TLC Book Tours Book Review: The Care And Management Of Lies

About The Care and Management of Lies

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Harper (July 1, 2014)

The New York Times bestselling author of the Maisie Dobbs series turns her prodigious talents to this World War I standalone novel, a lyrical drama of love struggling to survive in a damaged, fractured world.

By July 1914, the ties between Kezia Marchant and Thea Brissenden, friends since girlhood, have become strained—by Thea’s passionate embrace of women’s suffrage, and by the imminent marriage of Kezia to Thea’s brother, Tom, who runs the family farm. When Kezia and Tom wed just a month before war is declared between Britain and Germany, Thea’s gift to Kezia is a book on household management—a veiled criticism of the bride’s prosaic life to come. Yet when Tom enlists to fight for his country and Thea is drawn reluctantly onto the battlefield, the farm becomes Kezia’s responsibility. Each must find a way to endure the ensuing cataclysm and turmoil.

As Tom marches to the front lines, and Kezia battles to keep her ordered life from unraveling, they hide their despair in letters and cards filled with stories woven to bring comfort. Even Tom’s fellow soldiers in the trenches enter and find solace in the dream world of Kezia’s mouth-watering, albeit imaginary meals. But will well-intended lies and self-deception be of use when they come face to face with the enemy?

Published to coincide with the centennial of the Great War, The Care and Management of Lies paints a poignant picture of love and friendship strained by the pain of separation and the brutal chaos of battle. Ultimately, it raises profound questions about conflict, belief, and love that echo in our own time.

Purchase Links

Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble

Review:  I've read several of Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series, so when I saw she had a new book out that wasn't part of the series, I was intrigued. It takes place during The Great War, which is really one of my favorite periods of history.

She is one of the few authors that I've read that really seems to capture this horrific period in world history well, and she does it in such a way that you enjoy the reading without being too depressed at the subject matter.

I admit I love the Maisie Dobbs books better, but this is a great historical novel for anyone that loves WWI history

Rating: 5 flowers

About Jacqueline Winspear

Jacqueline Winspear is the author of the New York Times bestselling novels featuring Maisie Dobbs, a former World War I nurse turned investigator. Originally from the United Kingdom, Winspear now lives in California. Find out more about Jacqueline at her website, www.jacquelinewinspear.com, and find her on Facebook.