Adjustment Year

The stunning conclusion to Melina Druga’s World War I trilogy traces Hettie’s attempts to reacclimate to civilian life in the aftermath of the conflict.

It’s been five years since Hettie left home a blushing bride. Recently relieved of her duties as an army nurse, she makes her long-awaited return a newlywed once again… and pregnant.

Hettie can’t escape the painful memories of the thousands of wounded soldiers she tended to at the Casualty Clearing Station, the devastation of the Halifax Explosion, or the death of her first husband, killed in action shortly after they arrived in France. In a fragile state, she finds little in the way of acceptance or affection among her new in-laws, who can’t seem to understand how a way of life that was once so familiar could become so frightening.

To make matters worse, Hettie barely knows the man whose child she’s carrying. By the time the war finally came to an end — and she accepted his proposal of a hasty marriage — Col. Alfred Taylor had spent more time as her penfriend than her lover.

He’s the only family she has in Niagara-on-the-Lake, but Alfred might be too caught up with his own problems to notice Hettie’s ongoing battle. Both husband and wife are still fighting the ghosts of the Great War, but will they realize how similar their demons are before it’s too late?