I've loved Winspear's Maisie Dobbs series. This book a a new venture for her, outside the series, and it is terrific. I could not wait to get to it after having to stop reading when my life interfered! Her characters are complex, plot unpredictable, structure and language delightful and powerful.. Halfway through I had to close the book for a while because I had come to care about the characters so much... and, since it is set during WWI, I knew someone would have to die.Loved this book.
Tidbit: I heard Winspear being interviewed on NPR and invited questions from the audience. I emailed mine and she answered!:
Jacqueline Winspear answered your question
What books are you reading these days? Which authors, alive or dead, would you like to invite to dinner?
First of all, I think I'd prefer to go out to dinner with authors, not have them to dinner - how would I ever get to talk and listen if I'm rushing back and forth to the stove!! I think I would like to be at the table with Hemingway (though I would keep an eye on the drinks!), with John Dos Passon, with F. Scott Fitzgerald, and also have their editor, Maxwell Perkins along too. I think I would throw A J Cronin into the mix, and perhaps Elizabeth Gaskell. And to record the whole thing, Jane Austen! I've recently read a memoir, "The House Is Full Of Yogis" and am about to crack open Ben McIntyre's new book on Kim Philby.