I fell in love with Jennifer Robson’s work ever since I read the Fall of Poppies anthology of stories about World War I historical fiction. After reading All for the Love of You from the Fall of Poppies anthology, I started reading  The Great War series of her work. And all of them were page-turners. I still read them, always wanting to revisit their world.

More than twenty years after the “war to end all wars” ended, another war of a global scale is the setting of Ruby Sutton’s story. A young American journalist and an orphan, Ruby is sent to work in London as a war correspondent for a weekly magazine. As the war continues to wreak havoc in many corners of the globe, Ruby grows and changes. I love her growth–she started as an overly inquisitive newcomer, and the story ended with her experiencing love, warmth and friendship.

The story showed how people survived the war with courage, determination, and pluck. I can only imagine how tough (and dangerous) it was for people back then.

Probably my favourite part in the book was when Ruby and her colleague visited a children’s home during Christmas. She mentioned something to her colleague about how the children will be all right. Because they are still hopeful despite everything. For some reason, that struck a chord with me; the skies might get dark, but we should still hope that the sky will be blue again.

Another thing I loved about the book is that it ties up all that has happened with all the other characters from Robson’s previous books, particularly those from The Great War series. My only quarrel with Jennifer Robson is that she never wrote a book about John Ellis’ story. I really do think that he was a pretty interesting character in After the War is Over, and I think his story deserves to be told–or written, rather.

At the risk of putting in spoilers, I’ll wrap this post up! But I totally recommend that you buy this book! Jennifer Robson never fails to deliver.