Home Front Girls

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.

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