Book Synopsis
This saga unfolds in a remarkable sequence of events, the tale of two British families: The Spencer dynasty and the lower ranking Morley clan, of which Margaret is a member.
With minimal education, Margaret works in the scullery of the wealthy, unable to transcend her station, and soon suffers the consequences of her youthfulness and naivety. In 1943, she journeys across the Atlantic to Canada aboard a troop ship, in the second shuttle of the famous War Brides. Hardly had Margaret settled into her new life when disaster befalls her again; she struggles, but grows bitter from the battle.
The lovely Clarissa Spencer belongs to the upper-uppers. Though she too faces challenges, her privileged up-bringing contributes much to relieve the woes that plague the commoner. viewed through an imaginative window, Clarissa’s identity represents a well-tended, manicured garden,striving to appear natural. In contrast, Margaret’s character is portrayed as a garden filled with weeds and other intruders.
The author crafts her narrative using research, personal knowledge, and storytelling to bring these two worlds into vivid life, replete with class distinction, illegitimacy, and a landscape sullied by murder.
~ The Author
Reviews
It was with great interest that I read your novel “Weeds of War”. I can tell you have recorded the first passions of getting it down, of conveying the story, few would have such interesting life experiences. The revelations in that box of papers spark June’s curiosity, it would do the same for the reader. The hinge of the story as far as I am concerned is Margaret’s deceit of Wallace Booth and establishes her as villainous. You give a nice foreshadowing of her true nature when she fails to report “Man Overboard”on her journey out. The crew may not have been able to do anything about it but her failure to alert a crew member is an unforgivable omission. The journey out and across Canada is well described, as is Margaret’s failing health and reticence.
I think it is most important to write the truths from the past and you have certainly succeeded in bringing all those issues that are seldom recorded in history books. Congratulations.
~ Avid Reader