Suzanne Hayes

"Two women forge a friendship during WWII through their letters to each other, allowing them to survive the loneliness and uncertainty of waiting on the home front and giving them the courage to face the battles raging in their very own backyards."

I loved this book, and the format of telling it through the letters these two women wrote to each other during an extraordinarily hard time in their lives. The friendship and the support they showed to each other, and others in their immediate circles, was so heartwarming. This book dealt with huge issues, yes, but more importantly, I think, were the mundane daily problems, mostly caused by how lonely they were without their husbands. They grew so much, though, over the course of the book, and I greatly admired their tenacity and inner strength.

I'm giving this book 5 out of 5 stars, and highly recommend it.

5/5 stars.

*** I would like to thank NetGalley, Harlequin MIRA, Suzanne Hayes and Loretta Nyhan for the opportunity to read and review this book.… (meer)

This novel, written in epistolary form, is the result of the clever collaboration of two authors - one writes as Glory, a young mother from Massachusetts, and the other writes as Rita, a middle aged mother living in Iowa. Their correspondence begins during a meeting of wives whose husbands are serving during WWII. Glory randomly selects Rita's name, and thus begins a relationship that grows into a meaningful friendship as they share all their challenges despite the disparity in age and background. They write about their fears, their loneliness, their neighbors, and they share recipes. Their letters are often poignant, sometimes amusing and always heartfelt. For those of us who have been in a situation where a husband is deployed, we understand their connection. As their friendship grows, so does our understanding of these two women.… (meer)

This was a poignant story of two women who correspond with each other during WWII. Told entirely through letters, the reader follows the lives of Rita and Glory, two women from different social and economic backgrounds who become close friends through their correspondence. Whilst I liked the book, I didn't love it and it never resonated with me the way it should have. I found that Glory and Rita have very similar voices despite their twenty year age difference and Glory annoyed me with her weakness towards Levi. At times, I also felt the language was too modern for the setting.

However, I did like watching the friendship develop between the two women and appreciated how they encouraged and supported each other through uncertain times. Personally, I found Rita's story more captivating and moving. Glory's was often focused on the love triangle which frustrated me. Despite this, there were so moving moments that brought me to tears but at other times I was left cold. Overall, a sweet story but not a memorable one.… (meer)