The Care and Management of Lies LP: A Novel of the Great War by Jacqueline Winspear
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I am acquainted with this author's work from the Maisie Dobbs mysteries, and I eagerly anticipated this novel about a different perspective of the time in history Winspear where Winspear began her series.

I kept reading because I wanted to read the stories of Kezia and her schoolfriend Dorrit, who now prefers to be called Thea, as they mature from schoolgirls to their disparate adult roles. Kezia marries Thea's brother Tom and becomes a farm wife in Kent. Thea demonstrates for women's suffrage and then for pacifism as the war with Germany begins. Tom enlists, thinking the war will be over before spring planting.

Winspear's mysteries were always more than most cozy mysteries with themes and echoes of our own history showing in the time period about which she writes. This stand alone novel lets her more fully explore customs, forms and ceremonies we all rely on to bring comfort and to keep our lives from unraveling. I recommend this book to all readers.

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