10th Anniversary Edition with a special Afterword by the author
Maisie Dobbs got her start as a maid in an aristocratic London household when she was 13. Her employer, suffragette Lady Rowan Compton, soon became her patron, taking the remarkably bright youngster under her wing. Lady Rowan’s friend, Maurice Blanche, often retained as an investigator by the European elite, recognized Maisie’s … elite, recognized Maisie’s intuitive gifts and helped her earn admission to the prestigious Girton College in Cambridge, where Maisie planned to complete her education.
The outbreak of war changed everything. Maisie trained as a nurse, then left for France to serve at the Front, where she found — and lost — an important part of herself. Ten years after the Armistice, in the spring of 1929, Maisie sets out on her own as a private investigator, one who has learned that coincidences are meaningful, and truth elusive. Her very first case involves suspected infidelity but reveals something very different.
In the aftermath of the Great War, a former officer has founded a working farm known as The Retreat, which acts as a convalescent refuge for ex-soldiers too shattered to resume normal life. When Fate brings Maisie a second case involving The Retreat, she must finally confront the ghost that has haunted her for over a decade.
more
This is the first book in (fortunately) a series that gets better and better. Maisie is an admirable girl who becomes a most interesting woman. The books cover the period in England from World War I to (currently) Munich pre-World War II. You’ll be happy to enter her world. There’s tragedy, mystery, growth – told in a highly engaging style.
I absolutely love all the Masie Dobbs books. I have read them all.
I’ve read all of her books. Master story teller.
I bought this book on the recommendation of several friends. I was very disappointed. I thought this book moved way to slowly and I gave up on it halfway through, I was still waiting for something to happen. Sorry, I’m not a Maisie Dobbs fan.
I read all of the books I. The Maisie Dobbs series. I was fascinated by the main character’s intelligence and ability to solve crimes. There is a beautiful thread of history and psychology that runs through the books that is well crafted and fascinating. I was glad that I could order them in an e-book so that I could immediately begin a new book …