Daffodils is essentially a love story, whose tender heart is almost torn apart through the tumultuous challenge of World War One. “A profound meditation on love and loss and the perils of war”: Bookbub. Daffodils is the Winner of the New Apple Literary Award for Excellence in Independent Publishing 2019 Medallist Winner E-Book.“Absorbing, involving, unputdownable, honest, great characterisation”. … characterisation”. Indie Book Bargains Featured Author Book of the day June 25th 2013 and was chosen to be in the first edition of the Fussy Librarian’s selection.
COMPLETELY REVISED EDITION
Katy, a maidservant at Cheadle Manor, longs to escape her narrow life but events unfold slowly in her rural village in Wiltshire. Jem Phipps has always loved Katy. His proposal of marriage rescues her from scandal but after tragedy strikes Jem becomes a reluctant soldier on the battlefields of The First World War, leaving Katy behind, restless and alone. Lionel White, the local curate, has just returned from India bringing a dash of colour to the small village and offers Katy a window on the wider world. Only when Katy joins up as a WAAC girl does she finally break free from the stifling class-ridden hierarchies that bind her but the brutality of 20th-century global war brings home the price she has paid for her search. Through the horrors of WW1, Katy discovers only love brings freedom.
For fans of historical fiction, DAFFODILS is Book One of The Katherine Wheel Saga.
Find out how these characters fared after the Armistice when they entered a new, modern age in its sequel, PEACE LILY. They have to carve out new lives in a changed world, having survived the war only to face new, unexpected challenges when they return home.
A third book, SPEEDWELL, takes the characters into the daring arena of motor racing in the 1920s and Katy’s defiant bid for independence. Book Four, WILLOW, (novella-sized) bridges the gap between the generations as the children of Cassandra and Douglas, Jem and Katy embark on a summer adventure that goes disastrously wrong, with dire consequences. The four children, Lottie and Isobel, Al and Lily, are on the brink of adulthood and the outbreak of the Second World War in Book Five, WOODBINE. Their lives separate as they are each forced to follow different paths through the war. Lottie is stranded in occupied France and gets drawn into the French Resistance; Al faces many dangers as he flies planes for the ATA, and Isobel, torn between duty and love, becomes a Land Girl. Can they come back together in Book Six, IVY? You must read the final book in The Katherine Wheel Series to find out how the whole saga reaches its dramatic and satisfying conclusion.
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Alex Martin takes you back to the early 1900’s in England in the life of one family. She describes each person’s journey so vividly you will experience even the mud in France during World War I.
I enjoyed the book as I had little insight into WW1. I am relying on the research of the author as to accuracy. One has to remember the era this book represents; but I did have a problem with the main character’s interaction with the local curate.
I have not decided whether or not I wish to continue reading other books in the series. With so much to choose from in books on my Kindle, the probability is low.
poorlywritten
This book brought me into the stark details of what it was like to be a soldier and mechanic/nurse in the First World War . . . I was so engaged in the story that I had a really hard time putting down!
I enjoyed each book in the Katherine Wheel Saga. It brought up things that had to be dealt with during World Wars I would never have thought about.
Good historical view of women in WWI
I absolutely LOVED this series !!! Reading it gave me a better picture of how families made it through WWI & WWII. Fantastic read – very well researched. I hated when it was over. I want to know more !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
What a life she had!
Great story well written and a good look at a different time and place.
Loved this book. Couldn’t put it down!!
A wonderful story based during the 1st World War. Kept my interest and was very informative as well as fast moving. Enjoyed thoroughly!
Really not my kind of book but it was!! Loved it!
Loved this book!
I realt liked this book
Captivating novel. It was eye-opening to see the transformation of a servant girl to a working class woman who became an auto mechanic during WW I and the breakdown of class barriers! I’m hoping to read the sequel to see how her return to ‘normal’ after the war impacted her life for better or worse.
Chick flick in a book
A book about every day people and their lives during World War 1. It was a page turner for me
Characters easy to remember. Didn’t tax my brain. Very enjoyable.
Very good historical fiction.
The beginning of this book drug on and on and on. I considered quitting on it more than once. The second half was interesting and full of good history. Will I read the rest of the series? NO. The characters didn’t hold my interest long enough.