In Falling Snow

In Falling Snow is a multi-generational tale of love, family, grief, ambition and womanhood. I was initially drawn to the WWI aspect of the tale, which focuses on Iris Crane as she heads to France to bring her brother home to Australia, only to find herself helping to run a hospital fully staffed by women. I'd never heard of Royaumont before and found it absolutely fascinating; In Falling Snow gives great insight into the struggles and strengths of these women. But it was Grace's story set in the 1970s that really drew me in. As Iris' granddaughter, she has been raised to have ambition, but she finds herself struggling to juggle the family and work life while taking care of Iris and learning about who she really is. I really connected with Grace and related to her ambition and internal conflicts. MacColl's writing is gorgeous; the historical details are authentic, the emotions are raw and touching and the setting is absolutely stunning. Fans of historical fiction would love this book.show more

This book is so much more than a regular love story during the war. This is a book about family relationships and how secrets can affect you even generations after. But it is also how friendships are with someone years after things have fallen apart. This story is told in alternating perspectives, and I found that I enjoyed Iris' more so. Her story is the main driving point of the book. Though her perspective is confusing at times because it jumps back and forth from past to present, her story has a great build up to the reveal at the end. The sense of family really kept me reading, I loved how Iris would do anything for her family. The reason she goes to Paris is to be her brother's protector and that is what keeps her going, as long as he stays so does she. I didn't find Grace's perspective as in-depth as Iris' but she does have her share of problems that Iris' secrets have helped cause in some places. All in all I found this book to mainly be about Iris, but there is a great mystery as well to her past at Royaumount. This book really can affect a reader showing how secrets can come back to bite your ancestors.show more

In Falling Snow follows two women, Iris and Grace, at different points in their professional and personal lives. Iris is an old woman, accepting the fact that she is dying. Grace is her granddaughter, attempting to balance life as a doctor while raising three kids. As she reaches the end of her life, Iris begins to reflect on her years working as a nurse in a WWI hospital and on her younger brother, Tom, who ran off to join the army at only 15. As the story jumps between her reflections and present day, Iris must finally come to terms with the responsibility of a tragedy she believes rests on her shoulders. Grace, upon seeing her grandmother's deterioration, begins to realize how little she really knows about Iris' past. What Grace ultimately discovers will change her, and her loved ones' lives, forever. I found In Falling Snow engaging, but inconsistently so. The first part of the book, in which characters and personalities were being established, didn't really keep my interest. However, once the novel began to focus on Iris' time as a nurse during the Great War, I loved it. The details surrounding the war, soldiers, and people working in the hospital were obviously well-researched and it showed in how well the story developed. I could sense a big reveal coming toward the end of the book and was prepared when it appeared, but still found it rushed and slightly awkward. The reveal seemed brief and left me with an odd feeling as I had been watching the tension and secrecy build for almost 400 pages. For fans of history, specifically the heartache experienced during wartime, In Falling Snow is an informative read. For those who love stories surrounding family secrets that span generations, this book is a must-read.show more

Mary-Rose MacColl's latest book, 'In Falling Snow' is a novel set in both France during the First World War and in Australia, sixty or so years later. It follows Iris, a young Australian nurse who is sent to France to bring back her underage brother when he signs up to fight. Iris falls in with a determined group of women who are setting up a hospital to treat the men injured in battle. We also meet Grace, Iris's granddaughter, and an elderly Iris, back in Australia, widowed and unwell. When Iris receives an invitation to return to France for a reunion with the Royaumont staff, she wants to go but Grace thinks it's too dangerous. The book covers different approaches to medicine, pitching pioneering women doctors and nurses against Grace's generation of women doctors who might be thought to have had it easy, but are still subject to discrimination. Grace has to balance her roles as doctor and mother whilst Iris has given up her career to give her life to bringing up her granddaughter. Ethical issues around war, the treatment of combatants, parenting and parental love, illness, disease and genetics are all squeezed into this fascinating novel. If you are interested in the First World War or just enjoy a good historic block-buster, 'In Falling Snow' may well be just what you're looking for.show more