The Victory Garden: A Novel

Historic Victory. Excellent historical fiction story that really brings its world to life. Feels like a shorter version of Tess of the D'Urbervilles or Gone With the Wind, both of which had similar story arcs and overall tones to their tales of women who learn their strength by having it repeatedly tested. Though it ends on a more hopeful note than I remember (two decades after last reading them) those two ending on. The fact alone that this book can even be mentioned alongside those so highly revered books tells you just how good it truly is.

~Review first appeared on The Bent Bookworm!The Victory Garden is a poignant, sweet book that takes place at the end of WWI in England. Emily is just turning twenty-one as the book starts, and she at last has the legal standing to shake off her overprotective parents and really DO something for the war effort. Having already lost her brother, she feels the need to do something to honor him.“I want to be useful. I want to do my bit, so that Freddie's death was somehow not in vain.”In the process of finding how she is going to do her bit, she (naturally) meets a dashing young pilot (Australian! Gasp!), falls in love, her lover dies a hero, and it turns out she's pregnant.All this is revealed in the blurb, so I picked it up thinking that it had to be more than just a romance since...well, you know. Hard to have a romance when one party is deceased, however heroically.The “more” turns out to be the massive amount of growth and experience Emily goes through in less than a year. She becomes a “land girl,” – something I was not familiar with at all, and I think many Americans would be there with me. She stands up to her parents, who despite being protective are just as much about their own egos as they are about shielding her from heartbreak. She takes a chance on love, knowing that it will most likely end in heartbreak. In the process, she discovers the power of both independence and female friendships. Britain lost a large majority of their fighting age men in WWI, something I hadn't honestly given much thought. The story really shows just how that loss changed – or at least how it began to change – societal roles for both genders.The Victory Garden isn't particular heavy on either history or romance. In fact, there could have been less of a romance and the story would have worked just as well. I knew going in that Emily's dashing aviator was going to pass, as so many of them did at that time, so I went in willing myself to not get too invested. The history was interesting but not overwhelming in detail.As far as the actual garden, there was SOME emphasis on it in the last half of the book, and a little tiny bit of a mystery involving an old journal Emily finds, but it was very...well, I wish had been more about the herbs and the garden. It seems like the title is a bit of a misnomer. 😛Overall, 4/5 stars. I closed the book feeling a little sad, but hopeful for Emily's future with her child.Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review!Blog Twitter Bloglovin Instagram