Death at Greenway (2021) by Lori Rader-Day is a murder mystery set at the time Agatha Christie was writing her murder mysteries. It’s also set in a house she owned in south Devon. Fiction with facts in it. So if you know Agatha Christie’s books, you’ll like it. But you don’t even need to have heard of her to enjoy the story.
World War II and bombings in London. Children were evacuated to the countryside to keep them safe. One group of 10 children were taken, along with two nurses, to a home in south Devon. This is their story. Well, really of the two nurses and the residents of the property and surrounding area.
The mistress of the house only makes one brief appearance while the children are there. She was spending most of her time in London, studying poisons for the British government. Her husband was somewhere – doing war effort and archeology work. They were, of course, Agatha Christie and Max Mallowan.
Evacuees at Greenway
The book is not about Christie and Mallowan, however. It is about the nurses, children, household staff and village residents. Also mysterious strangers who pass through, not surprising given the proximity of Greenway House to the English Channel. One of the nurses says its location is an odd choice for children. It would make more sense, she says, to requisition it for military personnel.
In real life, Greenway House was the war-time home for ten children evacuated from London. And the British military later requisitioned it. Lori Rader-Day talked to a woman who had been one of those evacuees. She was just a baby at the time, but she had a few vivid memories of the house. The piano was one. It was returning home that she remembered most. She missed the large house, and the children and nurses who had become the only family she knew.
Being so young then, she doesn’t remember the library. But it is mentioned several times in the book. A part of the house that was off-limits to the “guests,” the nurses did go in and read the books. Murder mysteries, a whole library full.
Life in war
Death at Greenway is a mystery novel, and a good one. But it’s also the story of civilians trying to live in war. Trying to survive their own trauma and fears. One of the nurses has her own PTSD that, thanks to her training, she both recognizes and ignores. Her home was bombed and her mother and young siblings killed. She should have been home, should have been with them. Survivors’ guilt, which she tries to stifle. She has to hold it together to help those relying on her, others have it much worse, etc. Noble thoughts, which are detrimental if ignored.
It was especially thought-provoking reading it during the American presidential campaign and while a war in Europe is going on. Isolationist sentiment is prevalent in some circles and some political parties in the US and Canada. Not our business, settle the war by giving the aggressor what it wants. Echoes of World War II there for sure.
Remember
Meanwhile, then and now, ordinary people live in a state of constant fear, and danger. So, thanks to Death at Greenway, on this Remembrance Day I’m thinking of the soldiers, sailors and airmen who fought. The nurses, doctors and ambulance staff who tried to save lives. And especially, I think of the civilians who didn’t sign up, who simply tried to survive. Many did, somehow, and many did not.
Death in Greenway tells the stories of those people “not in the war” while also linking them with the military action in this part of Devon. A little bit of history brought to life for you. A lot of material for thought on how involuntary participants survive the damage of war. And a lovely moment near the end that shows how useful naval signals are – and makes you want to get some flags and learn signalling.
(Thanks to Coastal Safety, these flags spell out “Read it” in international maritime signal code.)
Appropriately, Death at Greenway won the 2021 Agatha Award for Best Historical Novel. Agatha Christie’s 1958 Ordeal by Innocence features a house to which children were evacuated during the war. (Tap highlighted titles to see on Amazon.)
For more on Operation Overlord, which – spoiler – comes into this story, see my NB Regiment KIA on D-Day.
