What do you think?
Rate this book
The Oaklands Manor Trilogy
A Rose in Flanders Fields
Driving an ambulance through the mud in Flanders, aristocrat Evie Creswell is a long way from home. At Oaklands Manor all she had been expected to do was to look pretty and make a good marriage. But with the arrival of World War One everything changed…
And Evie, to the horror of her family, does not choose a husband from her blue-blooded set; instead she weds artist Will Davies, who works as a butcher’s apprentice. Soon she is struggling nightly to transport the wounded to hospital, avoiding the shells and gas attacks – her privileged home life, and her family’s disappointment at her marriage, a lifetime away.
And while Evie drives an ambulance in Belgium, Will is in the trenches in France. He withdraws from her, the trauma of his experience taking hold. Evie has the courage to deal with her war work, but it breaks her heart to think she is losing Will’s love. Can their marriage survive this terrible war? That is, if they both get out alive…
And Evie, to the horror of her family, does not choose a husband from her blue-blooded set; instead she weds artist Will Davies, who works as a butcher’s apprentice. Soon she is struggling nightly to transport the wounded to hospital, avoiding the shells and gas attacks – her privileged home life, and her family’s disappointment at her marriage, a lifetime away.
And while Evie drives an ambulance in Belgium, Will is in the trenches in France. He withdraws from her, the trauma of his experience taking hold. Evie has the courage to deal with her war work, but it breaks her heart to think she is losing Will’s love. Can their marriage survive this terrible war? That is, if they both get out alive…
- GenresHistorical Fiction
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 17, 2014
9 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
About the author
Terri Nixon
23 books51 followersTerri was born in Plymouth in 1965. At the age of 9 she moved with her family to Cornwall, to a small village on the edge of Bodmin Moor, where she discovered a love of writing that has stayed with her ever since. She also discovered apple-scrumping, and how to jump out of a hayloft without breaking any bones, but no-one's ever offered to pay her for doing those.
Since publishing in paperback for the first time in 2002, Terri has appeared in both print and online fiction collections, and is proud to have contributed to the Shirley Jackson award-nominated hardback collection: Bound for Evil, by Dead Letter Press. As a Hybrid author, her first commercially published novel was Maid of Oaklands Manor, published by Piatkus Entice (a digital-first imprint of Little, Brown,) and short-listed in the "Best Historical Read" category at the Festival of Romance 2013. The sequel, A Rose in Flanders Fields, was published by Carina UK (a digital-first imprint of HarperCollins) and was short-listed in the same category in 2014.
Terri's self-published Mythic Fiction series set in Cornwall, The Lynher Mill Chronicles, has now been launched. Books one and two are available in print and e-book, and the third book in the series is due for release in June 2015.
Terri now lives in Plymouth with her youngest son, and works in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Plymouth University, where she is constantly baffled by the number of students who don't possess pens.
Terri also writes under the name T Nixon, and has contributed to anthologies under the names Terri Pine and Teresa Nixon. She is represented by the Kate Nash Literary Agency.
Since publishing in paperback for the first time in 2002, Terri has appeared in both print and online fiction collections, and is proud to have contributed to the Shirley Jackson award-nominated hardback collection: Bound for Evil, by Dead Letter Press. As a Hybrid author, her first commercially published novel was Maid of Oaklands Manor, published by Piatkus Entice (a digital-first imprint of Little, Brown,) and short-listed in the "Best Historical Read" category at the Festival of Romance 2013. The sequel, A Rose in Flanders Fields, was published by Carina UK (a digital-first imprint of HarperCollins) and was short-listed in the same category in 2014.
Terri's self-published Mythic Fiction series set in Cornwall, The Lynher Mill Chronicles, has now been launched. Books one and two are available in print and e-book, and the third book in the series is due for release in June 2015.
Terri now lives in Plymouth with her youngest son, and works in the Faculty of Arts and Humanities at Plymouth University, where she is constantly baffled by the number of students who don't possess pens.
