SueK Posted May 13, 2010 Share Posted May 13, 2010 This is the first in a series of books about a young woman who sets herself up as a private investigator in post war London in the late 20s. This particular book could quite easily have gone into the fiction thread as although there is a crime, the book really centres on the life of the young Maisie from her teen years in service to a well-to-do family, to becoming a nurse in the battlefields of France in WW1. I had been interested in reading this book for a while and was delighted to find it in our new Oxfam bookshop for a mere Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesilbeach Posted May 13, 2010 Share Posted May 13, 2010 That sounds interesting, Sue. I'm not a huge fan of crime fiction, but I do like something more quirky in that genre, and this sounds like it might be right up my street. I'll add to my wishlist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrissy Posted May 13, 2010 Share Posted May 13, 2010 That sounds interesting, Sue. I'm not a huge fan of crime fiction, but I do like something more quirky in that genre, and this sounds like it might be right up my street. I'll add to my wishlist. It's already on my wishlist because of Sue's review. They do look like an interesting read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lyn Posted May 15, 2010 Share Posted May 15, 2010 I read these books a few years ago. they are a good light read as you said Sue. I think they are trying to show how the world changed after the war and how women began to go into more 'male' areas of work and life and the cracks that started opening up in the class system in England. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greeeen Posted May 20, 2010 Share Posted May 20, 2010 I saw this on the library once. I started reading it, but wasn't able to finish it. Anyway, good review.. it made me want to finish the book Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueK Posted May 21, 2010 Author Share Posted May 21, 2010 I saw this on the library once. I started reading it, but wasn't able to finish it. Anyway, good review.. it made me want to finish the book I've found the sequel on eBay which I managed to get hold of. I'll report back on that one in due course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueK Posted July 2, 2010 Author Share Posted July 2, 2010 I'm on my 3rd Maisie Dobbs novel and so glad I stuck with them. After the initial book which I wrote about above, the plots are well written and run extremely smoothly. There is a certain sadness to each one as they tend to concentrate on people who were connected with WW1 and in turn sets a poignancy to each story. The second book "Birds of a Feather" centres around a group of women in WW1 called The Order of the White Feather who used to give young men who hadn't been conscripted a feather to show them they were cowards. Many of these men later went to sign up for fear of being labelled cowards, only to die on the battlefield. Quite incredible how this Order could have been established in the first place. But more emphasis was placed on the "Your Country Needs You" propaganda then. I'm hoping to read all of them in due course - they are nicely rounded, clipped novels and I thoroughly recommend them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted July 2, 2010 Share Posted July 2, 2010 I've read the first 3 or 4 of the Maisie Dobbs series. I found them to be an interesting picture of the time and place. I was first drawn to them as my maternal grandmother was a nurse at the front lines in France in WWI, and although she died before I was born, maybe because of that really, I wanted to read the books. However, I continued for the stories themselves. It's been long enough, I probably could go back and reread the ones I have and then continue. Thanks for the reminder! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lyn Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 good to hear you're enjoying these books Sue. they are very well written and the author seems to have created a good feeling for that time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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