The Lost Soldier

This is another great read by this author. I love her novels which provide the reader with a visual of the critical, yet unrecognized role nursing played during the war. The story seemed to drag out just a tad, but still kept my interest thru the last page.

I enjoyed the book very much. However, I felt the ending was a little too pat. It was more of a fairytale ending for the reporter. I feel like it could have been a little more interesting and thought provoking instead of wrapping it all up so neatly. However the story content was excellent.

An absolute marvellous read, held my interest from start to finish. I found it really hard to put it down to get on with what l had to do. The author managed to touch all of my emotions during the course of reading this book. I will certainly read his other books.

I found the descriptions of the Battle of the Somme and the life of the nuns and nurses in the convent hospital very moving.
I was interested to read about the Shot at Dawn organisation in England and felt that it was a very worthwhile initiative to endeavour to pardon soldiers who deserted for various (sometimes valid) reasons.

Originally published as The Ashgrove, The Lost Soldier has been re-published to coincide with the ongoing commemoration of the 100th anniversary of WWI. One part of the story is told through flashbacks/old letters revealing events of 1915 and 1916, the lives especially of Molly Day, Sarah Hurst and many British soldiers. The modern, framing story is set in 2001 and concerns the above mentioned ash trees and their significance for one small village, the village where Molly and Sarah originally lived.

While there are some coincidences and possible contrived-feeling situation (minimal) the novel as a whole reflects the social milieu of the time and the many horrors and futility of trench warfare of WWI as well as the difficult work of volunteer hospitals just behind the lines.

This is something that we, one hundred years later, need to remember. Our methods of war have been modernized and in some ways it seems to me we are even more distanced from it, in spite of seeing scenes on the nightly news. It becomes more of a video game excerpt. While our methods have modernized, the physical, emotional and psychic costs have not. They remain huge and something each of us must remember. These men--and now women--need support, ongoing.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

The Lost Soldier is told in two different time periods, one being when World War One was happening and the other being years later. During World War One, many men were lost during the battle and many women looked after them when they were injured. In the town of Charlton Ambrose eight men who lived in the town lost their lives in the war, to remember them eight trees were planted in the town each dedicated to a man who lost his life fighting for them to be safe. One night, a nine tree appeared no one knew where it came from or who it was in memory of but it was decide that it must be important and it remained with the rest of the trees never moving from where they were planted in 1921.
Fast forward to years later, a housing developer wants to knock down the trees to make the town more modern but they didn't take into account the trees. Many of the families who lost men in the war still live in the small town, some are not fussed about the trees but others are dedicated on keeping the memory of their loved one alive as that is all they have left of them now. Rachel Elliot is keen to find out the story and the men behind the trees to publish in the local newspaper hoping to stop them from going ahead with their plans to knock the trees down to gain access to the plot of land they want.
Rachel finds out the stories of some of the men who lost their lives that once lived in the town, one of these being Sarah Hurst's brother. Sarah along with Molly Day travelled to France to help the wounded in the war, working with the nuns to get them better either to go back to the front line or to get sent home unable to return to active duty. Part of the story is told through diary entries that Molly has made, telling of her time at the nun's house and about the men she meets. One in particular is Tom Carter, a solider who Molly develops a bond with when he is recovering from his wounds.
I never saw the truth of the ninth tree, until I read it and then it put all the information that Rachel had gathered together. Each person in the story had some connection to each other and that's what made it even more heartbreaking as no matter what happened, someone lost something during the war and in doing so changes the rest of their lives.
The Lost Solider is a heartbreaking story about loss, love and about honouring the people who fought for their country to keep their families safe. With its sweet love story and memorable characters, it is a story that I will never be able to forget for the rest of my life.

This review was first published at M's Bookshelf - (...)

The Lost Soldier is a beautiful read.
The poppies and quiet, romantic image on the cover fit the book perfectly. This mystery about the ninth ash tree and Rachel's quest to find out the story behind it really held me in its grip from the start. I loved Rachel's approach to the town's history and when the book switched to Molly's story after a while, I got even more lost into this novel.
It's an incredibly moving and captivating account of a brave girl, joining in the war effort but (almost) forgotten by history. Molly has seen and experienced some horrible things, but she still has so much determination and courage - it's inspiring.
I really enjoyed how this story told the story of a woman facing the horrors of war, instead of the often told tale of the "brave young men".
Because the book starts out with present-day Rachel, along with whom we get to discover the story of Molly by diving into the past, The Lost Soldier made for a layered account of this small piece of history in the chaos and ruins caused by WWI.
I do regret how Molly and Tom's story ended. It's a very real and hard reality, of course, and it's a part of that history that has to be told as well.
Although war and happy endings usually don't fit into the same tale, Diney Costeloe still found a way to make this into a truly beautiful read. Her writing and characters did not leave me devastated, despite the story of war. They moved me and really made me appreciate love and life. They make me think of all the stories - both beautiful and tragic - behind those black and white pictures of men and women during the war, soldiers and nurses, parents and children.
I enjoyed reading this insightful and intimate war story about love, friendship, duty, faith and family.