Terri also writes under the name T Nixon, and has contributed to anthologies under the names Terri Pine and Teresa Nixon. She is represented by the Kate Nash Literary Agency.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
October 20, 2017
I started this book without realizing that it is the middle-part of a trilogy (it wasn't mentioned on the NetGalley page and the blurb also didn't say anything) and some of my complaints about the book can be explained by that: it's not a 'conventional' trilogy where one part starts where the other ends. They are all set over roughly the same time-frame but they are all told by different woman from different backgrounds whose lives overlap. I like that idea a lot but not knowing that made it rather confusing to read:
Early in the book Evie meets Lizzy and says that she and Lizzy would soon become best friends...not much later Lizzy is suddenly accused of stealing a valuable diamond and goes to prison. Evie is upset about that happening to her bestest friend for...two paragraphs at least but is busy with her own problems (I am not like the other rich girls! I want to marry the butcher's boy!). Eventually it is proven that Lizzy wasn't the thief (that isn't really a spoiler...not even who the actual thief is would be one because you will almost certainly guess it the first time that person is mentioned...) and then suddenly there are spies and more horrible things happen to Lizzy but mostly off-page. Evie only learns about them afterwards...because Lizzy is the main character of the first book. If you read the books in order it certainly makes sense because you already know her story but I just sat there going 'WHAT?'.
Now if that was my only complaint the book would have gotten a higher rating but even if I imagined that I read it knowing the first book it would still have been bad. Because it is a horrible offender when it comes to 'Show, don't tell' and because in less than 300 pages it has more drama than an average soap-opera has in 3 years.
We are always told that Evie and Will love each other and have an awesome time together and talk about everything. Then we see the marriage-proposal and only afterwards Evie learns that Will used to work as an artist but had to quit because he didn't earn enough. What did they talk about in these awesome meetings? "I love you." - "I love you more." - "No I love you more." over and over again? 'What did you do before you moved here?' isn't exactly a deep dark secret...that's even a question that might come up in a discussion between casual acquaintances so what did our star-crossed lovers discuss that such an ordinary topic never ever came up?
In a similar vein we are told that Evie and Lizzy are great friends (and later Evie and other girls she works with in Flanders) but we rarely see them being friends and that's mainly because of the already mentioned soap-opera level of drama.
I mean you would guess the love-story between Evie and Will and the problems that arise when he can't deal with the horrors of what he sees in the war and tries to shut her on the one side and Evie working as ambulance-driver in Flanders where they also have to deal with bombs, gas-attacks etc. would be enough to fill a book but apparently it isn't. There are also Deep And Dark Family Secrets (TM) that Evie discovers (and then mentions them again only once), terrible things happen to her close friends, just about every soldier she knows is court-martialed or in danger of it, terrible things happen to Evie...it's like the author looked at Word War I and said 'I know that was the bloodiest conflict up to that point, the first time weapons were used that could kill a lot of people from very far away and it left a huge number of people physically and/or mentally scared but that alone just isn't exiting enough'. I never thought that you could have a WWI-novel that is just ridiculously over the top dramatic but this book manages it. And while we're occasionally told that Evie is affected by all this we never see it and anyway if there was a paragraph that talked about how horrible she felt it was usually cut short by...yes! More drama! That also didn't seem to affect her that much longer than one paragraph! And then even more drama! The longer it went the more I expected her just to break down crying because no normal human should have been able to go through all of this without yelling 'LIFE IS UNFAIR AND I HATE EVERYTHING' at least once but she never does. How I am supposed to relate to such a character?
Just...nope.
Early in the book Evie meets Lizzy and says that she and Lizzy would soon become best friends...not much later Lizzy is suddenly accused of stealing a valuable diamond and goes to prison. Evie is upset about that happening to her bestest friend for...two paragraphs at least but is busy with her own problems (I am not like the other rich girls! I want to marry the butcher's boy!). Eventually it is proven that Lizzy wasn't the thief (that isn't really a spoiler...not even who the actual thief is would be one because you will almost certainly guess it the first time that person is mentioned...) and then suddenly there are spies and more horrible things happen to Lizzy but mostly off-page. Evie only learns about them afterwards...because Lizzy is the main character of the first book. If you read the books in order it certainly makes sense because you already know her story but I just sat there going 'WHAT?'.
Now if that was my only complaint the book would have gotten a higher rating but even if I imagined that I read it knowing the first book it would still have been bad. Because it is a horrible offender when it comes to 'Show, don't tell' and because in less than 300 pages it has more drama than an average soap-opera has in 3 years.
We are always told that Evie and Will love each other and have an awesome time together and talk about everything. Then we see the marriage-proposal and only afterwards Evie learns that Will used to work as an artist but had to quit because he didn't earn enough. What did they talk about in these awesome meetings? "I love you." - "I love you more." - "No I love you more." over and over again? 'What did you do before you moved here?' isn't exactly a deep dark secret...that's even a question that might come up in a discussion between casual acquaintances so what did our star-crossed lovers discuss that such an ordinary topic never ever came up?
