Inspired by the true story of the World War I American Women’s Hospital, Mercy Road is a novel about love, courage, and a female ambulance driver who risks everything.
In 1917, after Arlene Favier’s home burns to the ground, taking her father with it, she must find a way to support her mother and younger brother. If she doesn’t succeed, they will all be impoverished. Job opportunities are … opportunities are scarce, but then a daring possibility arises: the American Women’s Hospital needs ambulance drivers to join a trailblazing, all-female team of doctors and nurses bound for war-torn France.
On the front lines, Arlene and her fellow ambulance drivers work day and night to aid injured soldiers and civilians. In between dangerous ambulance runs, Arlene reunites with a childhood friend, Jimmy Tucker, now a soldier, who opens her heart like no one before. But she has also caught the attention of Felix Brohammer, a charismatic army captain who harbors a dark, treacherous secret.
To expose Brohammer means risking her family’s future and the promise of love. Arlene must make a choice: stay in the safety of silence or take the greatest chance of her life.
more
Fabulous book. I don’t normally like first person but this is an incredible story, I was hooked from the first page. I am fascinated by the role women had in both major world wars and will read anything and everything about them. Mercy Road brings in the role of American medics, nurses and doctors. You won’t be disappointed.
I love the way Ann Howard Creel writes — she is as at home bringing the beauty of France to life as she is dealing with the heartbreak of war. Impeccably researched, Mercy Road has all the hallmarks of fine historical fiction. Strong, memorable characters tell the unsung story of a group of remarkable women who provided invaluable help during the First World War.
A well written, very interesting look at the women of the female ambulance crops of WWI. I was not aware the service these women offered and enjoyed learning more about their service.
Love this quote from Mercy Road which really typifies the book:”Let us not fail, my ladies. Let us do more, always do more than we think we’re capable of. As we embark on this journey, ask yourself now and every day—every bad day, every good day—if you have done your best.” She paused; then, as she slowly swept her gaze around our little assembled entourage again, she said, “Ask yourself even now—especially now—as in the words of the poet Edgar Guest, ‘Have you earned your tomorrow?”
Great storytelling about World War I from the female perspective. Can’t wait to read more from Ann Creel.
This novel starts out with a tragic beginning. Arlene, along with her mother and her brother witness their home destroyed by a fire. But worse than that is that her father was inside and he died in the fire. They lose so much because of this. Arlene is determined to find a job to help support her family. She ends up joining the American Women’s Hospital to be an ambulance driver. She is sent to France. It’s here that Arlene forms close friendships with some of the other women. She also runs into someone from her younger days. But it’s hard work and the women witness more than they expected when they joined. And a captain decides he likes Arlene and he pursues her in a frightening manner. The novel is set in the 1918, 1919, and 1920 time period.
Ann Howard Creel’s books are inspired by history and her female characters face life-changing challenges.
Her newest novel Mercy Road was inspired by a photograph of a female ambulance driver in France during WWI. Female doctors and nurses were banned from serving in the U. S. Army so they formed the American Women’s Hospital and raised funds to send a volunteer team to France.
Creel’s novel begins with a tragedy that leaves Arlene Favier aware of how life can change in an instant. A fire takes her home and father and the family’s source of income. Desperate to find a job to support her mother and brother, and with dreams of rebuilding her father’s stud farm, Arlene stumbles into an opportunity that will use her few employable skills–as a chauffeuses driving an ambulance for doctors volunteering in France.
With most French doctors serving at the front, there was a lack of medical services for civilians and refugees. With her command of French and experience with machines, Arlene is the perfect volunteer. With the lure of a cash bonus at the end of the war which would allow her to rebuild the family home, Arlene joins the American Women’s Hospital service, formed to aid citizens and refugees.
To go to France in May 1918 required great courage and fortitude. The war had destroyed the land and the infrastructure. By September 1918, there were 1.85 million refugees. Food shortages and the lack of housing and clean water contributed to illness including typhus, tuberculosis, dysentery, and influenza. The Hospital Service also assisted men wounded at the front. The women were exposed to the horrors of battlefield wounds, the dead, and the dying.
Now I not only knew death; I knew the shade and scent of human blood and the charred appearance and stench of burnt human bodies. I knew the look of what lay beneath our skin. from Mercy Road by Ann Howard Creel
Arlene was excited to arrive in Paris, her father’s birthplace. With restrictions against seeing soldiers, she rebuffs the attention of the handsome but oversure Captain Brohammer. He takes it as a challenge, pursuing her throughout the war even though Arlene makes clear she is not interested. But when she meets up with a childhood friend once employed by her father, her hesitancy to become romanticly involved is challenged.