Originally published as The Ashgrove, Diney Costeloe’s The Lost Soldier begins in 2001, during a public meeting over a housing development in a village called Charlton Ambrose. Rachel Elliot, a local reporter for the Belcaster Chronicle, is captivated when one of the local residents objects the construction plans as they’d necessitate the destruction of a memorial grove planted to honor the village residents who died during the Great War. Rachel takes it upon herself to learn more about the trees and uncovers a long buried secret of honor, sacrifice, tragedy, and enduring faithfulness.

Looking back on the narrative, I freely admit that elements of the modern story felt unnecessary. Rachel’s romantic interest in Nick Potter seemed entirely superfluous in my eyes and the familial connection she unearths struck me as contrived, but Molly Day’s history was so poignantly portrayed that I couldn’t bring myself to rate the novel any lower than five stars. Her story surprised me on a number of levels and I loved how relevant her experiences become to those trying to understand her trials through modern eyes decades after they occurred.

Henry Smalley is a minor character, but one I grew very fond of over the course of the narrative. His journey is not chronicled in detail, but he is the kind of individual who exudes genuine compassion in an era when law and order did not bend to accommodate such sensitivities. Molly’s life is irreparably altered by the conflict, but Henry finds new purpose in the carnage of the Somme and takes it upon himself to look after those left scarred in its aftermath.

There is something very human in this story and I appreciated how Costeloe’s themes drew her audience into the narrative. The action depicted during the first day of the Somme Offensive is brutal, but I was intensely appreciative of the authenticity such detail lent the text. Beginning to end, the novel capitalized on the human elements of the war and I felt Costeloe’s manipulation of the material bridged the gap between a century old conflict and contemporary readers.

I didn’t have any expectations when I picked up The Lost Solider. Not one of the reviewers I follow had read the book and while I was intrigued by the subject matter, I wasn’t entirely convinced it’d be the kind of war story that would hold my interest. That said, the novel surprised me and I feel it one I will recommending many times over in the years to come.

The Ashgrove is a touching, heartfelt and compelling piece of historical fiction. It manages to realistically depict events of WWI while creating believable characters whose emotions run the gamut from hope to heartbreak.

I'm remiss in posting this review because my copy has been on continuous loan to family and friends after I finished reading it. The book has traveled from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast and back. Its been thoroughly appreciated for its authenticity and realistic narrative by 2 history professors and a friend who's a local historian. Several other folks less inclined to read historical fiction enjoyed it, as well, for the finely drawn characters of Molly and Tom and their story.

Diney Costeloe chose a challenging topic in The Ashgrove, and her writing remains true to the history of the time. Her characters are not glossed over, but are shown to realistically portray the social manners and class distinctions of their time and place. Readers come to appreciate their strengths and understand their weaknesses as well.

Another challenge the author took on successfully was to alternate between current time and the time of the Great War. The author tells a great deal of the story through flashbacks based upon old letters and diary entries being researched by Rachel, a modern day character with an important cause and a mystery to solve. As we are privy to these glimpses of the past, we come to better understand the terrible hardships of that period.

For readers interested in learning about some of the lesser known, yet very important aspects of WWI history, The Ashgrove delivers as a fine work of historical fiction.

Diney Costeloe's THE ASHGROVE is a well written story that takes the reader easily back and forth between the present and the middle of WW I. She writes in a manner that makes you want to turn the page; you become invested in the characters and eagerly await the period shifts.
A good read for those interested in history, mystery and a bit of romance!

Diney Costeloe's THE ASHGROVE is a well written story that takes the reader easily back and forth between the present and the middle of WW I. She writes in a manner that makes you want to turn the page; you become invested in the characters and eagerly await the period shifts.
A good read for those interested in history, mystery and a bit of romance!