Switchboard Soldiers by Jennifer Chiaverini

 Switchboard Soldiers by Jennifer Chiaverini-453 pages

General Pershing wants a group of American women to come to France to be switchboard operators.  This is an elite group who must have extensive training and experience and also be fluent in French and English.  These women are culled from ATT and without their expertise WWI may not have had the outcome it did.  Based on a true story these women were known as US Signal Corps in WWI.  Yet when the war was over they did not receive any recognition or benefits.  I appreciate Ms. Chiaverini's research and her writing.  Since my grandfather worked for ATT, I enjoyed getting to know a little more history about the switchboard girls.  I liked this book very much.

A Star for Mrs. Blake by April Smith

A Star for Mrs. Blake by April Smith - 352 pages

A Star for Mrs. Blake is a novel set in the middle of the Depression years, but focuses on a lesser known piece of its history.  Cora Blake is her town's librarian who also sidelines as a fish cannery worker.  What makes Cora significant is the fact she is a Gold Star Mother, one of the many who lost her son in the Great War.  When she receives an invitation to join the Gold Star Mother's Pilgrimage to the graveyards in France, she does not hesitate to say yes.  Soon she finds herself en route with four other mothers, their soldier escort, and a nurse.  Cora finds instant companionship with Bobbie Olsen, an upper class woman, who also a widow and lost her only son.  Two of the other mothers, Kate and Minnie, grouped together and do not get along with the elderly socialite.  The final mother in the group, Wilhelmina, is the eccentric one who bonds with all.  Adding to the relationships, the solider escort, Lt. Thomas Hammond, and nurse, Lily Barnett, begin to grow close.  Once in Paris, Cora accompanies Bobbie to visit an old friend and meets journalist Griffin Reed, a man who becomes loyal to Cora and provides a gift that made the trip more than worth it, especially after a tragedy strikes their party.

While the book begins to an iffy start, once the journey begins the novel becomes much better and we understand this is a book about relationships and the power of love.  The historical aspects align to drive that home.  The mothers still hold close the memories of their lost sons and sharing those memories and the pilgrimage experience with the other mothers bonds them together.  We also see a unique bond formed between Cora and Griffin, but I cannot explain that one here without exposing one of the story's main conclusions.

Somewhere in France by Jennifer Robson

Somewhere in France: A Novel of the Great War by Jennifer Robson - 400 pages

This gem of a novel claims to satisfy lovers of Downton Abbey and fulfills that goal.  The story opens to Edward's engagement ball where his sister Lilly Ashford once again meets his friend, Robbie.  Before her mother finds an excuse to drive Robbie from the party, he gave Lilly one piece of advice she took to heart:  you can be anything you want to be.  When the war begins, Edward fights on the front lines, Robbie serves as a surgeon at an aid station near the front, and Lilly becomes an ambulance driver.  She soon finagles her way into serving at Robbie's station and their relationship grows beyond the letters they had been sharing.

I loved this book!  Not only was it very Downton-like in style and theme, but it was elegantly written.  The wording and descriptions were true to the era.  MUST PURCHASE OWN COPY!  It was that good.

The Dodger: The Extraordinary Story of Churchill's Cousin and the Great Escape by Tim Caroll

The Dodger:  The Extraordinary Story of Churchill's Cousin and the Great Escape by Tim Caroll - 336 pages

The Dodger recounts the life of John "Johnny" Bigelow Dodge, a distant cousin of Sir Winston Churchill.  American-born but British-bred, Dodge became a British citizen when his mother married an English aristocrat.  During World War I, he served in naval infantry unit until he was wounded at Gallipoli.  After his recovery, he transferred to the army and led a machine gun group.  During the interwar years, Dodge traveled extensively as a business men (though he may have used that as a cover for spying) and was twice arrested in the Soviet Union.  When World War II began he reactivated his commission and served on active duty until his capture at Dunkirk.  Once in German hands, Dodge spent the next five years being moved from camp to camp and attempting multiple escapes, most notably the one from Stalag III featured in the movie The Great Escape.  During this time, the biography also tells the story of the men he lived and traveled camp to camp with.  The most significant of these seems to have been Wing Commander Harry "Wings" Melville Arbuthnot Day (I am inspired to look for his biography at a later point; he masterminded the great escape).

The book was highly variable in its appeal.  The first half covering pre-World War II was bare bones information and dry reading.  Once the point of Dodge's life in World War II was reached, it become more interesting but the focus was equally split between Dodge and his four main companions.  Worth reading?  Yes.  Is there something better?  Probably.

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson- 529 pgs.

Ursula Todd is born on a snowy February day in 1910.  She dies before she can take her first breath.  On that same night, Ursula is born again, this time surviving.  And so it goes.  Ursula is born and then dies multiple time over the course of the novel.  Each time she dies, Ursula remembers little bits from her previous lives and is able to change the course of her life.

It took me a little while to get into this book.  The timeline jumps around, which can be a bit confusing, but once I got into it, I really enjoyed it.  There were several variations of Ursula that I didn't care for, but it was always interesting to see what she would remember and change.  Definitely an interesting plot.

Silent Night: The Story of the World War I Christmas Truce by Stanley Weintraub

Silent Night:  The Story of the World War I Christmas Truce by Stanley Weintraub -206 pages

I never thought I would say this, but if I were to compare Silent Night (2001) with the similarly-themed movie, Joyeux Noel (2005) I would actually say the movie was better.  Both are about the World War I Christmas Truce in 1914.  The movie covers all the same points the book does in less time and in a more Christmas spirit versus bogging the reader down with the same facts covered multiple ways.  The book also features the gory side of the truce (aka a chapter on burying the dead), which while relevant, kills the holiday mood of a Christmas-themed history book and the downplays the camaraderie taking plays between the two sides.  That said, there were some high points to the book.  My two favorite story threads were the ones about the soccer game (also featured in the movie) and a Scottish solider who bicycled behind enemy lines and was teased by the Germans for his supposed "spying."

Over all, the book was okay but I would recommend the movie over the book.  As a side note, after reading this book I can say the movie was for the most part historically accurate.

Arrowsmith, 1: So Smart in their Fine Uniforms, by Kurt Busiek

Arrowsmith 1: So Smart in their Fine Uniforms, by Kurt Busiek, 160 pages

This story is a blend of World War I and fantasy.  Fletcher Arroswmith has heard of the war overseas, and feels that he must volunteer to help stop the Prussian advances.  He enlists in the air corps, goes overseas, and learns that war is far more awful than he ever imagined. That's the WWI part; the fantastic element is that Fletch lives in the United States of Columbia, the air corps involves flying with a dragon and using the right incantation, and other characters include wizards, rock trolls, and vampires.  This is actually a surprisingly dark comic, but appropriate for teens and adults alike.

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

"Leviathan" by Scott Westerfeld, 440 pages

The first in the series, "Leviathan" is an excellent Steampunk novel filled with danger, suspense, a little humor and your typical run-of-mill teenage drama. This lovely salad is filled with the expected ingredients - Teen girl wants to fly again so she pretends to be a guy in order to enlist in the military during WWI era; Teen boy is a prince that pretends to not be a prince after his parents are murdered to start WWI. Then you have your fighting factions - the Darwinists who like to create machines using biological parts and the Clankers who think you shouldn't "improve" upon nature and create their machines strictly from metal. And of course let's not forget the part where Darwinist teenage girl falls in love with Clanker teenage boy for the typical 'Romeo and Juliet' scenario. However, most readers will find this novel very entertaining and thrilling.