Passions of War

February 15, 2012
The second installment of Green's Leonora Trilogy (Daughters of War, 2011) finds Leo with fiance-of-convenience Tom back in mid-1914 London, recuperating from her work with First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY) aiding the Serbs in the First Balkan War and from falling for Colonel Sasha Maklovic, who, after a round of Shakespearian mistaken identities, reciprocated her feelings though he is promised to another. Fact-crammed dialogue briefly summarizes the first novel, then Green hits her forceful writing stride when FANY friend Victoria says, What a tangled world it is, referring to Leo's love for Sasha; Tom's for Ralph, Leo's brother; and poor Luke, their wartime colleague who is in love with Victoria, who treated him atrociously. No soap opera, this dramatic wartime romance is smartly compelling as Ralph spies on the Black Hand, doughboy enters the vernacular, and the Bulgarians and Austrians escape through hostile Albania, along with retreating Serbs and accompanying FANYs, as the Balkan tinderbox flames. Green's exciting tale will gratify her steadfast readers and make new fans.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)