Reviewed by Emma Crowley
London, 1940. Clara Knight grew up an orphan in the first world war and now is fighting to win the second. Nursing brave soldiers, she falls in love with one of her patients, whose warm brown eyes give her hope for a brighter future. But then he is sent to the front, leaving her alone with their child amidst the bombs raining down on the city… When she is offered the chance to give her son a better life, Clara makes the impossible choice to let him go. She leaves her mother’s precious St Christopher pendant with him, vowing to find him again when the war is over, so they can be a family once more.
Years later. Indira’s life has taken an unexpected turn and her only solace is caring for her grandfather. As he lies in bed, weak and confused, he calls her ‘Clara’, begging forgiveness for an unknown terrible act, tears rolling down his face. Indira goes looking for the truth… and discovers a tattered box of unsent letters, a gold St Christopher’s medal and a photograph of a baby swaddled in a blanket. Who was Clara Knight? And who is the baby in the photo? Her quest will reveal a devastating secret spanning decades, and change everything Indira thought she knew about her family…
Many thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for my copy of The War Child to review and to Sharon for having my review on the blog.
Renita D’Silva’s new book, The War Child, takes the reader on an incredible journey following Clara Knight across many years and numerus trials and tribulations. The chapters are short and snappy which really created a good flow to the entire story and it never at any point felt like the plot was dragging. The title implies that the book will specifically focus on the war years, and yes to some extent both world wars do feature, but the story goes far beyond that and takes us away to exotic India where Clara goes through a transformation and learns some life affirming lessons and where events will alter the course of her life forever.
The scope of the book is vast as it begins in 1916 with bombs raining down on London and young Clara is left an orphan. Her mother is killed in a raid, her father had been killed fighting and younger brother Paul had succumbed to polio. All she has left of her mother is her St. Christopher medal which becomes a very important and stabilising symbol throughout the story. Everything that matters to Clara has been taken from her and being sent to Aunt Helen in the countryside whom she has not met that often is not what Clara would want but maybe going there was meant to be? She starts nursing in the local big house given over to the war effort as a hospital for wounded soldiers. We really see Clara grow and mature as a character as she finds nursing those in need to be her vocation. The frightened girl longing for her mother is left behind and we see a strong, determined, nurturing, kind and considerate young woman emerge. She finds solace in helping others heal as the wounds of loss she carries although she keeps hidden they are a permeant reminder.
Racism is a key theme explored to perfection in this story. It’s developed with great care and attention with many events which occur and the reader is allowed to make their own mind up on this issue. Clara really steps up and shows her true strength and caring nature when she volunteers to nurse a Dr Anand Goel when he is mistakenly shipped to the hospital. No one wants to care for him which Clara can’t understand. What does it matter what colour his skin is or where he came from? A connection is forged between the pair and Clara can not get this man out of her mind but he recovers and leaves. I loved how the author took real life events and moulded them into the life of Clara as a nurse. Spanish Flu struck and gave her the opportunity to show just how much she could do. She had had so many knocks in her life but she was determinedly forging a path to a happier existence but life had many surprises, twists and turns to come for her.
Setting up the story as a whole took some time and it did provide plenty of background information to Clara and allowed the reader to see what motivated her and where she wanted to go in life. But it’s when she meets Captain Adams and is offered an opportunity to go to India as nurse/nanny to his young son Henry that the plot really took off. Clara long remembers the tales her father told of India when she was growing up and she has always wanted to go there and never dreamt it possible. I loved the sections of the story set in India. The author makes this country leap off the pages and you are transported to somewhere exotic, hot, colourful and mesmerising. The descriptions of the landscape, language, aromas, the noise and chaos and the people and climate were so vivid and really it was like a another world. On board the ship to India Clara meets Dr. Goel once again as he is working as a doctor for a maharaja. This man had come into her life previously when she needed someone the most to make her believe in herself and he had succeeded. Is it fate they are meant to meet again? How will Clara cope when she discovers he is married?
What a fascinating insight was given into the life of a maharaja and his numerous wives. It’s hard to believe that this kind of world existed, and the author goes into such detailed descriptions of the inner workings of the maharaja’s palace that I was completely hooked. So much so that I had to stop reading and go and do some research and even just to see photos of this time which seemed so other worldly. Again the issue of racism and the place of women in society and their roles is expertly highlighted and so wonderfully woven into the overall plot. Clara becomes involved in this new life as well as tending to Henry and doing many other wonderful acts of charity which only serve to boost her confidence but that unrequited need for love and for someone who would care for her and she would do the same in return still remains steadfast in her heart.
I really enjoyed how the story took on another level once Clara reached India. You could see her evolving through the many versions of herself. She became more open but what price would she pay for this? The later half of the book sees her back in London but to say much more would spoil the story. Suffice to say she has to face many challenges and she makes some huge sacrifices which will deeply affect her but she has to live with them no matter the consequences for to reveal the truth would shatter so many lives. As a reader you are constantly thinking did she make the right choice? Was she being selfless, or did it come at such a high cost that it caused her so much pain that she would have to live with for a very long time? Especially after coming through so many struggles and so much hardship early on in her life.
The story moves back and forth between Clara in the past and Indira in the present and to be honest Indira’s story didn’t reel me in as much although I understood its purpose. In the last 25% connections are revealed and I had had some ideas as to what they were but as to specifics I didn’t quite hit the spot. Indira is the youngest and only female CEO of the company she works for. Her whole life is dedicated to her job much to the detriment of her marriage and the relationship she also has with her young son. It’s only when her father falls ill that she starts to question why she is living the way she is. She slowly starts to realise she needs to revaluate her work life balance and not let her ambition and the need to excel and rise to the top take over her life. I found her to be quite cold and very one sided in her viewpoints and I never really warmed to her as a character but as I have said I see why she needed to be present in the story and I loved how things came full circle. The fact that there were only several chapters from her viewpoint every so often was enough for me because honestly I was far more interested I getting back to delve deeper into the journey Clara was undertaking.
Renita D’Silva has written another wonderful story of heartbreak, love and sacrifice and provided her readers with a lovely and apt ending. It’s a book I would definitely recommend.
What a lovely review, you obviously enjoyed this one as much as I did! :)
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