Where Dragonflies Hover by AnneMarie Brear
Published: 8th April 2016
Publisher: Choc Lit UK
Pages: 189 pages:
Available on Kindle
Rating: 5/5
Blurb
Sometimes a glimpse into the past can help make sense of the future …
Everyone thinks Lexi is crazy when she falls in love with Hollingsworth House – a crumbling old Georgian mansion in Yorkshire – and nobody more so than her husband, Dylan. But there’s something very special about the place, and Lexi can sense it.
Whilst exploring the grounds she stumbles across an old diary and, within its pages, she meets Allie – an Australian nurse working in France during the First World War.
Lexi finally realises her dream of buying Hollingsworth but her obsession with the house leaves her marriage in tatters. In the lonely nights that follow, Allie’s diary becomes Lexi’s companion, comforting her in moments of darkness and pain. And as Lexi reads, the nurse’s scandalous connection to the house is revealed …
Excerpt
The late sunshine enveloped the house in a golden
glow. Again, it seemed to call to her, begging for attention. A path on the
left of the drive looked inviting as it meandered through a small strand of
poplars. Lexi grabbed her keys, locked the car and took off to explore again.
She had nothing to rush home to now, and if she got caught for trespassing,
then so be it.
The overgrown pathway brought her out on the far side
of the grounds near the end of a small lake. She gazed over the water towards
the back of the house and noticed a paved terrace area. From there the lawn
then sloped down to the water. She’d not been around the back before and fell
even more in love with the property. She could imagine the serenity of sipping
a cool drink on a hot summer’s day and looking out over the lake.
Lexi stepped out along the bank. A lone duck swam by,
its movement serene on the glassy, dark surface. This side of the lake was in
shadow from large pine trees, and she stumbled on fallen pinecones hidden in
the long grass. On the opposite side of the water were some small buildings, a
garage, fruit trees in early blossom, and an overgrown vegetable patch,
complete with a broken, rejected-looking scarecrow.
She wandered over to a narrow shed on her left and
peered through its sole, dirty window. Unable to make out much in the dimness,
she walked around to the front and was surprised when she was able to pull the
bolt back on the door. Why didn’t people lock things? A covered rowboat took up
most of the space inside. She smiled, seeing herself rowing it on the lake.
Growing more excited, Lexi edged around it to peer at the workbenches and the
odd assortment of tools and useless things one found in abandoned sheds. It was
like treasure hunting in an antique shop. She used to love doing that with her
grandfather.
She glanced about and spied a dusty painting leaning
against the wall. The scene was of a child and a brown dog. Behind the canvas
were more paintings, some framed, some not. Lexi flicked through them. The ones
that caught her attention she took out and set aside.
She looked for somewhere to sit and study the
paintings. A small tin trunk wedged under a workbench seemed the only offering.
Thinking it empty, she went to tug it out, but it remained fast.
Using both hands, she heaved it out and was showered
in a puff of dust. Squatting down, she inspected the latch that was held tight
with a small lock. ‘Why are you locked?’ she murmured. The shed was open to
anyone passing by, yet this ugly little chest had a lock on it. The trunk was
nothing special, plain and in parts rusted. No ornament or writing hinted at
its use.
Intrigued, she grabbed a hammer from the workbench,
but then hesitated. She had no right to open someone else’s property. Lexi
closed her eyes momentarily. What was she
thinking of breaking into the trunk? What am I doing? Never had she
broken the law and here she was guilty of trespassing and breaking and
entering! She looked around the rowboat as though expecting someone to jump out
and arrest her.
Something inside urged her on. She knew she couldn’t
stop now. Sucking in a deep breath, she bent and hit the lock hard. The ringing
sound was loud in the quiet serenity of the garden. The metal dented and with
another few solid whacks the lock gave.
Shivers of excitement tingled along her skin. Gently,
she eased up the lid.
