Review for "The Victory Garden" by Rhys Bowen

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The Victory Garden by Rhys Bowen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm kind of on a Historical Fiction kick, featuring stories placed in the 1900s during either of the two World Wars. I came across this gem and LOVED it, even though it took more than half the book to get to the "point" of the initial synopsis, and it was FILLED with an abundance of niceties & conveniences.

Plot: The "plot" is about an upper-class girl, coming of age in British high-society in the middle of WW1. Upon turning twenty-one, she defies her parents in every polite way possible and in an effort to be near the man she has (semi-quickly) fallen in love with, she joins the Women's Land Army, and from there follows the circumstances where they lead her as they happen TO her.

Characters: Emily is the main character we follow through this book. She is privileged & hard-headed, educated & courageously cavalier in her naivete. Yes, she puts her foot down and "stands up" for what she wants in life; going against the grain of polite society as far as the expectations placed on her; but as a good, strong, character... I believe she falls quite flat. As do the other (supporting) characters. All of their voices, though some more distinct than others, all sound more like a bit of chatter really. If anything, I'd say this story was more plot-driven than character-driven. Everything happened TO her and she REACTED, instead of her DECISIONS being what changed the course of her fate.

The Writing: The writing was done well, no complaints here. The cadence and prose were enjoyable and written in 3rd person POV, from Emily's POV.

In Case You Wanted to Know: This book was fairly sweet and innocent, like a PG-13 movie. Anything "bad" was politely glossed over. Which, for me, seemed appropriate for the posh societal setting of the early 1900s this story takes place in.

Overall: Few books have made me want to start Book Tube videos as this one has. I expected one thing and got something completely different. I expected the plotline to be threaded much earlier in the book but was perfectly okay with that not being the case... because, all in all, it was a pleasant story to read.

ALSO... Ms. Bowen- I see what you did there at the end with the name association.

And there it is folks... the moment I threw my pen across the room and decided I'd begin to add Book Tube videos to my You Tube channel.

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