AFTER THE WAR IS OVER by Jennifer Robson

Note: I am not a paid reviewer, and I have purchased this title to read for my personal enjoyment.

A follow-on but stand-alone to Somewhere in France, this story focuses on low-born social reformer Charlotte’s slow-burning romance with Edward, the aristocratic Lord Cumberland, in the years after WW1. After serving as a nurse in WW1, Charlotte immerses herself in noble social causes until she is summoned to nurse Edward back to health. Charlotte is a principled character, but shows a soft soul as she takes on Edward’s case at considerable risk to her own future. Their romance progresses slowly due to their vast class difference as Charlotte reawakens Edward from the physical and mental torment of his war wounds. The portrait of Edward’s emotional pain is moving, giving us insight into the difficulties of coming to grips with PTSD in the period. I enjoy Ms. Robson’s prose, brisk but not spare, and her romantic suspense is well done. If you have an interest in WW1 PTSD stories, a couple of classic titles are Regeneration, and Random Harvest, in which a PTSD case is imagined with rollicking fun.