Reviewed by Judy Jacobs

It is 1938.  America is keeping a wary eye on Adolf Hitler.  As the adults become more and more uneasy over the events in Europe, Catherine Dickson, a young girl we come to know as Doc, is unconcerned.  Europe is far away from the state of Virginia and she has no reason to believe that life will not go on as normal.

When Hitler invaded Poland, Doc’s naivety disappeared when she witnesses an elderly woman’s reaction to this event.  The following lamentation made Doc realize that nothing would ever be the same again.  “I’ve lived through three wars and a depression.  The War Between the States destroyed my father’s family.  They lost everything:  their farm, their livelihood and six of their young men.  We were just getting back on our feet when the depression came.  When Yankee soldiers policed Richmond, men could no longer vote or hold office and we could hardly keep our families together.  We were poor, dirt poor.  I lived through those times and now in my nineties I am forced to live through it again.  I can’t face it at my time of life.  Oh God, it’s too much.”

From this point on, Doc lived in two separate worlds.

On the world front Erwin Rommel took command of the German Afrika Korps and began his deadly assault of the British.  The German propagandist Lord Haw Haw spewed forth his messages on the short wave radio to unnerve the Allied public listeners.   To counter act these depressing news broadcasts, the neighbors would gather around the village store and tell of the courage of their forbearers as they homesteaded Canada or crossed enemy lines in the Civil War.  Local folk tales about headless horsemen and coffins that jump out of the grave were repeated to the delight of the children.

Pearl Harbor was bombed and all of a sudden the young men wore uniforms and went away to boot camp.  The work load increased for the people left at home.  Doc learns how to raise chickens and keep an egg route.

The Japanese attacked Midway.  At home the ladies knit socks for the soldiers, roll bandages for the Red Cross, help spot airplanes and packs bundles to send to Brittan.

In France a neighborhood boy is missing in action. It would be months before his family learned that he was smuggled out of enemy territory by the underground resistance. Back at home,   the men left on the farm are making due with bad tires, gas rationing, and worn out work boots because there is no leather for shoes.

To provide the stability needed to survive these turbulent events, Doc turns to her good friends Harry and Clara Houghton.  With their love, guidance and wisdom Doc emerges from her childhood an extremely level headed young woman. She comes to grips with the moral issues of how to treat a prisoner of war, an indifferent mother, and a God who seems to let the destruction go on and on. 

By the time the last page is read, you realize three different stories have been chronicled:  a general overview of World War II,   a more detailed account of war on the home front, and an in depth look of country life in the early 1940’s.

Ariana Mangum conveys completely the “can do” attitude that was common during the war.  She also captured the dignity, courage and ingenuity displayed by young and old in overcoming hardships.  These elements together with a skilful blend of historical data immediately captivate the reader and make this novel appear more fact than fiction.

Judy Jacobs

January 10, 2009

Righter Publishing Company-PO Box 105-Timberlake, NC 27583