Summary Of Masie Dobbs

Maisie Dobbs Jacqueline Winspear’s story, Maisie Dobbs, is told during the Great War times in 1929, telling the wounds of many characters such as Celia Davenham and Billy Beale. Some of the issues told in the story from the Great War are emotional and some are physical, as the author expresses these issues through her characters. The emotional issues presented in this story can outweigh the physical issues. Celia Davenham is an interesting character who shows her emotional problems through her physical actions. Billy Beale was a character that was one of my personal favorites. He has some physical and emotional wounds from the Great War. Billy was a sapper in the war and that is someone who repairs and builds roads and bridges, lays down mines,

Billy is very loyal to Maisie and this dates back to his time in the war as a sapper. Billy’s right leg was crippled by some shrapnel in the Great War, and he now walks with a limp. This injury lead Billy to Maisie because once he was injured he went to the casualty clearing station where Maisie and Simon Lynch repaired Billy’s leg. When Billy returned from the war he worked as the Warren Street office caretaker when he was reunited with Maisie in 1929. Billy reveals his generosity towards Maisie as stated here, “Well, Miss. Anything you ever want doing, you just ‘oller. I’m your man. Stroke of luck, meeting up with you again, innit? Wait till I tell the missus. Your want anything done, you call me. Anything” (Winspear 7). As Maisie gets to know Billy she starts to hear the bad side of him. The bad side is that he talks of really deep and sad subjects of the war such as when Billy is talking about when the kids that were too young to fight would get paralyzed in fear. Billy says, “Court-martialed, they were. And you know what ‘appened to a lot of ‘em, don’t you? Shot. Even if some of ‘em weren’t quite so innocent, villains getting up to no good when they should’ve been on the line, it ain’t the way to go, is it? Not shot by their own. Bloody marvelous, ain’t it? You pray your ‘ead off that the Kaiser’s boys don’t get you, then it’s your own that do!” (Winspear 46). Billy starts to share his deep

Winspear shows that everyone is fighting in the Great War, not just the soldiers. When I say “everyone” I am talking about how loved ones have to fight with their own raw emotions, their spouses or children may be getting killed or injured and that can be just as tough as fighting in the war itself. Winspear’s emphasis on the wounds of the soldiers and others during the wartime showed that the war was a global conflict and it affects not only the soldiers but everyone around the world. Winspear shows that even though you are getting to fight for your country and get paid a pretty hefty amount to do so once you come back you will have to live with the memories and sleepless nights for the rest of your life. This relates to the theme of the novel, war gives everyone an opportunity but with that opportunity comes great risk, and focuses on how soldiers are not treated very well once they return from the