Seventy-five years ago, in the earliest days of World War II, hundreds of thousands of young American women hastily married their sweethearts before those young men went off to war. This is the story of two of those young women who became known as furlough brides.Much to the dismay of her haughty mother, nineteen-year-old Elizabeth Buchanan marries her high school sweetheart, Carlo DeLuca, during … DeLuca, during Carlo’s brief furlough following Marine Corps boot camp before he departs for infantry training…and then the bloody islands of the Pacific Theater.
One week later, Elizabeth’s high school acquaintance Angela Antolini marries Carlo’s older brother Tony while Tony is home on furlough following his U.S. Army basic training. As with Carlo – and their other two brothers – Tony will soon be off to war.
Elizabeth and Angela – the DeLuca furlough brides – form a bond that carries them through the World War II homefront years. Both young women find jobs as government agency secretaries to help them cope with one lonely day after another. Katherine Buchanan, Elizabeth’s meddling mother, refuses to accept her daughter’s marriage to someone that Katherine considers to be beneath her daughter. Elizabeth’s black market-dealing brother and father present her with even more problems, even as she worries day after day about Carlo’s well-being.
Come spend the war years with Elizabeth and Angela as they each struggle with the same monumental question:
How can a wartime marriage survive years apart from each other, amidst constant fear and many other trials?
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I could relate to the main characters and found the families believable and well presented. The language is true to the time period. The women are resilient but still real… they are learning about life as they go. No one had all the answers. Loved it and recommend it!
Good historical book.
Enjoyable read. Learned some things about that “time” in history. What a hard life for so many.
Very well researched WWII bride story. It makes you think about what it was like back then to never see your spouse for many years with letters only sporadically arriving and heavily censored.
My mother was in that situation, so it was fun to read and have empathy for her life.
Good historical fiction
An interesting look into how the war affected those on the American homefront.
enjoyed reading this book!
Enjoyed this read!
Quick, entertaining, historical fiction read. I loved the new information I learned about women’s roles during World War 2.
I’m old enought to remember this time and I also lived in Pittsburg for awhile. Brought back memories about how thing where.
The girls in this book had different experiences even though their stories began the same. It was a look at what military wife’s went through then and probably still do when a loved one is deployed. Easy and enjoyable read
Very thought provoking of what my parents generation went through during the war years. Really enjoyed this book.
It gave a good look at a certain time in our history.
I’ve never read about the young wives left behind while their husbands went to serve during WW2. Very good book.
This book started off really well, but rather petered out towards the end. Believable characters and a good insight into the women left behind when the men went to war but could have been stronger at the end.
Good reading, pretty close to what actually happened during the war years.
Enjoyed reading and as I did, I was waiting for tragedy. Gave me a perspective on those left behind during the war and how disruptive their lives were too. Vulnerable characters.
I was born in 1943 I found it interesting to experience what was going on in America at that time.
I loved it. I read many WW11 historical fiction novels and this one offered a completely different perspective than I’ve read before. I cared for the characters, grieved with them, rejoiced with them and couldn’t put the book down until I found out what had happened to them. I plan on buying more of this author’s books. I highly recommend it.