Gifts of War

April 13, 2009
A battlefield promise sends a British soldier on a romantic mission in Ford's debut, a historical that starts strong but meanders toward a muted finale. During the Christmas truce of 1914, Lt. Henry “Hal” Montgomery swaps gifts with a German officer, Wilhelm Wetzlar, who is engaged to Sam Ross, an English schoolteacher. Longing for his great love, Wilhelm asks Hal to search out the woman to tell her he is safe. After a battlefield injury leaves Hal unable to have children, he finds Sam in a village near Stratford and discovers she has recently given birth to Wilhelm's illegitimate child. Hiding the fact that Wilhelm is alive, Hal persuades Sam to move to London and to allow him to be a father figure to the young boy. As the war continues, Hal becomes engaged with espionage work, but can't convince Sam to allow him into her heart. A side trip to Switzerland and a lengthy subplot involving Sam's sisters dampen the tension created by the possible revelation of Hal's secret, and the novel's rushed final moments fail to provide a satisfying finish.

May 1, 2009
Pedestrian fiction debut by a pseudonymous British historian combines espionage and romance against a World War I background.

The story revolves around a secret kept by its British hero, Hal Montgomery. In the trenches during the famous Christmas truce of 1914, Hal meets Wilhelm, a German officer engaged to an Englishwoman named Sam. Wilhelm asks Hal to pass a photo of himself to Sam, and after the British soldier is wounded he returns to England, looks Sam up, falls in love with her and decides not to reveal the meeting with Wilhelm. Hal becomes Sam's friend and eventually her lover, even though she does not reciprocate his feelings. But when Hal is invited to work in intelligence analysis in London, she agrees to go with him and brings along Wilhelm's illegitimate son, who grows up thinking Hal is his father. As the narrative focus shifts to Hal's war work, tension largely falls away, but Ford compensates with an inexhaustible supply of background minutiae about both the homefront and the battlefield (the latter via letters from Hal's sister Izzy, a nurse overseas). Hal has"a good war," achieving success and promotion, although Izzy's death is a bitter blow. Invited to the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, he meets Wilhelm, who has glimpsed Hal with Sam and accepts they are happy. But Sam has discovered Hal's deception too. Will she leave him? Will Hal decide to do the decent thing? The suspense is not overwhelming.

Stiff-upper-lip storytelling redeemed by flashes of feeling and a welter of period detail.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

Starred review from March 15, 2009
Oberleutnant Wilhelm Wetzlar and Lt. Henry Montgomery exchange civilities and makeshift gifts as German and British soldiers lay down their arms during the Christmas Truce of 1914. Wilhelm asks Henry to find his girl, Sam, a schoolteacher living near Stratford, and give her his photograph in uniform to explain his sudden disappearance. Wounded weeks later, Hal seeks to fulfill the request but instead becomes a suitor to Sam and a father figure to the son Wilhelm never knew he had. Hal's deception catapults this story through World War I and threatens to unravel these characters' lives. Descriptions of spying, intrigue, intelligence operations, jingoism of every stripe, and technological and medical breakthroughs reveal how those across the pond experienced the war to end all wars. The historical detail adds to the drama as first novelist Ford (a pseudonym for a British historian) keeps the reader on a knife's edge as the lies build and the truth is only a word or misstep away. Highly recommended for readers of historical fiction as well as those who enjoy tales of espionage. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 2/1/09.]Bette-Lee Fox, "Library Journal"

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2009
This novel, written pseudonymously by a British historian, is a fine work of fictionfaithful to historical fact and romantic to its core. When Henry Montgomery is invalided out of the army shortly after the Christmas Truce of 1914, he embarks on a duplicitous love affair with a young schoolteacher, Sam Ross. This deceit drives a strong plot. Told in the form of a memoir, the first-person narrative allows readers to see characters and settings from Hals thoroughly decent, if conflicted, point of view. Fords precisely descriptive style and leisurely storytelling introduce a strong cast of characters whom readers then get to know. He also paints a vivid picture of the ferment of World War I and sets up an understanding of its effect on Englands future. This relatively conventional romance also has a shocker of a surprise ending and will appeal to a variety of historical-fiction readers. Give it to fans of Susan Isaacs Shining Through (1988) or Michael Ondaatjes The English Patient (1992), among others. It would make a great date movie too.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)