In Distant Fields

by Charlotte Bingham

Her wonderful new story, sure to be another bestseller, is about love and heartbreak, but most importantly, the remarkable nature of female friendship.

Christmas 1913: Kitty and Lady Partita are best friends despite vastly different backgrounds. Partita has invited her friend, Kitty to stay at her ancestral home, Borders Castle. The grandeur of Partita’s family seat is in stark contrast to Kitty’s home in London where she and her mother, Violet, struggle to maintain appearances despite Kitty’s father gambling away the family money. Kitty is introduced to the aristocracy — a world she finds fascinatingly decorative and theatrical. She is enthralled by it, and desperately wants to be part of this way of life that is so far removed from the genteel poverty in which she and her mother are forced to exist.

But war breaks out, not only irrevocably changing society, but also the lives of these two beautiful young women. The headstrong Partita and down-to-earth Kitty become nurses, caring selflessly for men who have been horrifically injured in the trenches.

In Distant Fields is about the mothers and daughters, sisters and wives who are left holding things together on the home front and caring for their men. But, more importantly, it’s about the nature of female friendship.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Genres: Fiction, Historical

464 pages, Hardcover

First published February 20, 2007

About the author

The Honourable Charlotte Mary Thérèse Bingham was born on 29 June 1942 in Haywards Heath, Sussex, England, UK. Her father, John Bingham, the 7th Baron Clanmorris, wrote detective stories and was a secret member of MI5. Her mother, Madeleine Bingham, née Madeleine Mary Ebel, was a playwright. Charlotte first attended a school in London, but from the age of seven to 16, she went to the Priory of Our Lady's Good Counsel school in Haywards Heath. After she left school, she went to stay in Paris with some French aristocrats with the intention of learning French. She had written since she was 10 years old and her first piece of work was a thriller called Death's Ticket. She wrote her humorous autobiography, called Coronet Among the Weeds, when she was 19, and not long before her twentieth birthday a literary agent discovered her celebrating at the Ritz. He was a friend of her parents and he took off the finished manuscript of her autobiography. In 1963, this was published by Heinemanns and was a best seller.

In 1966, Charlotte Bingham's first novel, called Lucinda, was published. This was later adapted into a TV screenplay. In 1972, Coronet Among the Grass, her second autobiography, was published. This talked about the first ten years of her marriage to fellow writer Terence Brady. They couple, who have two children, later adapted Coronet Among the Grass and Coronet Among the Weeds, into the TV sitcom No, Honestly. She and her husband, Terence Brady, wrote three early episodes of Upstairs, Downstairs together, Board Wages, I Dies from Love and Out of the Everywhere. They later wrote an accompanying book called Rose's Story. They also wrote the episodes of Take Three Girls featuring Victoria (Liza Goddard). In the 1970s Brady and Bingham wrote episodes for the TV series Play for Today, Three Comedies of Marriage, Yes, Honestly and Robin's Nest. During the 1980s and 1990s they continued to write for the occasional TV series, and in 1993 adapted Jilly Cooper's novel Riders for the small screen. Since the 1980s she has become a romance novelist. In 1996 she won the Romantic Novel of the Year Award from the Romantic Novelists' Association.

Reviews

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to reading this, it has all the aspects that I enjoy in a book. Im fascinated by both the World Wars and loves reading stories or autobiography of how people coped in the wars. I especially enjoy love stories set in war time.
However this book disappointed me. There were times where I has a lump in my throat but for the majority of the time I was willing the book to end.
To me there did not seem to be any depth to the characters, everyone seemed predictable. What is the point of reading a book if you already have an inkling of what will happen?
It took me far longer than I first thought just because it was so hard to finish. It did not grab me at all.

[Terena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have given this a 2.5 out of 5 if I had been able to. I felt it started extremely slowly with not a lot going on, and although the second half of the book seemed rather rushed, the story did pick up somewhat. There are much better Charlotte Bingham books out there though in my opinion.

[Rozemarijn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bit disappointing, really. Good story, good characters, but everything remains a bit flat. Some non-events are drawn out endlessly, and things like the end of the war don't even get a mention. Odd.

[Booksrmylife · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the start of this book, where Bingham described Kitty's life in detail. I also liked the way she introduced the moral conflict of the mother.

However, the next part of the book (the part on WW1) was a bit off. I felt it was too rushed, and there were way too many characters that hadn't been developed properly.

And I had issues with the ending as well. I would've LOVED to see Kitty marry Perry. But unfortunately, that didn't happen.

[Susan Latour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and haunting story, set in WW1.

[Elisabeth Bibbings · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another WWI novel, appropriate for reading at this centenary. The American Countess lives in an elegant stately home with three daughters, and when war breaks out, she turns it into a hospital - but there the resemblance to Downton Abbey ends. For a start, the Duchess Circe and her devoted John also have two sons, both of whom go to war, after a halcyon summer including an amateur performance of "The Pirates of Penzance". This story is told from the viewpoints of Helen, who has come to live with her schoolfriend Partita (the youngest daughter of the house), and Partita herself.
Charlotte Bingham wrote "Upstairs, Downstairs" the BBC series so as you might expect, there are the romances and friendships below stairs as well as above.
It is good to have a story mostly told by the women who stayed at home, anticipating letters and dreading telegrams. I enjoyed this book very much.

[Bridget · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only read few chapters, but I can't understand it.

[Margaret Mackenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evocative

[Jo K Moore]

A fascinating insight into how women helped out during the First World War. Beautifully written and in places heartbreaking.

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't finish this book, the characters were poorly written and unrelatable. Also the writing style was wordy and boring. Really disappointed