Adjustment Year
About
By early 1919, the hopeful cheers of Armistice Day have faded into a quiet, uneasy silence. Hettie returns to Canada, married to Alfred — a stranger in many ways — and haunted by the memory of her first husband, Geoffrey, whose death she never fully mourned.
Burdened by unresolved grief, Hettie struggles to adjust to civilian life. As she attempts to piece together the remnants of her shattered past, she finds herself facing the cruel judgments of her new family who are hell-bent on making her feel like an outsider in her own home.
Facing heartache and Alfred’s family’s cold cruelty, the shadows of doubt and despair threaten to consume her. Only Hettie’s brother Freddie truly understands her pain, though he too harbors secrets and pain that weigh heavily on his soul.
As the siblings navigate their emotional storms, the stakes become impossibly high. Will Hettie learn to embrace the bittersweet reality of her adjustment year, or will the weight of her sorrow and the strain of marriage lead her down the painful path toward divorce?
The poignant conclusion to the WW1 trilogy explores the difficult journey toward healing in a world struggling to find peace.
Adjustment Year invites readers to witness a woman’s struggle for hope, healing, and the possibility of love in an era tinged with heartache and transformation. Join Hettie as she fights to reclaim her life, and discover if she can find joy amid overwhelming sorrow.
Praise for this book
The characters in Adjustment Year take readers by their hand and lead them through the trials and tribulations of returning to normal society and the problems that are part of each of the characters' lives as they adjust to being back at home and living normal lives. They try to adjust to marriages, changes in the world, women not being married being able to work and earn their own money, and not being beholden to men for support and money. Melina Druga brings the 1910s to life in a romantic but clear way and holds the reader's attention from the first page to the twist on the very last page. I found this book to be quite an eye-opener. It was most interesting to learn what people had to go through to re-acclimatize themselves to everyday life. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
This delightful book left me wanting more of the Steward family! It is well written and left me with much to think about.
This book deserves a second read! (and maybe more).
Druga has written a wonderful end to her trilogy and if you are a fan of historical fiction, I recommend you pick up this series.
Intense and entertaining read with interesting characters with flaws and deep issues to deal with.
This is Melina Druga’s spectacular sequel to her WWI trilogy about Canadian Hettie Steward and her family from mid 1914 thru January 1920. As with the two previous books in the series, it is an example of superb writing, and fantastic story telling ability. The characters have very real problems and situations that pull at her reader’s emotions. You will not be able to put it down.
I won't give spoilers, but the book is ultimately uplifting. I highly recommend this novel for those who love historical fiction, especially early 20th c.
The author weaves a spellbinding tale, showing the difficulties of delayed grief, symptoms of what we call PTSD, and trying to fit back into a society that doesn’t understand what you’ve been though or how much you’ve changed. I just had to keep reading one more chapter and read well into the night.
This is a beautifully written book. I loved Hettie right from the beginning. There is something enchanting about the descriptions that really brings you from your world and straight into Hettie’s world.