Flower of Iowa

Finalist, Lambda Literary Award (Gay Romance)Gold Winner, Foreword Indies Book of the Year Award (War & Military Fiction) andIBPA Benjamin Franklin Award (Fiction: Romance)Silver Winner, IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award (LGBTQ)Bronze Medal, Independent Publisher Book Award (Military/Wartime Fiction)Lance Ringel's Flower of Iowa is a sprawling tale of battle and romance during the First World War, the four years that tore Europe in half and hastened the end of an era. In the tradition of stirring historical novels, this grand epic showcases courage, the resilience of the human spirit, and the transformative power of love. Flower of Iowa recalls Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, if that celebrated tale of love during wartime had featured two men at the bruised heart of the story.The novel is set against the turbulent backdrop of France during the final months of World War I. Naïve, idealistic American soldier Tommy Flowers, a small-town boy from the Midwest, struggles to become a good soldier in the trenches. Tommy also encounters Australian sergeant Jamie Colbeck, a battle-hardened survivor, and French barmaid Nicole Lacroix, whose presence creates unexpected emotional complexity.But it is his bond with savvy young British soldier David Pearson that becomes the heart of his wartime experience. The friendship soon develops an unexpected intimacy. Baffled by their feelings, but committed to exploring them further, Tommy and David do everything to spend time together, even after David is wounded and sent home to England to convalesce.Flower of Iowa is meticulously researched, documenting the pivotal battles of 1918, life at the front lines, and the everyday challenges and tragedies facing the soldiers of the Great War. Author Ringel has created an instant classic, deeply compelling and authentic, recalling a fraught time when love between two men was territory as perilous and uncharted as No Man's Land. Read more