I loved the cover of this book which is what attracted me. I love the era of the story (WWII). Then I discovered that it is comprised entirely of letters. That did not excite me but I decided to try it anyway ....... and I loved it. In January of 1943 a young wife and mother named Glory attended a ladies' group in Rockport, Massachusetts. To help the women who might be feeling lonesome they passed around a hat filled with pieces of paper containing addresses and a nickname. It was suggested that they write to other women who might be in similar circumstances. Under pressure Glory reached in and pulled out "Garden Witch" from Iowa City. The letter that she received in return was from an older woman whose husband, Sal, was working as a medic in Europe and whose son, Toby, was in the Pacific. Garden Witch was actually named Rita. She had also been strong-armed into participating in the letter exchange. She was in a bad mood that day and thus her 'alias'. The theme of this book is friendship. They live in different parts of the country, their ages are far apart, their financial situations are divergent and yet they become the closest of friends. One really gets a feel for that period in history. I enjoyed reading the recipes the two exchanged. Because of rationing the women had to be creative - one of the recipes was for an apple pie with no apples in it! I think one of the reasons I love this time period is because of my admiration for a nation who sacrificed a lot of comfort at home to support the troops. I am not sure today's America would be able to give up their cell phones for a day even if it would help the troops. Oops - that didn't have anything to do with the book! After I read this book I found out that the two women who penned it have never met (at least they hadn't when it went to publication)! I would like to know what their relationship is like now! I think this would be a great book club selection - lots of things you could discuss.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
I'll be Seeing You by Suzanne Hayes and Loretta Nyhan FIC Hay
I loved the cover of this book which is what attracted me. I love the era of the story (WWII). Then I discovered that it is comprised entirely of letters. That did not excite me but I decided to try it anyway ....... and I loved it. In January of 1943 a young wife and mother named Glory attended a ladies' group in Rockport, Massachusetts. To help the women who might be feeling lonesome they passed around a hat filled with pieces of paper containing addresses and a nickname. It was suggested that they write to other women who might be in similar circumstances. Under pressure Glory reached in and pulled out "Garden Witch" from Iowa City. The letter that she received in return was from an older woman whose husband, Sal, was working as a medic in Europe and whose son, Toby, was in the Pacific. Garden Witch was actually named Rita. She had also been strong-armed into participating in the letter exchange. She was in a bad mood that day and thus her 'alias'. The theme of this book is friendship. They live in different parts of the country, their ages are far apart, their financial situations are divergent and yet they become the closest of friends. One really gets a feel for that period in history. I enjoyed reading the recipes the two exchanged. Because of rationing the women had to be creative - one of the recipes was for an apple pie with no apples in it! I think one of the reasons I love this time period is because of my admiration for a nation who sacrificed a lot of comfort at home to support the troops. I am not sure today's America would be able to give up their cell phones for a day even if it would help the troops. Oops - that didn't have anything to do with the book! After I read this book I found out that the two women who penned it have never met (at least they hadn't when it went to publication)! I would like to know what their relationship is like now! I think this would be a great book club selection - lots of things you could discuss.
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