“Maisie Dobbs” - Jacqueline Winspear

(book 1 in the Maisie Dobbs series)

🏥 This novel is set in England between 1910-1929. We meet Maisie, a brilliant mind, who, with a fortuitous turn of events, finds herself with access to a loyal sponsor (Lady Compton) and a brilliant teacher (Dr. Blanche), who enable her to reach previously unimaginable levels. The daughter of a humble vegetable vendor, she earns her way into Girton College, and launches a successful career as a “psychologist-investigator”.

🏥 Winspear follows Maisie around several time periods: after the Great War, prior to the start of hostilities, and during the war. I most enjoyed reading about Maisie’s experience as a triage nurse near the front lines.

🏥 This novel is equal parts historical fiction (WWI-era), romance, and mystery. It reflects the seismic shift in women’s roles during and after WWI. Maisie epitomizes both the determination of survivors to press on, as well as the haunting sorrow of the Lost Generation. Winspear focuses on those who survived the fighting, but returned carrying psychic and physical wounds, and struggled to reenter civilian life.

🏥 Winspear emphasizes WWI as the first modern war relying on weapons of far deadlier proportion than ever before, resulting in loss of life on an unprecedented scale, but also wounds (both visible and invisible) of such devastation as never before seen. The horrors included loss of limbs, facial disfigurement, shell shock, the effects of gas poisoning, and bearing witness to it all. Winspear takes care in describing what such men encountered upon returning to a society they fought for, but which cannot understand them or bear to look at them in some cases. We are led to contemplate what became of the men and women who served and returned home. The war was over, but their lives were shell-shocked.

🏥 Without spoilers, I can say that I don’t think the ending of this novel is meant to provide closure. Winspear wants the ideas of fairness, justice, and love to percolate in the reader’s mind. This was a “deeper than expected” read. I’ll definitely grab book 2 in the series.

🏥 If you liked “Maisie Dobbs,” you might also enjoy:

• “The Beekeeper’s Apprentice” - Laurie R. King
• “A Study in Scarlet Women” - Sherry Thomas