In a similar vein we are told that Evie and Lizzy are great friends (and later Evie and other girls she works with in Flanders) but we rarely see them being friends and that's mainly because of the already mentioned soap-opera level of drama.
I mean you would guess the love-story between Evie and Will and the problems that arise when he can't deal with the horrors of what he sees in the war and tries to shut her on the one side and Evie working as ambulance-driver in Flanders where they also have to deal with bombs, gas-attacks etc. would be enough to fill a book but apparently it isn't. There are also Deep And Dark Family Secrets (TM) that Evie discovers (and then mentions them again only once), terrible things happen to her close friends, just about every soldier she knows is court-martialed or in danger of it, terrible things happen to Evie...it's like the author looked at Word War I and said 'I know that was the bloodiest conflict up to that point, the first time weapons were used that could kill a lot of people from very far away and it left a huge number of people physically and/or mentally scared but that alone just isn't exiting enough'. I never thought that you could have a WWI-novel that is just ridiculously over the top dramatic but this book manages it. And while we're occasionally told that Evie is affected by all this we never see it and anyway if there was a paragraph that talked about how horrible she felt it was usually cut short by...yes! More drama! That also didn't seem to affect her that much longer than one paragraph! And then even more drama! The longer it went the more I expected her just to break down crying because no normal human should have been able to go through all of this without yelling 'LIFE IS UNFAIR AND I HATE EVERYTHING' at least once but she never does. How I am supposed to relate to such a character?
Just...nope.
July 24, 2017
This is the second in the Oaklands Trilogy and in some ways, the two books overlap. Ms Nixon has done this in such a way as to make it seamless and I found it easy to pick up the thread of the first book and to learn what had happened to the characters in between. Evie Cresswell has grown up knowing that she will be expected to marry well but she is wilful and marries the love of her life, Will Davies, in secret. Both become involved in the horrors of WWI, with Will in the trenches, Evie driving an ambulance taking the wounded to hospital and trying to save her marriage, despite Will becoming withdrawn. Woven into the story is the ongoing mystery of the missing Kalteng jewel and the involvement of the rival Wingfield family which leads me to believe that all will only be resolved in the final book of the series. As always, the background research is faultless and the characters come across as totally believable and thoroughly likeable.
May 26, 2024
"A Rose in Flanders Fields" by Terri Nixon is a poignant historical fiction set against the backdrop of World War I. Aristocrat Evie Creswell finds herself driving an ambulance in Flanders, far from her privileged life at Oaklands Manor. Instead of conforming to societal expectations, Evie defies her family by marrying artist Will Davies, who works as a butcher's apprentice. As they navigate the horrors of war separately—Evie transporting the wounded and Will serving in the trenches—their marriage faces its own challenges.
Nixon skillfully captures the emotional turmoil of wartime separation and trauma, portraying the resilience and courage of Evie and Will amidst adversity. With its vivid depiction of life during World War I and its impact on personal relationships, "A Rose in Flanders Fields" is a compelling and moving tale of love, sacrifice, and resilience. This offers readers a poignant journey through one of history's most tumultuous periods.
May 24, 2017
I enjoyed reading this book, a love story and history of WW1, and the role of what jobs the women done to help the wounded on the front line.
August 29, 2014
War changes people in ways you never thought possible. It can make even the strongest of men weep, and the bravest of men run away. It takes pieces of yourself and, if allowed, will turn you into a shell of your former self. None of the characters in this book were spared any of this. They all had their trials and tribulations. But they also had laughs and good times. They dealt with the hand they were given, and it was an absolute privilege to read about them.
The two main characters of this book, Evie and Will, experience so much throughout the pages of this story. In the beginning, they are separated by rank and social status, Evie being "better off" than Will in that regard. But they feel this connection. One that thrives and grows in those peaceful times. But once the war starts, and they become separated by more than just who their family is, that very connection is tested. And as the years go by, it gets weaker and weaker to the point where it seems as if almost breakable. The true indication of their devotion for one another will be if they can prevent their love from doing just that...breaking. But if it does, can they ever get it back again? Or will it be lost forever.
Because this book is pretty well written in Evie's point of view, we see very little of Will once the war starts. Except for the occasional visit between the two, of course, and some letters. We do, however, get to learn Evie's contribution to the war, and we meet so many wonderful people because of that. So many other people who are just as important to the story as Evie herself.
