness persists over this book.

[Dee]

You find out towards the end - why....but the second one is less sad - but in any scenario recovering from the experience of war is hard

[Dana]

Keep reading it. You will find that Maise sheds her sadness.

[LeAnne]

I think it's important to remember that life was harder on the other side of the Atlantic. They were much closer to what was going on over there. WWI was so horrible and they were so close to it. Almost every family had to deal with family member deaths or injuries and they were playing catch up with how to help returning vets.

[Gillian]

I did finish it, and I still feel her drowning in sorrow or guilt.

I also just finished THE ASHFORD AFFAIR by Lauren Willig.

Begins in same time period. Different kind of story, but puts the whoe time period into perspective.