Lives We Leave Behind is a novel by Maxine Alterio about New Zealand nurses in World War I.
I’m liking
I sometimes like to be introduced to things by reading novels. I don’t know a lot about World War I and I thought that reading this novel about New Zealand nurses would give me a point of view that I would find more interesting than a military history book.
I liked the main characters and the insight they gave me into Kiwi women’s lives at the time. The book gives a good list of references at the end too, so there’s plenty of opportunity for further reading.
Things that made me go hmmmm
Unfortunately, I found several things about the book weren’t as good as I’d hoped. There were too many characters introduced at the same time, and several times I found myself flipping back through the pages so I could find out who somebody was. I also found that several of the characters were stereotypical and predictable.
The book also switched between two points of view. I found it a bit confusing, as they switched between paragraphs rather than in an obvious place (such as a beginning of a chapter).
I didn’t find the relationships between some of the characters very convincing. The two main characters, Addie and Meg, met and became room mates, but didn’t have a lot in common on the surface, then all of a sudden they were best friends and cared about each other deeply and I felt I’d missed out on the development of the relationship.
I think the story focused on romance rather than on the context, and I wasn’t too convinced by the romance.
There were also some bits of the story that I found interesting but then didn’t come up again, and then other bits where subtle clues were given about something, then less subtle ones, and then someone would come out and explain it, when the clues were probably enough.
The conclusion
I was disappointed that I didn’t like this book more. The author has great credentials and had obviously done a lot of research. I wonder if some bits got cut out in the editing process, as I think the story would be better with some more character development and even more details about the actual nursing, as that seemed to be missing from quite a bit of the book!
I did find the book a quick read and it was an introduction to the subject, but I was left feeling that I wanted something with a bit more to it.
