Book cover illustration by Andrew Davidson
Meet Maisie Dobbs. As imagined by author Jacqueline Winspear in her series of mystery novels, Dobbs is a psychologist and investigator who served as a nurse on the battlefields of World War I France. She returns to her life in London as shell-shocked as any man in the trenches – but as she takes on the role of an investigator, she works, too, at the healing of her own wounded soul.
In her Dobbs’ books, and in her World War 1 novel, The Care and Management of Lies – a finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize – Winspear shares with readers the traumatic effects of war--both psychological and physical – on individuals and families. Her sensitivity to this period is rooted in her childhood awareness of her grandfather’s suffering following the “war to end all wars.”
Winspear talks about the genesis of her fiction, and considers how stories can help people open conversations and, perhaps, provide a means of making sense of the most troubling events in their lives.
In This Grave Hour: A Maisie Dobbs Mystery (Harper) is available for signing.
