{"id":13777,"date":"2021-01-01T10:10:34","date_gmt":"2021-01-01T15:10:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=13777"},"modified":"2022-11-07T19:32:23","modified_gmt":"2022-11-08T00:32:23","slug":"the-shattered-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13777","title":{"rendered":"The Shattered Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Shattered Tree<\/a><\/em> (2016) Charles Todd (Bess Crawford)<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>Set in France in 1918.<\/p>\n

Bess Crawford is back towards the front when a soldier in a French uniform is brought in, suffering from blood loss, his feet torn up because someone stole his boots before he fled across no-man’s land. But when the soldier unconsciously yells out in German, Bess wonders if he is actually an escaped French prisoner, or a German spy.<\/p>\n

As with the last couple of books, the parts of the book I really enjoyed dealt with the war.<\/p>\n

Like this French woman describing conditions of the wounded at the start of the war.<\/p>\n

I volunteered at Panne, where the Belgians had set up an excellent hospital. After that, I stood in railway stations with other nurses and nuns, caring for the wounded in trains sent back from the Front. It was terrible\u2014 no bandages to speak of, except field dressings. No cots, men lying in their own filth in bloody straw, no food, no medicines. Not even water. This was true well into 1915. It was the most terrible experience, to see the need and be so helpless to fill it. But then the Army began to realize that they were losing men who shouldn\u2019t have died. And still they resisted using nurses.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And the continued discussion of shell-shock and it’s affect on both the army and individual soldiers.<\/p>\n

\u201cShell shock is what you call it, I think. He remembers too much, and it has nearly destroyed him. His wife has already left him. His friends. But he is so tormented he can\u2019t turn away from what he sees in his head. It\u2019s rather terrible. I have done what I could. It may never be enough.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The mystery however, was confusing, some of the characters ran together, and some of the conclusions Bess (and others) made didn’t make sense. <\/p>\n

Which was aggravating. <\/p>\n

Also, Bess gets away with an awful lot I somehow doubt other women in the same situation would have been given as much leniency.<\/p>\n

So in some ways this book was frustrating, as there were parts I enjoyed, and part that could have been done so much better.<\/p>\n

As an aside, considering the current world in its own upheaval, this bit hit home.<\/p>\n

After four long years, it seemed as if this was what was normal now, and that what had been before was no more than a dream of a distant time. How it would be afterward, I don\u2019t think any of us could imagine.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I can’t imagine what life is going to be like as begin this new year, and hope to see the end of the pandemic in 2021.<\/p>\n

Publisher : William Morrow<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Shattered Tree (2016) Charles Todd (Bess Crawford) Set in France in 1918. Bess Crawford is back towards the front when a soldier in a French uniform is brought in, suffering from blood loss, his feet torn up because someone stole his boots before he fled across no-man’s land. But when the soldier unconsciously yells […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[193,30,292,48,33,8],"tags":[124,123,564,45],"class_list":["post-13777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-10","category-british","category-ebook","category-female","category-historical","category-mystery","tag-bess-crawford","tag-charles-todd","tag-pandemic","tag-wwi"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-3Ad","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13771,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/13771","url_meta":{"origin":13777,"position":0},"title":"Tales: Short Stories Featuring Ian Rutledge and Bess Crawford","author":"Michelle","date":"December 29, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Tales: Short Stories Featuring Ian Rutledge and Bess Crawford (2015) Charles Todd This collection is four short stories with Bess Crawford and Ian Rutledge. \"The Kidnapping\" \"The Girl on the Beach\" \"Cold Comfort\" \"The Maharani's Pearls\" \"The Kidnapping\" - Ian Rutledge, London 1920 I actually have a copy of this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tales Short Stories Featuring Ian Rutledge and Bess Crawford","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Tales-Short-Stories-Featuring-Ian-Rutledge-and-Bess-Crawford.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3426,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3426","url_meta":{"origin":13777,"position":1},"title":"An Impartial Witness","author":"Michelle","date":"January 4, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"An Impartial Witness (2010) Charles Todd Bess Crawford is escorting wounded soldiers back to London, including a pilot who was badly burned, and whose thoughts of his wife seem to be what is pulling him through the horror of his injuries. Bess sees the wife, making a tearful plea to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Impartial-Witness.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3407,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3407","url_meta":{"origin":13777,"position":2},"title":"A Duty to the Dead","author":"Michelle","date":"January 1, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"A Duty to the Dead (2009) Charles Todd Bess Crawford is serving as a nurse in the Great War. The hospital ship on which she was serving was sunk, and although she survives, a badly broken arm sends her back to London to recuperate. A promise made to a soldier\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Duty-Dead.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9718,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9718","url_meta":{"origin":13777,"position":3},"title":"An Impartial Witness","author":"Michelle","date":"February 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"An Impartial Witness (2010) Charles Todd Set in Europe in 1917. Nursing sister Bess Crawford has just escorted a group of wounded soldiers back to London, including a terribly burned pilot whose picture of his wife was what he turned to through his excruciating first days. When that woman's murdered\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Impartial-Witness-e1511018288905.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3435,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3435","url_meta":{"origin":13777,"position":4},"title":"A Bitter Truth","author":"Michelle","date":"January 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"A Bitter Truth (2011) Charles Todd In the third Bess Crawford mystery, Bess has returned home for Christmas leave, but before she makes it to her parent's home, she discovers a young woman huddled in her doorway. Taking pity on her, she ends up returning home with the woman, to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "British"","block_context":{"text":"British","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/british"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Bitter-Truth.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9716,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9716","url_meta":{"origin":13777,"position":5},"title":"A Duty to the Dead","author":"Michelle","date":"February 24, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A Duty to the Dead (2009) Charles Todd Set in Europe in 1916 Bess Crawford is a nursing sister on the HMHS Britannic when its sunk by the Germans. She's sent him to recuperate, and also to deliver a message given to her by a dying soldier. The mystery here\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Duty-Dead-e1511018572979.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13777\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}