Jody Shields, The Crimson Portrait

The Crimson Portrait

Jody Shields

Little, Brown, December 2006, $23.99

ISBN: 0316785288

In 1915, though grieving the death of her spouse Charles in the combat on the continent, widow Catherine completed his dream by converting their massive estate just outside London into a military hospital that specializes in facial injuries, a discipline with little known knowledge. However, Catherine keeps to herself unable to meet with the doctors, the staff or the patients.

In spite of the friendliness of the person in charge, Dr. McCleary and other staffers, Catherine avoids everyone. That is until a patient wearing a mask called Julian begins to force her to move past her grief. She begins to see Julian, who is a mapmaker, and she decides he is perfect for her, especially if Dr. McCleary can reconstruct Julian's visage to look like Charles' face.

THE CRIMSON PORTRAIT is a fascinating historical fiction novel that brings to life post combat medicine and its link to portrait painting, especially facial reconstructive surgery during its early days. The characters drive this superb tale, especially of a doctor, a reclusive female patron and a patient, as each seems real, bringing to life the horrors of war in 1915 England. Reactions to Julian by other people add to the feel of a terrific war drama, in which the fighting is elsewhere, but the results are summed up in this country home.