There is death and destruction, and also pain. But there is also a plethora of happiness and love to counteract that. At some point near the middle of this book, I had the sudden thought that I loved it. It surprised me, because it wasn't a booming realization, but a whisper, and I don't think I have ever had a book do that to me before.
This is a wonderful, wonderful read. It sucked me in from the very beginning and just made me one with the story. In fact, I was quite excited to find out that Lizzy's story is also available. And I am definitely going to be reading that in future.
The two main characters of this book, Evie and Will, experience so much throughout the pages of this story. In the beginning, they are separated by rank and social status, Evie being "better off" than Will in that regard. But they feel this connection. One that thrives and grows in those peaceful times. But once the war starts, and they become separated by more than just who their family is, that very connection is tested. And as the years go by, it gets weaker and weaker to the point where it seems as if almost breakable. The true indication of their devotion for one another will be if they can prevent their love from doing just that...breaking. But if it does, can they ever get it back again? Or will it be lost forever.
Because this book is pretty well written in Evie's point of view, we see very little of Will once the war starts. Except for the occasional visit between the two, of course, and some letters. We do, however, get to learn Evie's contribution to the war, and we meet so many wonderful people because of that. So many other people who are just as important to the story as Evie herself.
There is death and destruction, and also pain. But there is also a plethora of happiness and love to counteract that. At some point near the middle of this book, I had the sudden thought that I loved it. It surprised me, because it wasn't a booming realization, but a whisper, and I don't think I have ever had a book do that to me before.
This is a wonderful, wonderful read. It sucked me in from the very beginning and just made me one with the story. In fact, I was quite excited to find out that Lizzy's story is also available. And I am definitely going to be reading that in future.
October 13, 2021
A Rose in Flanders Fields may not have had the same big emotional impact that hit me as much as Maid of Oaklands Manor did, but it made an impact nevertheless. Besides the first part of the book—where through some unpleasant turn of events we also see the development of Evie and Will’s relationship—the rest of it keeps you in the fields with your heart racing, and not just for the main couple. Brutality and injustices make war horrors even harder to live in and, if they touch someone close to you, the reality of it all makes your already difficult living practically unbearable. But Evie is a very strong heroine, she does everything in her power to help others and she constantly fights for love and justice. So, what if something stands over it? Light certainly must be done over a mystery that in the end could surprise the reader . . .
Even though I felt like sometimes the pace went too fast and I wouldn’t have minded seeing—and perhaps getting—Will a bit more, I really enjoyed the read. If you’re new to The Oaklands Manor Trilogy, I would definitely recommend to start from the first instalment, Maid of Oaklands Manor. Doing so, you’ll get additional helpful details to follow the first part of this story better, and you’ll also be able to create a stronger connection with the characters.
Terri Nixon pushes my curiosity to the point where I can’t stop reading once I started! I’ve been left wondering over the third main young woman, Kitty, and I really can’t wait to see where she goes from here . . .
I received a free copy of this book from the Author for an honest review. This does not affect in any way my opinion of the book nor the content of my review—originally posted on Darkest Sins.
Even though I felt like sometimes the pace went too fast and I wouldn’t have minded seeing—and perhaps getting—Will a bit more, I really enjoyed the read. If you’re new to The Oaklands Manor Trilogy, I would definitely recommend to start from the first instalment, Maid of Oaklands Manor. Doing so, you’ll get additional helpful details to follow the first part of this story better, and you’ll also be able to create a stronger connection with the characters.
Terri Nixon pushes my curiosity to the point where I can’t stop reading once I started! I’ve been left wondering over the third main young woman, Kitty, and I really can’t wait to see where she goes from here . . .
I received a free copy of this book from the Author for an honest review. This does not affect in any way my opinion of the book nor the content of my review—originally posted on Darkest Sins.
August 5, 2014
Even though the cover makes it seem like one of those adult romance-y novels (it just does), I really enjoyed this book and I'm just 16 years old. I guess that saying about judging books by their covers is true!
Anyway, I really liked this book. Sometimes books are filled with awful things just for the shock factor and after awhile you're like, Uh huh, sure. That would totally happen. Not. BUT! That doesn't happen in this book. All the things that happened are things that would've definitely occurred during the war. And they could've all happened to the same set of people, like they did in this book. It was very realistic. A+ for that, and for not going to ridiculous extremes like some books have done.
I have to say, I also really liked the characters. The main character was very understandable in the things she chose to do, and the way the other characters acted was also very realistic in a way that made them seem like they were real people. And, character development was perfect, even if not all of the people ended up good and happy in the end.
