The Man with the Flowers

Teenager Lydia Bowman became aware of their old recluse neighbour, Henry Starr, who daily passed her home carrying a bunch of flowers and he always headed to the Ferry Bridge. What was the story behind his regular trek?
Despite several warnings from her family not to get involved, Lydia finally got an opportunity to enter and search Henry's shack. Her reward was finding Henry's diary, which she smuggled out and told no-one about it.
The Thornton family had two sons, both of whom were vying for the love and affection of Wanda Fleming. David was enlisted for war service without his knowledge. Adam remained with his parents, but full of jealousy and hatred against his family. 
Their respective lives, ordeals and tragedies are well described throughout the book.
The story has several emotional elements within the families, but all are inter-twined and eventually reveal the mystery of "The Man with the Flowers".