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?
more
I fell in love with Elizabeth and Angela! This book kept me up late on several nights! There was so much to love about this book. Elizabeth was such a strong character. She defied her snotty entitled mother to marry Carlos, the man she loved. Then lived with his family while she waited for the terrible war to end. The hardships that the soldiers faced every single day are almost to much to comprehend! I can not wait to read other books by this author!!
Good read
Excellent story about a family with several sons deployed all over various conflict areas in WW II and how their wives coped with loneliness and problems at home.
Very informative
Very realistic and down to earth story. It could be anyone’s family. One of the best books I have read in a while. I thoroughly enjoyed the story.
I am from Pittsburgh and can identify with the book . I am also a Pirate fan. Nice they were included.I enjoyed how you explained the routine of life then. People read the paper. That was how it was too. You did not marry an Italian of you were Irish. That was taboo.You brought up many good points.
It was refreshing to read a WWII home-front story about the women left behind. The chapters flowed flawlessly in a manner to make want to keep reading to see what happens next.
Thoroughly enjoyed this one!
The book followed true events during WWII . One fact is the hurried marriages. They were young brides with years of seperation from their husbands. The story revolved around the young women, how they adjusted, and coped, and what their husbands were facing in the battles. They followed the war through radio and movie announcements as well as the newspaper. Excellent reading, fiction, yet factual references. The author made you feel as though you were part of the story.
I like historical fiction and this was one of the best such books.
This was a really good story with great characters and twists. It is part of a series but can be read independently.
The pathos with which Alan writes about the thoughts, struggles and feelings of the women left behind by the men who went to the war…is amazing…
A very good book. Author did a great job of getting the feel of 1942. I’ve read
too many historical novels where the mores and attitudes didn’t seem to fit the
time period.
I have already reviewed this book.
I really really enjoyed this book, and was so pleased at the end to find out it is one of a series. I love the era in which the story takes place, 1940’s pre- and post-World War II. Much of the stories of the characters are taken from real events and situations. It definitely adds much to the reader’s experience.
I also love how much detail is included, so a reader truly gets a feel for the scenery, the people and especially the emotions being expressed by these brides, most of them married only a few weeks before their husbands are shipped overseas to fight. It’s quite a journey for all of them.
Great book about the women left behind in the US.
Very good. Told my wife to read it. .
Very historically accurate and a great tribute to WWII-era families.
I couldn’t finish it.
I found this book unreadable.