Synopses & Reviews
New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Berg takes us to Chicago at the time of World War II in this wonderful story about three sisters, their lively Irish family, and the men they love.
As the novel opens, Kitty and Louise Heaney say good-bye to their boyfriends Julian and Michael, who are going to fight overseas. On the domestic front, meat is rationed, children participate in metal drives, and Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller play songs that offer hope and lift spirits. And now the Heaney sisters sit at their kitchen table every evening to write letters Louise to her fiancé, Kitty to the man she wishes fervently would propose, and Tish to an ever-changing group of men she meets at USO dances. In the letters the sisters send and receive are intimate glimpses of life both on the battlefront and at home. For Kitty, a confident, headstrong young woman, the departure of her boyfriend and the lessons she learns about love, resilience, and war will bring a surprise and a secret, and will lead her to a radical action for those she loves. The lifelong consequences of the choices the Heaney sisters make are at the heart of this superb novel about the power of love and the enduring strength of family.
Review
"Berg offers a refreshing picture of the strength and compassion of women whose roles and lives changed significantly. And though the war landscape has changed in contemporary times to include male and female soldiers, Berg's gentle critique of what it means to engage in combat rings surprisingly close to home with the current focus on the increasingly unpopular war in Iraq." Chicago Tribune
Review
"The Heaneys' warmth and love are integral to Berg's portrait, as is a 1940s Chicago that includes streetcars, Marshall Fields, the Palmer House, and summers on Lake Michigan." Library Journal
Review
"Berg makes the most of her Chicago setting, working in references to iconic institutions such as the old Marshall Field's department store and the Palmer House hotel." Booklist
Synopsis
From the New York Times bestselling author of We Are All Welcome Here and Open House comes Berg's superb new novel, set in the time of World War II, about the three Heaney sisters and the men they love.
About the Author
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