The Woman at the Front
Page 40
In 2009, with my husband and my teenaged children, I finally made it. We went to the magnificent Vimy monument and asked for the location of C-21. The staff didn’t know, but they suggested it might be in the local village, where the cemetery held a number of Canadian graves from World War I. Matthew wasn’t there, but in the local tavern, my son asked if anyone knew where we might look next. The locals considered the problem and told us stories of their grandparents’ war. One elderly lady recalled the day the English king came to unveil the monument on the ridge. “We were naughty children, and we used to climb it,” she said. “But even the Nazis were in awe of that monument during the second war.” Finally, one gentleman suggested that the site we sought might be the tiny war grave behind the soccer field, tucked away under green trees between farmers’ fields. The track that led to it was muddy and overgrown, but there it was. Matthew’s grave lay amid perhaps twenty others, all men who had died at Vimy Ridge, and very close to where they had fallen that day.
My children were so moved, and bringing my grandfather’s story to life for them generated a huge interest in World War I for all of us, and that interest was a large part of the inspiration for The Woman at the Front.
I also have an interest in medical history. Originally I thought I’d write about a nurse, but in my initial research, I learned that while female nurses and clerks and even ambulance drivers were allowed to work close to the front lines, female doctors were not. The official argument was that women could not possibly be expected to perform sanitary inspections or visit men in the dangerous frontline trenches. They wouldn’t be capable of enduring the horrors of war, the rough manners of wounded soldiers, or the shock of seeing and treating men with venereal diseases. Most interesting of all was the theory that while wounded men saw nurses as tender angels of mercy, they feared doctors as butchers and were terrified of hospitals and surgery, and it was believed they’d be even more frightened of female doctors.
Many of the brave medical women who applied for frontline service refused to take no for an answer and funded their own hospitals, staffed entirely by women, on both the eastern and western fronts. Their excellent work earned the admiration of patients and the medical establishment. The French Red Cross happily accepted the services of qualified medical women. Eventually, the British allowed female doctors to serve in England, and one hospital in London, the Endell Street Military Hospital, was staffed entirely by women.
In researching The Woman at the Front, I read many fascinating firsthand accounts and memoirs of people who supported the doctors and nurses at hospitals, aid posts, and Casualty Clearing Stations, including chaplains, nurses, volunteers, orderlies, and stretcher bearers. I fell in love with the heroic bearers who bravely went out onto the battlefield under fire and in terrible conditions to bring in wounded men who would have died without them. Originally, they were recruited from the regimental bands when it was discovered there wasn’t much call for band music on the Western Front. Eventually, stretcher bearers became a more formal part of providing medical care to the wounded. They were given professional training in first aid. Both sides respected the sight of men with red cross brassards on their sleeves rescuing the wounded, but the bearers still faced terrible odds of survival in such a dangerous job. They were strong, brave, and selfless. How could I not include such a hero in my story?
Some of the people I enjoyed reading about most included medical women such as Louisa Garrett Anderson, Dr. Flora Murray, Dr. Elsie Inglis, and nurses Mairi Chisholm and Elsie Knocker, who set up and ran their own first aid post on the front lines during the war. These two brave women provided the inspiration for Eleanor’s scenes at the aid post. Several other scenes are also loosely based on actual accounts.
As for the rest of the story, there are many personal touches sprinkled throughout. Charlie Nevins’s brothers are named for my grandfather Robert and his brothers Matthew and Fred. Some of you who’ve read my Scottish romances might recognize the name MacLeod from those books. I like to think that if my doughty MacLeod heroines had had sons and grandsons after their own stories were done, they would have been every bit as brave and fine as Fraser.
And yes, there really is a town in Alberta called High River, which is near my home and very dear to my heart—especially the wonderful Museum of the Highwood, where I am a volunteer. The Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) truly did own a ranch here, purchased after a royal visit in 1919, when the prince fell in love with Alberta. The foothills are truly every bit as beautiful as I’ve described them here. I hope you’ll visit someday!
The rest of the story is all my own, written with the support and encouragement of my wonderful agent, Kevan Lyon, and my lovely editor at Berkley, Sarah Blumenstock. It takes a team to write a book, and to my marvelous copy editor and the production, marketing, and publicity teams at Berkley, many, many thanks. I am so proud to have you in my corner. My wonderful critique partner, the incomparable author Roxy Boroughs, read the first draft, and her advice was, as always, insightful and book-saving. And thanks to my historian (and modern feminist) daughter, Olivia, who helped me hone Eleanor into a courageous, brilliant, amazing woman who reminds me very much of her, and who overcame so much to become the incredible woman she is. My son, Griffin, has always been my sounding board for ideas and patiently listens to my rants when my stories get away from where I expected them to go, then makes suggestions to get me back to where I need to be. He’s a historian by heart if not by trade. And thanks to the Military Museums of Calgary for inspirational exhibits and lectures that bring the details of the war to life. And to the Museum of the Highwood, where I volunteer and my daughter worked, and museum director Irene Kerr, for the many stories that are preserved within those walls and are so generously shared with writers like me, and so we never forget the sacrifices made in all wars.
READERS GUIDE
The
WOMAN at
the FRONT
LECIA CORNWALL
Questions for Discussion
Eleanor has a difficult relationship with her father. He tries to dissuade her from practicing medicine. Is his behavior toward his daughter meant to strengthen Eleanor for the challenges of her chosen career, or is his attitude truly just Victorian scorn for smart women who don’t know their place?
Eleanor’s brother sees the war as a chance to rise in society. Is he cold and self-serving, or part of a necessary change in the social order that allowed people of talent to take higher roles?
Louis Chastaine strives to be a hero in his own right, taking dangerous chances to prove himself. In the end, he must bow to the strong female influences in his life to succeed, including his mother, Eleanor, and Lady Frances. Is this emasculating?
The book discusses various types of allies and enemies. How do these elements drive identity and create conflict in the story?
The colonel represents the old tradition of men as the stronger sex caring for women as the weaker. The war challenges this belief for him. What factors allow the colonel to accept the new paradigm of strong women when other men, like Eleanor’s father, refuse to embrace it?
In this era, men had authority. How does Eleanor deal effectively with masculine authority?
Each class of society in this time period lived by certain expectations. Are the upper classes truly freer than the classes below them, or are the rules actually more restrictive?
Although some medical women practiced in war zones without the sanction of the British government, the army refused to allow women to serve as doctors on the front lines. Was it right to protect them from the horrors of war even though there was a shortage of qualified male doctors?
World War I saw many women taking jobs outside the home for the first time. Did the necessity for women to step up and become breadwinners and essential workers further or impede the argument for suffrage?
Women gained many advantages within society because of the
war. Was this out of necessity or a matter of seizing opportunities previously denied to them?
How culpable was Eleanor in the unexpected outcome of the medical school exam? Was she truly naive, or is it likely she must have somehow known the truth?
Could Eleanor have returned home at the end of the war? What would she have had to sacrifice to do so?
Fraser finds his own way of coping with the horrors of war by refusing to consider the past or the future. How do his feelings for Eleanor challenge this strategy?
Photo by Griffin Cotton Cornwall
Lecia Cornwall, acclaimed author of numerous historical romance novels, lives and writes in the beautiful foothills of the Canadian Rockies with four cats and a wild and crazy ninety-pound chocolate Lab named Andy. She has two grown children and one very patient husband. When she is not writing, Lecia is a dedicated volunteer at the Museum of the Highwood in High River, Alberta. The Woman at the Front is her first novel of historical women’s fiction.
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