Guest Post by AnneMarie Brear
For some years I have had a fascination
of what is known as the First World War, or the Great War. (World War I 1914 –
1918)
This was a time of enormous change in
the world. For the first time countries banded together to fight a common
enemy. I’ll not go into the politics of the time or the reasons why the war
happened, that is for professional historians to determine, but the effects of
the war were far reaching, particularly in Europe.
In Great Britain the changes impacted
on all walks of life, from the wealthy to the poor. Women were asked to step
into the space left behind by the men who went to war. Not only did they have
to work the men’s jobs, but they also had to keep the home running as well. Not
an easy task to a female population who was expected to simply marry and have
children and keep a nice house. Women of that time were sheltered from the
world, innocent. All that was soon to change.
In my book, Where Dragonflies
Hover, modern woman, Lexi, finds a diary written by an Australian nurse,
Allie.
Allie wrote about her time as a nurse
in Great War, and of falling in love with Danny, an English officer. She wrote
of her struggles to help injured and dying men who came to her straight from
the battlefield, covered in mud and blood.
To write Allie’s story I had to do a
lot of research about World War I. I enjoy researching, and because the
Edwardian Era is one of my favourite eras, it was no hardship to spend hours
reading sources from that time.
I really wanted to make Allie’s story as real as it could be. One of my
research sources was reading, The Other Anzacs by Peter Rees.
A truly extraordinary book detailing the true stories of Australian nurses in
WWI. A lot of my inspiration came from that book. What those nurses went
through was simply remarkable.
Another book I read was The
Roses of No Man’s Landby Lyn MacDonald. Another interesting account of what
the allied nurses and VADs from other countries went through. These women went
from the comfort and security of their homes to the heart of battle
zones. They had to learn new skills swiftly, for even dedicated career
nurses had never experienced before the types injuries and wounds they
encountered only miles from the front line. Those women had to sustain difficulties
they never thought of, for example at times they were food shortages, hygiene
hardships, danger from bombings, homesickness and many more problems. Yet,
these women, some just young girls, dutifully headed into an alien world
without the promise of survival.
It is, of course, impossible for me, or
anyone, to know exactly how these women felt during this challenging time, we
can only read about their experiences. However, simply reading about them is
enough for me to give them my heartfelt gratitude and admiration for what they
endured.
I hope I did justice to their stories,
to what they gave up and for the sacrifices they made to help us win the war.
Review
Where Dragonflies Hover by AnneMarie Brear is a beautifully
written novel capturing the essence of what it is to really love someone. It’s
2010 and Lexi a thirty something solicitor is feeling restless in her marriage
to Dylan a Doctor at the local hospital. She becomes increasing drawn to Hollingsworth
House, a Georgian manor house for sale on the edge of Leeds. One day Lexi visits the house and finds an
old diary hidden away in the old boat house, as Lexi begins to read she becomes
consumed by Allie and her story of her forbidden love for Captain Danny
Hollingsworth. As Lexi continues to read the diary she learns some valuable
lessons about her own life and marriage.
This is a dual time frame novel which is one of my favourite
types of novel to read and this one seamlessly changes between the lives of
Lexi and Allie we learn of the struggles both women face in their lives. Lexi with
a longing for a baby and a happier marriage while Allie struggles with her love
for Danny during World War One, wondering if this is the time she will ever see
him as they spend precious hours together.
Allie’s story really captured my heart as we learn of the
horrors of war and just how much pressure the doctors and nurses were under to
save many thousands of injured soldiers. AnneMarie Brear’s research has been
done very well as these scenes were so realistic with many details bringing the
story to life. I found Lexi a little bit spoilt, she wants to buy Hollingsworth
House and does so even when husband Dylan has refused to entertain the idea. I’m
glad that as she reads Allie’s diary she learns that compromise is a big part
of loving someone.
This was a novel which had me intrigued right from the start
and was one I found very hard to put down.
I would have perhaps liked the book to be a little longer with more of
Allie’s story after the war ended as I was so absorbed in her life story. I’m
very pleased to find AnneMarie Brear has written other books as this is an
author I’m desperate to read more books from. Thank you to LLR promotions and
the publishers for the review copy which I volunteered to read.