The plot involves intrigue, accusations with devastating implications, and personal growth that challenges old ideas and the embracing of possibilities.
I received a free ebook from the author in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.
A book based on a little know part of history mixed in with just plain good writing. If your a fan of historical fiction, you won’t go wrong picking up this gem! 4 star rating.
Mercy Road has everything a good historical novel needs from start to finish: compelling characters, wonderfully woven history, and a beautifully crafted storyline. The magic of Ann’s words transports the reader through this historical drama about the American women doctors, nurses and ambulance drivers in WWI France. Arlene is inspiring as are all the women with their courage and determination to support the war effort against many odds. Highly recommended.
Mercy Road by Ann Howard Creel is a delightful historical fiction novel focussed on the WWI era and inspired by the true presence of the American Women’s Hospital that existed during this time. I will leave the reader the ability to look up historical facts of this amazing, liberating, and inspiring group on their own.
I love the main female protagonist, Arlene Favier, and the moral compass she possesses.
Arlene is a good person and her heart is always in the right place, which sometimes gets her into trouble (but not justly so). She is a strong character, and does what she can to help her family during this difficult time.
I love the descriptions of the wartime experiences and scenes, the depictions of the beautifully etched out French landscapes, and her developing relationship with Jimmy.
I love how she was able to overcome adversity, and I love the ending. The supporting cast of characters helped round out everything nicely.
This is a fabulous novel that gives the reader insight on an organization that is not as well known, and gives us a strong female character that we can like and relate to during a time when those qualities were frowned upon.
Excellent read. 5/5 stars.
Wartime Intrigue. This is yet another Lake Union book dealing with the Great War this year, and this one presents a few wrinkles other similar efforts have not – which is always welcome by this wide ranging reader. Very solid work, from the setup in rural Kentucky through the bulk of the tale in France and through the conclusion of the tale. Presents its various topics in a very period-appropriate setting while also using them to discuss larger issues. Great story, my first from this author – and won’t be my last. Very much recommended.
This book drew me in and kept my attention riveted throughout. There wasn’t the kind of character development that creates a bond with this reader, but empathy for the riches to rags beginning, the desperation to find an income, then the commitment to making it through to the end of the war kept me turning pages. I was continually eager to see how Arlene would overcome each new impediment to continue on her mission to assist in the war effort, stay alive, and return with the bonus that would quite literally save the family farm. The romance subplots didn’t pull me out of the larger plot, they just provided more conflict and suspense to the story. This gave me a desire to read more books that feature women’s contributions to the 20th century war efforts.
I requested and voluntarily read a complementary copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley and I offer my honest opinion in response
Mercy Road by Ann Creel is an amazing story about the woman ambulance drivers during WWI. I was impressed with the amount of research that the author did as she shared a list of books she used for research in the back of her book. I had a great uncle who shared some of his stories with me of his experiences in WWI. When he was one hundred years old, he shared That his job was to drive a truck loaded with lumber to the front line in France. The lumber was used to shore up the trenches. In his face, I could see the emotion of his experiences. I kept seeing his face as I read about Arlene, Cass, the wounded soldiers, in Mercy Road.
The story starts out with Arlene’s home being engulfed in fire. Besides the loss of her father, her family is left penniless due to poor business decisions of her father, She travels to Cincinnati to find work to hell support her family. The job she finds is an ambulance driver in France. She speaks French and this helped her get a job.
This book demonstrates the horrors of war, deep friendships formed during very difficult times, and also a romance. Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Arlene Favier lives in Paris, Kentucky with her parents and brother. After a fire destroys their home and their father dies in the fire, the family finds that they have no money. Arlene realizes that she has to get a job and after looking all over town with no luck, she decides to try a larger town. When she answers a help wanted ad for a French speaking female, she finds out that the job is for an ambulance driver in France. World War I is going on and the job is very dangerous but with the hopes of helping out her family, she decides to accept it. Arlene becomes part of the American Women’s Hospital in war-torn France during World War I. Serving as doctors, nurses, aides, and ambulance drivers, the women struggle to be respected in a traditionally male environment. After extensive training, the women ambulance drivers are put to work and find that their training couldn’t prepare them to face all of the destruction, all of the dead bodies and all of the injured people – both military and civilians. It’s very difficult but Arlene is an extremely tough woman and is able to survive. When Arlene runs into an old friend from home, she finds some peace as her feelings for Jimmy grow but even though they are both ambulance drivers, they are in different parts of France so they rarely see each other. When a scandal occurs. Arlene has to decide whether she will remain quiet and keep her secrets buried or take the blame and possibly lose her job.
