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Home Front Girls

Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
2 of 2 copies available

"I hope this letter gets to you quickly. We are always waiting, aren't we? Perhaps the greatest gift this war has given us is the anticipation..."

It's January 1943 when Rita Vincenzo receives her first letter from Glory Whitehall. Glory is an effervescent young mother, impulsive and free as a bird. Rita is a sensible professor's wife with a love of gardening and a generous, old soul. Glory comes from New England society; Rita lives in Iowa, trying to make ends meet. They have nothing in common except one powerful bond: the men they love are fighting in a war a world away from home.

Brought together by an unlikely twist of fate, Glory and Rita begin a remarkable correspondence. The friendship forged by their letters allows them to survive the loneliness and uncertainty of waiting on the home front, and gives them the courage to face the battles raging in their very own backyards. Connected across the country by the lifeline of the written word, each woman finds her life profoundly altered by the other's unwavering support.

A collaboration of two authors whose own beautiful story mirrors that on the page, Home Front Girls is a deeply moving union of style and charm. Filled with unforgettable characters and grace, it is a timeless celebration of friendship and the strength and solidarity of women.

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    • Publisher's Weekly

      July 8, 2013
      In this epistolary debut novel, Hayes and Nyhan, who have never met directly, tell the story of Glory Whitehall and Rita Vincenzo, two pen pals who have never met in person as they begin a correspondence that sustains them both through WWII. The authors have composed letters that, if found in your grandmother's attic, would make you want to stay up all night reading through the cross-outs and the water blots with a head full of questions for the morning. However, the limits of a letter writer's self-knowledge, or perhaps a desire for self-protection, preclude the sort of no holds barred disclosure the story lines beg for: "Was it really that easy to kiss your husband's competition while he was away, Glory?" "Tell us more about how you came to accept the girl who, at first, wasn't good enough for your son, Rita." Aside from the climactic sequence, the epistolary format never fully gels, as too many episodes call for a narrator's omniscience. Nevertheless, Nyhan and Hayes show us that letters from a cherished friend have a particular role to play in shepherding us through life's loves and losses.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      The power of the written word resonates in Tavia Gilbert's and Kate Rudd's compelling portrayals of war wives. Glory Whitehall, of Massachusetts, sends her first letter to Rita Vincenzo, of Iowa, in January 1943. Rudd voices 23-year-old Glory, who is expecting her second child while her husband is fighting in the war. Rudd instills a youthful optimism that balances well with the personality of her pen pal, Rita. Gilbert lends a sensible voice to a woman who waits for both her husband and her son to come home. The two women build a lasting friendship, forged during a fearful time. Both narrators do a beautiful job of saturating the letters with the sting of heartache, the shock of relief, and overwhelming love and support. A.L.C. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine

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  • English

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