Red Poppies — Lynette Rees

It's 1916 and Adele Owen from Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales, is standing at the graveside of a dear family member, whilst another was recently killed on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.It's a time when the Suffragettes are campaigning for ‘Votes for Women', and although they are making their mark, women have a long way to go to compete with the men of Great Britain. It's a man's world and women usually have to accept their lot in life, or do they?Adele is a young nurse who has lofty ambitions -- she yearns to become a doctor during a time when it's quite unusual for women to take up the profession. She has the dilemma of telling her parents of this decision, coupled with the fact she will have to go to London to train.Once there, at the Royal Free Hospital, she faces opposition from the young men, who are her contemporaries. They think an ex-nurse from a valley town isn't good enough to become a doctor in training, doing all they can to put her off. But unknown to them, Adele has already caught the eye of an eminent surgeon who sees something stoic and worthwhile in her. So much so, he offers to mentor her and plans to take her to the Front with him to work at a casualty clearing station in Ypres, Belgium.Once there, she is thrown in the deep end, amongst the explosions and horrors of war, not to mention her involvement with shell-shocked soldiers, some of whom, signed up underage to take the King's shilling.Adele leaves an admirer behind in London, a well-respected physician of his day, who writes to her whilst she's overseas. This will eventually put her in a difficult position where two men vie for her attention. But which one will she choose?And will she survive the Third Battle of Ypres? Otherwise known as the Battle of Passchendaele…