Toby A. Smith
Author Lauren Willig has stumbled onto a little-known historical episode from World War I and turned it into compelling fiction. Who knew that a group of Smith College graduates traveled to France during the height of the war to provide aid to suffering rural families? In the early 1900s, women who attending elite colleges like Smith were usually wealthy, privileged, and Protestant. Unless you happened to be one of the scholarship students, like Kate - a Catholic girl from a working class background who always feels like an outsider. Still, Kate and her Smith roommate, Essie find they seem to complement each other strengths and weaknesses. So, in 1917, when a controversial Smith professor organizes the Smith College Relief Unit, Essie makes sure Kate goes along. Finding themselves serving several small towns in the French countryside, they initially work on feeding, housing, and schooling local families. But as the war reaches its climax, these women must face the kind of devastation, injury, and fatigue that was beyond what I could have imagined. Not one of the women was prepared for the discrimination, devastation, and demands they would face. This personal test impacts each woman differently. And Willig's extensive primary research (described in the Afterword) helped flesh out all her characters. Especially Kate, Essie, and Julia. They are fully multi-dimensional, with egos and foibles, but with a growing dedication to the work they are doing. There is also quite a bit of believable self-awareness that comes along with the work. And growing acceptance by others. As a reader, I was hooked from the very beginning of this novel and only became more so as the book progressed toward a very suspenseful ending. This is a very powerful read about some very brave women whose story deserves to be told. And one that is likely to bolster your belief in the essential goodness of humans during difficult times.
1 person found this review helpful
Janice Tangen
1917-18, ww1, family-dynamics, friendship, France, college-alumnae, discrimination, historical-novel, historical-places-events, historical-research, historical-setting, perseverance***** Can anyone whose country has never been invaded, occupied by force, and shelled repeatedly really be prepared for the reality other people are living through? In any century, in any war? Even rural folk would be stymied, but city women of a certain financial status and naivete? This well researched historical novel gives voice to the growth and strains a documented group of just such individuals volunteering as aid workers grew through. Told in the format of fiction with excerpts from letters home, this is one awesome book. The characters are depicted so well and completely by both author and narrator. My only complaint is that I (history geek) found it too riveting. Voice actor Julia Whelan did a wonderful job with all the voices and really acted out the story and did not just read it. Her voice brings the characters to life with her inflections entirely suited the situations and characters. I requested and received a free temporary audio copy from Harper Audio via NetGalley. Thank you!
Jamie Jack
Well-Done Historical Fiction Deeply Rooted in Fact Novel and Audiobook Review I love historical fiction that draws from fact, and clearly, from the author's note, this one does. In fact, as I listened to it (and followed along with the eBook), I was inspired to look up information about the actual Smith unit. I had no idea that a small group of young women, all graduates of Smith College, went to France during World War I to help villagers near Grecourt. The author has fictionalized history, giving the young women fictional names and otherwise mixing fact and fiction, but many key events actually happened to these brave young women. The author did her research, reading the actual letters of all these young women. The author gave an immediacy to the horrors of war as lived on the homefront, as these young women tried to help the surrounding villages without many resources. The young women faced personal privation themselves yet still tried to do all they could for the beleaguered French countrymen. The author writes of the horrific scars and the crude medical techniques of the time. Toward the end of the book, the frontline encroaches upon them, forcing them to flee as battles come their way. The book has a quite large cast of characters to keep track of, but the author managed to keep them distinct, each with her own story, goals, and motivations. There's some infighting, of course, and hiccups along the way, but these young women truly do become what the title states, a band of sisters. I love historical fiction that shows women's perspectives in times of war or other world difficulties. I thought this was very well done. Highly recommended. The narrator of the audiobook did a fantastic job. Even though the book had so many female characters, she was able to make each sound unique. I even liked her voice for the British captain, the love interest of one of the women. I received a free copy of this book (and audiobook), but that did not affect my review.
