The Summer Before the War

Among the throngs of Americans who devoted themselves to the British historical drama Downton Abbey are a respectable number of young adult enthusiasts. Those teens may have cut their teeth on print historical fiction and count themselves among the acolytes of Jane Austen or the Brontës. This novel's setting is not the grand estate, nor are its characters of the upstairs and downstairs dichotomy. Instead, it features progressive Beatrice Nash, newly arrived to Rye to take on a Latin teaching position. After the death of her scholarly father, she has found employment to gain independence from his family who control what money she has inherited. In Rye, she finds herself championed by Agatha Kent, a woman who would never count herself among the blue stockings but who is nonetheless a force in the town. Beatrice is welcomed by Agatha's two nephews, one a poet and one just finishing his training as a surgeon. Hugh, the doctor, is particularly kind to Beatrice as she faces challenges such as an unpleasant landlady, unscrupulous solicitors, and reluctant pupils. The German invasion of Belgium in 1914 heralds England's going to war and brings refugees, like the lovely blonde Celeste, whom Beatrice takes in. Like no summer before it, this last one before the Great War is revealed in the day-to-day lives of Miss Nash and her newly adopted neighbors.