This was a well written book. I really enjoyed the main character of Arlene and was impressed with her strength and dedication to her job and her friends. The parts of the novel about the battlefields in France are horrific but despite all of the carnage, there is a romance for Arlene and fantastic female friendships. It’s apparent that the author did a lot of research into the war but her strong female characters is what makes this book so special.
Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
I absolutely love the writing in this book! Mercy Road take a is to France and does not shy away from the horrors of war. The nurses, doctors and ambulance drivers saw so much and their lives in constant danger as they worked hard to help those who needed compassion and help in suffering whether a soldier, child or farmer. The descriptive writing took me right there in the mud and chaos! A must read indeed!
A very well thought out book with great characters and storyline. this book is based on a true story telling the life happenings of a Female Ambulance Driver during War World I. These woman endured alot while working on the front lines. And on the home front things were even harder with very few jobs for women to support themselves and family while the men were away at war. It shows the hardships and heartbreak in her life. Kept my attention throughout.
I’ve been a fan of Ann Creel’s historical fiction since discovering The Magic of Ordinary Days. The research behind each novel doesn’t disappoint, and is evident here again in Mercy Road.
Serving in a non-military capacity, The American Women’s Hospital ministered to the villagers and troops injured in the Great War. Arlene Favier signs on as an ambulance driver unaware of the courage she’ll need to endure the battlefield conditions. While vivid descriptions of the war-torn French countryside and the horrific injuries suffered by both citizens and soldiers are sobering, the author does not let the story become mired there. At the novel’s heart is an unexpected and tender love story, painted in similar light strokes.
Arlene’s fellow women drivers and female doctors of this privately funded medical team play an integral role as a sub-theme of gender biases is woven skillfully throughout. Suspense enters in the form of a charismatic army captain who hides a traitorous secret.
The ending is both believable and satisfying. Sometimes beauty does rise from ashes.
Highly recommended.
Thanks to Lake Union Publishing for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
WW1, war-is-hell, historical-novel, historical-places-events, historical-research
It begins with a personal tragedy in Paris, Kentucky and progresses to the national tragedy of France. A twist of fate sends Arlene to Cincinnati, Ohio to seek employment to support her family, and what she finds is ambulance repair and driving in France 1918 prior to the end of the war. Employed by an NGO supported by donations and the Red Cross, she makes friends even before the crossing and transport to Paris to have their ambulances modified for rural use. Courtesy of the author’s excellent research skills, we are given disturbingly clear insights into the realities of the war in France and the hardships of the people and those who came to serve as civilian medical care. It is very well written and moving. It grabbed my attention and held it firmly until the end.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Lake Union Publishing via NetGalley. Thank you!
A story made up of two parts,
It is connected by Arlene, the main character.
In the beginning Arlene and her family are devastated by a tragedy. Arlene accepts a position as an ambulance driver to help her family financially.
The setting is World War l in France. Arlene sees more than her share of suffering and danger as she drives back and forth from the war zone. This part of the novel is dedicated to the courage and spirit of the American Women’s Hospital, a non-military group who selflessly aid the injured and sick in spite of the danger to their lives.
Alice’s return home is complicated. It is very difficult to adjust to her life in Kentucky.
The story seems to end abruptly, but with a promise for Arlene of better things to come.
I truly enjoyed this book! It was a stirring and thought provoking story during a time of time in history that was truly dark! I felt a part of the story and moved through the scenes as if there! It almost made me wish I could have been a part of the AWH! As a nurse myself, I appreciated so much the efforts of these women! History come alive for me is truly something I can get into! Thank you for such a great story
Mercy Road by Ann Howard Creel brings to life the little-known story of the courageous women who staffed the American Women’s Hospital in war-torn France during World War I. Serving as doctors, nurses, aides, and ambulance drivers, the women of Creel’s historical novel come to life as they struggle to be respected in a traditionally male environment. The author expertly captures the chaos of war and the dilemmas faced by the women as they must cope with the horrors of war, and choose between personal desires and the demands of duty. I was fascinated by this story.
Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. My review is voluntary and unbiased.