This is not your typical WWII historical fiction novel. It is nothing like The Book Thief, The Nightingale, Code Name Verity, Salt to the Sea, etc. It is the story of the American homefront, a story with many similar elements to stories that my grandmother tells my sister and I about what life was like in Philadelphia during the Second World War. And, if you have a chance to flip through the pages of The War Bride’s Scrapbook, it is, in fact, a scrapbook. It is not laid out like a traditional novel and is beautiful in it’s full-color ephemera splendor.

While I am a frequent reader of graphic novels, this is my first “scrapbook” book and it is a format I would be excited to read again. The storytelling is done primarily with letters between Lila and Perry as most of the scrapbook is dedicated to their time apart during the war. At first I was concerned that I would find the pacing choppy, but it is clear that either Caroline Preston is, herself, an avid scrapbooker, or, more likely, an expert storyteller who can work her craft in a very unique medium.

Given that it is Lila’s scrapbook, we, the readers, get ample insight not only into her head-space during the war, but also of society’s as a whole as she remarks on the activities of her friends and family. Perry is a character of contradictions, which adds to the point that he and Lila barely knew/know each other. There are moments of laughter, particularly when characters come together out of need, necessity or shear coincidence. And, my post 2017 understanding of women’s rights feminist self is very excited about the fact that Lila is her own person, her own character, and is not reliant on Perry for her happiness. ( )

After only a few weeks together, Lila and Perry elope. Their story is told in the first person by Lila using photos, drawings, notes, correspondence, newspaper/magazine clippings, illustrations, advertisement – all types of memorabilia. An original concept that I enjoyed reading.

This is a love story and also historical fiction; a realistic glimpse of what life was like in the early 1940s. It’s not only a book to read, but one to experience. It’s a form of graphic novel, but uses a multimedia scrapbook format rather than illustrations.

I have tried to read graphic novels with some success but often find them frustrating. As a scrapbook, this is different. It’s not just a story with pictures. It immerses you in the time period. It’s engaging. Interesting. Authentic. It was an enjoyable break from a regular print novel. ( )

The War Bride’s Scrapbook - Preston
3 stars

This was a very attractive book that looked exactly like the title. Each page is a mock-up of a scrapbook filled with WW2 memorabilia, newspaper clippings, magazine pictures, ticket stubs, etc. There are also letters and telegrams that were exchanged between the bride and her soldier. These letters (and possibly diary entries, the book went back to the library a while ago so I’m not sure about that) tell the story of this wartime marriage.

Essentially, Lila Jerome has a brief love affair and impulsively marries Perry Weld just before he ships out to the European theater. She builds the scrapbook and a new independence while her stranger/husband is away fighting. There’s a clear contrast between the glossy war propaganda that fills the pages, reality of the war, and the problems with the impulsive marriage.

At first I enjoyed the scrapbook illustrations of this book. It was like walking through an antique mall. It reminded me of the scrapbooks my great aunts would sit down and make with my gaggle of cousins at family gatherings when I was little. (Piles of magazines+scissors + glue = cheap entertainment.) But, after awhile I was overloaded with the minutiae that cluttered the pages. It overwhelmed the story of the relationship. The wartime marriage story could have been a good book if there had been a bit more content to the text. As it was, I just lost interest. ( )

3.5 A story told with letters, scrapbook items, postcards, advertisements, and other items painting picture of a life and a war. Lila was never the pretty one, that was her sister, she was chubby, not socially adept. She goes to college where she briefly meets Perry. Years later a slimmer more confident Lila, connects with him again, when she rents him a room in her apartment. They will marry five days before Perry is sent overseas to fight in the second world war.

We follow Lila, living life without Perry, rations and victory gardens. We read from his letters how he is faring in the war. We see before and after, what happens to them both. I enjoyed this, it was fun, though I didn't particularly care for any of the people, well except for Wink, Perry's father. Seeing all the old products advertised, reading about the times from both sides. Interesting, loved all the pictures and the memorabilia, what was considered important in a life. I can't say it was nostalgia since I didn't live through that time, but this was a visual glimpse of a very horrific and uncertain time in our history.

ARC from Edelweiss. ( )