AN IRISH HOSTAGE (Bess Crawford #12) by Charles Todd will be published on July 6th 2021 by William Morrow.
Nurse Bess Crawford is back in the twelfth novel in the series, AN IRISH HOSTAGE. With the Great War over and Bess's nursing services no longer in need in battlefield hospitals, she has returned home to England and is trying to figure out the next step in her life. To fulfill a promise made early on in the war, Bess travels to Ireland to serve as the Maid of Honor at a fellow nurse's wedding. Upon Bess's arrival, she is subjected to hostility from the local Irish. The Irish are hoping for Home Rule, and they are hostile against anyone who is English or who fought for England. Eileen Flynn and her fiancé, Michael Sullivan, have been on the receiving end of the hostility—including from the bride's extended family. Not long before Bess arrives in Ireland, the groom goes missing. Bess joins in on the search to find Michael before the wedding. When Michael does show up, he is badly beaten and in need of Bess's nursing skills. Instead of fleeing Ireland for her own safety, Bess decides to remain and care for Michael. While trying to get Michael healed enough to leave Ireland, his best man goes missing. Bess, along with the help of Simon Brandon and Eileen's cousin who staunchly supports the Home Rule, go in search of the missing English officer before he meets a fate worse than Michael's.
AN IRISH HOSTAGE is a great addition to the Bess Crawford series. With the war over and Bess's days as a nursing sister almost over, it is good to see her growing and making decisions based on the future. It's also interesting to see Bess in another hostile environment outside of France or England. Charles Todd weaves the history of the 1916 Easter Rising throughout the novel and shows Bess (and the reader) why the Irish are so angry with England and why they feel betrayed by some of the Irish who fought for England during the war. Some sections of the novel dragged at times, and sometimes it was a bit unbelievable as to why Bess would remain in Ireland where she was clearly in danger when she could have easily escaped back to England. That being said, I enjoyed the novel. And, considering the way AN IRISH HOSTAGE ended, I can't wait to see what happens next between Bess and Simon.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.