Interesting that this book was born (apparently) from a short story about Angelique herding geese. Makes a great companion novel to many other war novels although it is set in France during WW1, so the struggles of the French peasants and the soldiers at Verdun and the Somme are truly awful. Angel is left on the farm with her mother when both her older brother and bully of a father enlist to "defend France". The book opens with them receiving the dreaded letter to tell them that one of the family has been killed...in this case, it is Angel's father. Struggling to pay his gambling debts and in fear that they will lose the farm, with a sick mother, Angel enlists the help of an uncle and sets off to the battlefront with a herd of geese ( a rare animal still not stolen by the soldiers to eat) She and her uncle hope to entice the gentrified officer class to bid against each other and thus push the prices of the geese up; especially as it is nearly Christmas. Disguised as a boy she is separated from her uncle and must act on her wits despite her goose becoming ill and dying one by one.
Gut-wrenching ending but very vivid portrayal of the horrors war inflicts on the innocent bystanders. ( )