In conclusion: five stars.
Thanks to NetGalley this eBook.
Anyway, I really liked this book. Sometimes books are filled with awful things just for the shock factor and after awhile you're like, Uh huh, sure. That would totally happen. Not. BUT! That doesn't happen in this book. All the things that happened are things that would've definitely occurred during the war. And they could've all happened to the same set of people, like they did in this book. It was very realistic. A+ for that, and for not going to ridiculous extremes like some books have done.
I have to say, I also really liked the characters. The main character was very understandable in the things she chose to do, and the way the other characters acted was also very realistic in a way that made them seem like they were real people. And, character development was perfect, even if not all of the people ended up good and happy in the end.
In conclusion: five stars.
Thanks to NetGalley this eBook.
January 5, 2016
A fabulous love, friendship and family relationships story all mixed in with the history of WW1. Terri Nixon paints a picture of what life was like in the trenches for the soldiers and for the VAD's driving the ambulances to pick up the dead and the wounded. The conditions were atrocious and highly dangerous, with very little time to sleep between onslaughts. Although coming from a privileged background, the main character, shows true courage and love, for the man she marries before he goes off to war - only to return a different man, and set the "doubt" wheels in motion. The book kept me enthralled all through and I was sorry to finish it. Having read in the title of this book that it was book 2 of a trilogy - I tried to find book 1 and 3 to no avail, which is a real shame. I found another book by Terri Nixon, "Maid of Oaklands Manor", which I think may be No. 1 of the trilogy, but this is not stated, so I'm only guessing. As for part 3 ????
July 22, 2015
Terri Nixon hasn't only written this book, she has painted it, sculpted it, symphonized it, made it into a true work of art. I already loved "Maid of Oaklands Manor" but I simply adore "A Rose in Flanders Fields". The love story of Evie and Will, witnessed from their earliest meeting, through the horrors of the first World War, their experiences driving a wedge between them and turning it from a love story almost into a tragedy, then the final affirmation of their love makes this story so recognizable, it makes a man almost jealous of what they have found together. That alone makes this a timeless story, but I really like the setting and timeframe, once more reminding me of "Downton Abbey". It was fun to read a story that's actually partly taking place at the same time as that in "Maid of Oaklands Manor". I already have the third volume, "Daughter of Dark River Farm", lined up, and I'm very curious to see on which journey that one will take me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 9, 2014
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This isn';t one of my favorite genres to read, and World War 1 doesn't particularly interest me. I'm not quite sure why I even volunteered to read it, other than the synopsis sounded good. However, I am glad that I did read this, as it was a very interesting read, and not your typical nursing war story.
The romantic story between Will and Evie truly held this book together, providing the thread, however tenuous at times, that wove throughout the book. At times it provided a bit of adventure and recklessness, other times it provided grief and heartbreak, but ultimately it was a thread that showed that love can conquer all, not matter what the nightmares of life bring.
This isn';t one of my favorite genres to read, and World War 1 doesn't particularly interest me. I'm not quite sure why I even volunteered to read it, other than the synopsis sounded good. However, I am glad that I did read this, as it was a very interesting read, and not your typical nursing war story.
The romantic story between Will and Evie truly held this book together, providing the thread, however tenuous at times, that wove throughout the book. At times it provided a bit of adventure and recklessness, other times it provided grief and heartbreak, but ultimately it was a thread that showed that love can conquer all, not matter what the nightmares of life bring.
November 30, 2014
I enjoyed this novel. It's a romance story but with an authentic-seeming context of the first world war. There are some dark parts and it's not for the faint-hearted but it does transport the reader to those times. It seems to have been well researched on the whole. However, there are a couple of parts(especially one towards the end which is quite ridiculous!) which certainly don't ring true and are, frankly, a step too far even for dramatic effect and for the sake of the plot-line. It did spoil it a little for me.
August 9, 2015
Second in a trilogy, written from the perspective of Lizzy's friend Evie.
At first I thought it was going to be the same story just from Evie's side but the story in Book 1 was summarised quite quickly then it went into new story for Book 2.
Based in WW1 and included characterises from first book plus new ones.
I Enjoyed this better than the first book & am now going to read Book 3 which is Kitty's story.
At first I thought it was going to be the same story just from Evie's side but the story in Book 1 was summarised quite quickly then it went into new story for Book 2.
Based in WW1 and included characterises from first book plus new ones.
I Enjoyed this better than the first book & am now going to read Book 3 which is Kitty's story.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews