“A crackling portrayal of everyday American heroines…A triumph.” — Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue
A group of young women from Smith College risk their lives in France at the height of World War I in this sweeping novel based on a true story—a skillful blend of Call the Midwife and The Alice Network—from New York Times bestselling author Lauren … Midwife and The Alice Network—from New York Times bestselling author Lauren Willig.
A scholarship girl from Brooklyn, Kate Moran thought she found a place among Smith’s Mayflower descendants, only to have her illusions dashed the summer after graduation. When charismatic alumna Betsy Rutherford delivers a rousing speech at the Smith College Club in April of 1917, looking for volunteers to help French civilians decimated by the German war machine, Kate is too busy earning her living to even think of taking up the call. But when her former best friend Emmeline Van Alden reaches out and begs her to take the place of a girl who had to drop out, Kate reluctantly agrees to join the new Smith College Relief Unit.
Four months later, Kate and seventeen other Smithies, including two trailblazing female doctors, set sail for France. The volunteers are armed with money, supplies, and good intentions—all of which immediately go astray. The chateau that was to be their headquarters is a half-burnt ruin. The villagers they meet are in desperate straits: women and children huddling in damp cellars, their crops destroyed and their wells poisoned.
Despite constant shelling from the Germans, French bureaucracy, and the threat of being ousted by the British army, the Smith volunteers bring welcome aid—and hope—to the region. But can they survive their own differences? As they cope with the hardships and terrors of the war, Kate and her colleagues find themselves navigating old rivalries and new betrayals which threaten the very existence of the Unit.
With the Germans threatening to break through the lines, can the Smith Unit pull together and be truly a band of sisters?
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BAND OF SISTERS by Lauren Willig is a wonderful book that will captivate you from the beginning and not release you from its grip as you barrel through the pages to the end. I devoured all 500+ pages in two days flying through it like it was a magazine. I didn’t want to put it down and I am sure things got neglected because I couldn’t leave these strong women.
The novel is based on the true story of female graduates of Smith College who went to France during the World War I and risked their lives to help the people of villages that had been decimated by the Germans while they were occupied. None of these women knew what to expect, and the strength, courage, and determination they displayed at every turn was truly amazing. What made it more so, is that this happened at a time when women were not expected to work or do anything dangerous, yet they had a huge impact on the villagers that were basically forgotten and everyone else they came in contact with.
Willig used letters and journals of actual members of the Unit and created characters that were true-to-life with experiences that we really couldn’t imagine. The two main characters, Kate and Emmeline, were best friends in school but h bad drifted due to circumstances. When Emmeline convinces Kate to join her, neither knew what to expect and each had their own insecurities to work through as they found their place and their strengths and the Smith College Relief Unit became united in their mission, pushing each woman past the limits of what they thought they could endure.
I found this book to be amazingly well-written and the characters realistic and full of depth. Willig did an impressive job with the novel. Don’t be afraid of the length, the story is so engrossing you will not notice time passing.
I received an advanced copy of the novel from the publisher via a Goodreads First Reads giveaway. All opinions are my own and are freely given.
#BandofSisters #LaurenWillig #WilliamMorrow #GoodReadsFirstReads #GoodReadsGiveawayWin
This is my first “solo” book by Lauren Willig (I’ve read a couple of her collaborations with Beatriz Williams and Karen White) but it certainly won’t be my last. This was fascinating historical fiction, based on the experiences of the Smith College Relief Unit, a group of Smith College alumnae who aided in humanitarian relief work in France during and after the First World War. These were young women who signed up for various reasons and with various expectations, but once they got to France most of them found that what they’d actually be doing didn’t quite match up with their expectations. Most of these were privileged young women from wealthy families. The two main characters were roommates at Smith, but came from vastly different backgrounds, one from a wealthy family, the other a scholarship student with a bit of a chip on her shoulder because she never felt she fit in at Smith, despite her many accomplishments there and the friendship of her roommate. Many events in the book are based on letters from the women of the unit to their friends and family back home, which Willig found in her research. The growth of these young women is fascinating to watch, learning skills and lessons that they never expected when they signed up for the unit. Julia Whelan’s narration of the audiobook is impeccable. Be sure not to miss the “Historical Note” at the end, where Willig describes how the book came about, and to do a web search for images of the Smith College Relief Unit. They deserve to be remembered.
My thanks to Netgalley and Harper Audio for providing a copy for an unbiased review.
I really enjoy historical fiction, and this book did not disappoint, it kept my attention right to the end, and then beyond with the author’s notes!
You are given the feeling that you are in the trenches of this horrible war, we see the aftermath of what is left behind when the enemy retreats, and wonder how things will ever get back to some normalcy, if there is such a thing, and how and if these people will survive.
While fictional this story is brimming with facts, and just thinking of these young woman so close to those trenches, knowing how the enemy was spewing gas on those fighting for freedom.
I enjoyed this, it is good to remember the past, so hopefully it doesn’t repeat!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher William Morrow, and was not required to give a positive review.
Poignant, affecting, and incredibly immersive!
Band of Sisters is an absorbing, stirring tale set in German-Occupied France during WWI that follows seventeen young American women from Smith College as they embark on a mission that doesn’t quite go as smoothly as planned, to befriend and use their own unique skillsets to provide relief, food, medical care, and education to the villagers whose lives have been decimated by war.
The prose is seamless and vivid. The characters are courageous, driven, and resilient. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel into a sweeping saga of life, loss, secrets, insecurities, self-discovery, heartbreak, determination, survival, tragedy, and friendship.
Overall, Band of Sisters is a rich, evocative, beautifully written novel by Willig that grabs you from the very first page and is sure to be a big hit with book clubs and historical fiction fans everywhere. I absolutely devoured it, and it is hands down one of my favourite reads of the year!
What an amazing historical fiction book! This book is set during WW1 during which a group of Smith College students travel to France to help with the war efforts. The young women arrive they realize that things are not what they thought they would be, they are much worse. They provide necessities and aid to the people as they worry about the war all around them. I loved the characters and I will be thinking about this book for a long time to come. I received an advanced readers copy and all opinions are my own.
1917-18, ww1, family-dynamics, friendship, France, college-alumnae, discrimination, historical-novel, historical-places-events, historical-research, historical-setting, perseverance*****
Can anyone whose country has never been invaded, occupied by force, and shelled repeatedly really be prepared for the reality other people are living through? In any century, in any war? Even rural folk would be stymied, but city women of a certain financial status and naivete? This well researched historical novel gives voice to the growth and strains a documented group of just such individuals volunteering as aid workers grew through. Told in the format of fiction with excerpts from letters home, this is one awesome book. The characters are depicted so well and completely by both author and narrator. My only complaint is that I (history geek) found it too riveting.
Voice actor Julia Whelan did a wonderful job with all the voices and really acted out the story and did not just read it. Her voice brings the characters to life with her inflections entirely suited the situations and characters.
I requested and received a free temporary audio copy from Harper Audio via NetGalley. Thank you!
As a big fan of WW2 books and stories I really wanted to like Band of Sisters, I was determined to like it so I listened to the whole book including the last pages where the author explains all the details where she found the inspiration for the story and what facts were real or just a creation but unfortunately, I really didn’t enjoy the book it was not what I was expecting but that doesn’t mean it is not a good story, I just felt so lost at all times maybe because I was expecting a more dramatic scenario and experiences for the characters.
Band of Sisters was very light for me, I really felt like I was in the women’s bathroom listening to all the chit chat and drama of a group of friends, I enjoy it because of that, because it felt like a group of a friend got together and were narrating their lives in the War but without the fear or the drama more like gossip or like I said like a chit chat conversation.
I did like the main characters Kate and Emmeline but at times Kate was very stubborn and kind of insecure she felt less than at all times even if she never said a thing but she constantly felt that way, as if her best friend, was more entitle but at the end as every women drama it was just a misunderstanding or better said miss communication.
The friendship between Kate and Emmeline was great but Kate usually was the one making problems with her doubting and insecurities at least that’s what I felt like she was always looking to complain or to chastise her best friend but I love when they finally understood what they were not really saying or making to improve their situation.
Overall it was a good book, it was just me that I was expecting more for such a long story.
I won this book from William Morrow/Harper Collins in a GoodReads giveaway. Thank You William Morrow. This book is a long book, 519 pages, but it it is worthwhile sticking through to the end and deserves a full 4 stars.
The first 100 pages move slowly, but the conclusion makes up for it. My wife read this book before me and found the ending to be very satisfying The book is based upon a true story. There was a group of Smith College American women who volunteered to go the front lines in France in the summer of 1917. They had to be evacuated during the German renewed push on Paris in the spring /summer 1918. They performed heroically, accomplishing incredible feats of caring for French villagers who had had their homes destroyed by German invaders. Much of the book is based upon surviving letters written by the Smith volunteers, although the characters are fictional. Many of the incidents described in the book actually did take place.
If you want to read historical fiction with women performing heroic deeds with a little romance and some backstabbing intrigue then you will enjoy this book.
Two quotes:
Liza, a rather naive Smith volunteer, describing a French brothel: “I’ve heard it’s all a German plot. They’re getting French loose women to seduce our troops to undermine the health of the American Army.”
Kate, Assistant Director, describing a French General: “This office was the grandest of the many offices that Kate had processed today. The desk was roughly the size of the SS Rochambeau and the man who sat behind it was wearing a dazzling array of medals. He’d been so decorated that his medals had medals.”
Band of Sisters is a wonderfully penned tale of a group of inspiring and courageous young women who set out on a journey to France to help during WWI. Their good deeds sometimes go unnoticed and are sometimes unwelcomed, but their will to not be defeated will often leave you in awe of them and their strength and compassion for humanity. With the world unraveling around them they pull together and take care of those around them as best they can, and fight the adversity they face as outsiders.
This was such an eye-opening story, the differences these women made in a time when women weren’t always welcome on the front lines was downright inspiring. At times the words left me speechless and were also a good reminder of the strength of the human spirit and the impact one simple gesture can have. If you are a historical fiction lover then I highly suggest you pick this one up, you will not be disappointed with what you find between the pages!
I requested an advanced copy of this title from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving my honest and unbiased opinion.
Band of Sisters by Lauren Willig is an amazing and excellent historical fiction novel that takes place in rural France (mostly Grecourt) close to the front lines of WWI during the years of 1917-1919. This book is based off of true events and also off of the awe-inspiring group: Smith College Relief Unit.
I found this book fascinating, gripping, emotional, real, inspiring, hilarious, heartbreaking, heartwarming, and informative all at the same time. The characters are real, imperfect, complex, and all lend a perfect addition to the narrative. I like how it was not just written in the mindset of one character, but several by way of placing letters to home at the beginning of each chapter (most of which are actually real-life inspired as well). I love the relationship between Emmie Van Aulden, Kate Moran, and Dr. Julia Pruyn. I loved seeing each grow, adapt, strengthen, and find their own purpose and happiness. The dialogue, banter, wit, and interactions were perfect, and even hilarious at times. It is wonderful how I can tear up at a horrid war scene, but laugh two pages later at sarcasm and an eyebrow raise.
There were still not a lot of opportunities for women in the early 1900s, and this story shows how just 100 years ago, women still had to overcome so many obstacles, prejudices, and stigmas just to be able to find their passions in life and help contribute to society and the war efforts.
I am in awe of the Smith girls and the danger, work, effort, selflessness, and sacrifices they made to travel from the US and literally go into the battlegrounds to help take care of the French citizens that were affected and devastated by the Germans during the war.
I loved everything about this book: the characters, plot, pacing, and ending!
I enjoyed the Author’s note to give the reader so much information on the inspiration, what is fact, fiction, and what is tweaked to fit the narrative.
I have already started researching the Smith Alumnae archives as suggested, and the letters by Ruth Gaines so I can learn even more about these real-life heroic women, including Ruth Gaines and (Betsy Rutherford) Harriet Boyd Hawes.
5/5 stars enthusiastically
Thank you EW and William Morrow for this excellent ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.
I am posting this review to my GR, Instagram, and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 3/2/21.
Below is a wonderful quote from the book’s Kate Moran that I truly love:
“I know you wanted something more for me, Ma. I know you scrubbed because you had to and not because you wanted to. Everywhere we’ve been, there’s been squalor and confusion and we’ve been able to plunge in and turn it all around—and that’s something I learned from you. Even when we were poorest, you took what little we had and you made it work, somehow. You always found a way. I’ll never be able to thank you enough for showing me that it isn’t what you have, it’s what you make of it—whether it’s turning a can of sardines and some condensed milk into a supper or turning a group of strangers into a band of sisters.”