Here Come the War Brides!

"Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and the thrill of creative effort." Franklin D. Roosevelt

This week I'd will write about the book that I recently completed, War Brides.
I enjoyed this historical novel very much and I will share my thoughts on it in a few moments.

Friday night we had the opportunity to attend a special dinner and program in recognition of the "Hometown Heroes" of Durham. First responders were acknowledged for their bravery and service in the line of duty. These men and women included police officers, a 911 telephone operator, EMTs, and others. The awards were given by the non-profit organization, Emergency Chaplains, which has been in existence here in Durham, NC for about 7 years. I estimate that there were about 200 people at this banquet, and none of us had to pay for our meal. It was an inspiring evening and we gave each award recipient a standing ovation. A brief video was shown about each person to share the reasons that they were nominated for each award. The job of the emergency chaplains is to minister to people who are in crisis when there is an emergency such as a deadly car crash. The chaplains also minister to the police officers and other first responders as well, providing them with the support they need to deal with the many trying tasks that they do each day. Not only do the chaplains minister to the people of our community and to the first responders, but they also provide the annual banquet to recognize the people who serve our community for their outstanding work. It was a positive and inspiring way to spend a Friday night, and I'm glad that we were invited.

Now for the next five books from my card catalog:

How to Really Love Your Child by Ross Campbell
Carpe Diem: Seize the Day by Tony Campolo
The Kingdom of God is a Party by Tony Campolo
The Plague by Albert Camus
The Moonflower Vine by Jetta Carleton




War Brides is a good, enjoyable read that gave me yet another perspective on World War II, Hitler, Nazi power, and how the war affected the people of Europe. Most of the action takes place in England. The book's author, Helen Bryan, clearly knows her way around England, and her many years of living in London provide the background of the story. I've read quite a few books about the Holocaust, but this book is one of the few that I've read that lets me see how the war affected the Brits and others in Europe. This book reminds me of books such as The Nazi Officer's Wife, A Woman in Berlin, and Bonhoeffer's book, The Cost of Discipleship. Incidentally, Bonhoeffer was eventually beheaded for being a Christian in his own country (Germany). All of these books give us a glimpse into what people in Europe must have gone through as they worried about things such as being bombed and the food/clothing rations.

War Brides is about a group of women who find themselves living together in a small town near London, Crowmarsh Priors. These women are Elsie, Frances, Evangeline, Alice,and Tanni. We read about their lives as the war began and we learn how they met their husbands. Some of the men who married these women are Richard, Hugo, Bernie, and the Vicar. Even during war, weddings went on and neighbors helped each other with the things that were needed for a wedding and setting up a household. But this book isn't primarily about weddings or brides - it's primarily about relationships and how these young women helped each other get through days filled with fear, hunger, loneliness, pregnancies, and more. One example of this is that the young women decide to help Tanni find out what happened to her young sisters who were twins. As Jews, the girls had been taken from their mother to be hidden from the Nazis, but Tanni never found out what happened to the girls. Tanni's parents were killed in Auschwitz, but there was no record of what happened to the twins. The young women of Crowmarsh Priors used all of their resources to try to secretly find out where the twins were and to figure out an "underground" way to reunite them with Tanni. Most of the story takes place in the late 1930s, but at the end of the story, 1995, the women are reunited as elderly women and we find out what happened to them and their spouses after the war. I must admit that I did not expect this type of ending, but that's part of the allure of this book. I won't give away what the women DID when they came back to their old church as elderly women, so please do read it for yourself.

Now I'm reading The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown. I'll write about it in the near future. Meanwhile, read on and on...

Melissa