Their Guilty Pleasures

October 15, 2011
Jenny, Rusty, and Sarah might never have met had they not engaged in affairs with some of the soldiers quartered in their midst at Southampton, England. When Jenny Procter's very controlling husband enters the English army, she gradually begins to pursue her own interests, forming strong friendships with several of the American officers on the nearby base, including a Colorado doctor and a Wyoming horse whisperer. When Rusty meets Brad, who treats her like a lady, she pretends to be a typist, rather than the prostitute she has become, in order to retain his respect and affection. And 17-year-old Sarah is fascinated by a young German prisoner of war, whom she meets in the park, and their tentative conversations deepen into love. As WWII progresses, circumstances unite the three women as they each face hard choices, sacrificing much to achieve their dreams. Tate's trademark complement of emotional interludes, nicely counterbalanced by intimate domestic detail, is on display in this pleasurable historical romance, which also offers a popular military setting in which even the antagonists are portrayed sympathetically.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)