WHO MADE THE LAMB is a narrative told in the first person by a young American woman, Amanda Ten Eycke, from New York City, New York.  Her story begins near the outbreak of World War 1, which the British entered in August 3, 1914; at this time, she, her aunt, and her cousin, all Ten Eyckes, are in London, and as the circumstances unwind, they decided to stay in England for the duration.

         

Shortly into their stay, Amanda’s cousin, Becky, manages a visit to a theater audition, a thing forbidden to girls of her status. Here they meet the playwright, the Hon.  Brandon Whitefield, a playwright and aviator, who, on discovering they are from America, asks Amanda to sing one of his songs which is written in an American rhythm. She does so; a bond develops between herself and Whitefield. As the year progresses, they also meet Whitefield’s family, Viscount and Viscountess Stroplea, who, like her own family, are in banking. Their position is complicated by the fact the Viscountess is a naturalized Prussian. These two families are the core of the narrative.

         

Her story is rich with other players who cross their paths during the war years: American Ambassador Walter Hines Page, British Naval intelligence, Herbert Hoover, the founder of the Committee for the Relief of Belgium (CRB), a Pentecostal prayer group who have decided to take in refugees, Max, a doctor who is studying g to be an alienist (psychiatrist); Becky starts waking out with recovering soldiers, Amanda joins a Zeppelin spotting group, Aunt Bea starts fund raising for Hoover.

         

In 1916, the narrative moves to France. Whitefield has joined the R.F.C., and in the Spring, as a Major, is appointed commanding officer of a reconnaissance squadron working up for the battle of the Somme. British intelligence sends Amanda to this squadron  to act as assistant recording officer; it is the beginning of women being used in  positions that will free up men; as well, she has a secret mission. Here she rooms with a French family  with a nurse from Scotland, in a home owned by a couple who provide  gourmet goodies to the German army, who have been there uninterrupted until 1916, when they have to stock English goodies. Madame’s brother is a priest who also rooms with them.

 

Whitefield is seriously wounded and returned to ‘Blighty’ where he and Amanda are married. To their surprise, on recovery, he is sent to Paris to work on a committee working on British-French communications with each other. This assignment  lasts until 1918, with Whitefield working at communications and visiting the Front throughout the rest of the war.