Review: And the Women Watch and Wait; A Story of the Great War

 

It was a happy day when I found a new book by my favorite Australian author, Catherine Meyrick! Yeah. I’ve read all her books and really enjoy her writing. This one is called AND THE WOMEN WATCH AND WAIT; A Novel of the Great War. The ‘great war’ being WWI. 

This is the story of Kate Burke, a young woman who leaves her rural family farm to help her aunt manage her grocery store while her two sons are off fighting for crown and country. The year is 1914. Kate, unbeknownst to her family, has become engaged to the son of a neighboring farm, Jack. He’s dreamy, funny, smart and loyal. But he too has joined up for what they believe will be a six-month fight.

Back home, the women, mothers, wives, sisters, girlfriends, wait for word of their loved ones. News travels slow; they might hear of a battle but not see the death list for many weeks. Letters can take months to arrive, if at all.

As the death toll rises and the years drag by, Patriotism wanes and wait becomes excruciating. Then to add to the misery, in the waning days of the war, the Spanish Flu strikes, killing millions.

Meyrick does an amazing job of portraying the war through the eyes of the women left to wait. I knew this one was going to make me cry, and cry I did, multiple times. But I also found the resilience of the characters uplifting. I really enjoyed Kate, Jack and Tom and Aunt Mary. Honestly, I could see this as a TV series, it really is that good.

A big five ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐stars from me!

Amazon Buy Link: AND THE WOMEN WATCH AND WAIT