Those of you who have run across my reviews in the past will not be at all surprised by my once again singing the praises of that remarkable mother/son writing team who give us the compelling stories of Sister Bess Crawford. I've often wished that a film would be made of this amazing heroine's adventures but who could be cast as the amazing Bess?
Nonetheless this time out the setting is the ending of World War I. Indeed the fighting ended with an armistice but the war will not actually be over until a Peace Treaty is signed by all. Representatives are gathering in Paris. While Bess has been working with the seriously wounded in England but that is interrupted when she is asked something she cannot refuse by a Matron in London: find her son, Lieutenant Lawrence Minton. This is a request from a frantic mother who hopes for the best but fears the worst.
Bess begins in Paris where she does find Minton being cared for by a young French woman who is ill equipped to deal with an extremely bitter and disturbed officer. He has left his responsibilities at the Peace Conference and is verging on an opiate addiction, rudely telling Bess that he doesn't care whether or not he dies. He longs for oblivion. What has driven him to the depths of despair and how can Bess possibly bring him out of it?
Here she is alone in a foreign country and Bess must find the truth as quickly as possible in order to save his life. What or who is destroying Minton, and what does that mean for Bess?
One more can't put down reading tale from this remarkable mother and son writing team. Enjoy!
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