The Fourteenth of September: A Novel

Rita Dragonette

Sep 2018 · She Writes Press

About this ebook

A Readers' Favorite Book Award Finalist and Best Book Awards Finalist * Featured in Ms. Magazine, Brit + Co, Hypertext Magazine, BookTrib, Publishers Weekly, Writer's Digest and more!

An enthralling historical novel about brave women set during the peak of the Vietnam War and told through the rare perspective of a young woman, who traces her path to self-discovery and a “Coming of Conscience.”

If you loved Kristin Hannah's latest novel The Women, this one's for you.

On September 14, 1969, Private First Class Judy Talton celebrates her nineteenth birthday by secretly joining the campus anti-Vietnam War movement. In doing so, she jeopardizes both the army scholarship that will secure her future and her relationship with her military family. But Judy’s doubts have escalated with the travesties of the war. Who is she if she stays in the army? What is she if she leaves?

When the first date pulled in the Draft Lottery turns up as her birthday, she realizes that if she were a man, she’d have been Number One―off to Vietnam with an under-fire life expectancy of six seconds. The stakes become clear, propelling her toward a life-altering choice as fateful as that of any draftee.

Judy’s story speaks to the poignant clash of young adulthood, early feminism, and war, offering an ageless inquiry into the domestic politics of protest when the world stops making sense.

Ratings and reviews

Rita Dragonette’s debut novel, The Fourteenth of September, is an intriguing look into what was going on in America’s colleges during the Vietnam War, as shown through the eyes of Private Judy Talton, a young woman who accepts a scholarship through the ROTC but then later begins to doubt her decision. This is a rich, well-told story of what the lottery-style draft meant to the young men who were chosen, but also to the young women on campus, especially those like Judy, who found themselves agonizingly caught in the middle. Dragonette’s dialogue sparkles and her descriptions of the sex, drugs and rock and roll of that era are vivid, crisp and evocative. Dragonette has a very accomplished style and knows how to transport her readers with a perfectly paced story. Loved being in this world and didn’t want it to end!

I was not alive during this time, but reading The Fourteenth of Septemver put me there.

About the author

Rita Dragonette is a writer who, after spending nearly thirty years telling the stories of others as an award-winning public relations executive, has returned to her original creative path. The Fourteenth of September, her debut novel, is based upon personal experiences on campus during the Vietnam War, and she is currently at work on her next two books: a World War II novel based upon her interest in the impact of war on and through women, and a memoir in essays. Dragonette lives and writes in Chicago, where she also hosts literary salons to showcase authors and their new books to avid readers.