Those Left Behind

While soldiers fight on foreign soil, their families fight a different battle at home.

In Those Left Behind, book two of Melina Druga’s Echoes of the Great War Trilogy, the focus shifts from the front lines of Europe to the heart of Canada’s home front during World War I. Through deeply personal letters, diary entries, and powerful moments of everyday life, readers witness how one family — the Stewards — grapples with separation, loss, and the unrelenting anxiety of waiting for loved ones to return.

Hettie Steward, now a nurse in the Canadian Army Nursing Service, writes from the battlefields of Europe. At home, her family struggles to adapt to a world turned upside down. Her mother clings to propriety, her sister faces motherhood alone, and her brothers confront duty and disillusionment. Each voice reveals the strength and sorrow of those who must endure, the ones “left behind.”

Richly detailed and emotionally resonant, Those Left Behind brings the Great War to life from a perspective too often forgotten. Fans of The Nightingale, The Alice Network, and Somewhere in France will be captivated by this moving exploration of courage, sacrifice, and hope on the home front.

Discover the heartbreak and humanity behind every letter home.