Maybe it's because I just learned about my great-grandfather serving in World War 1, but I really enjoyed Suzanne Feldman's Sisters of the Great War, a novel about two sisters who volunteer on the front lines of "The Great War".
Ruth and Elise are sisters living with their grandfather and father in Baltimore. Each girl wants something else for her life. Ruth wants to be a doctor, just like her father, even if her father discourages her dream, telling her that women can't be doctors. Elise is a great car mechanic, but where will that get her as a woman? So the sisters sign themselves up for the war effort across the pond, Ruth as a nurse and Elise as an ambulance driver.
War is hard, and so is reading about some of the graphic wounds and medical procedures Ruth encounters. But if that sort of thing doesn't bother you, then you'll also enjoy reading about the hardships and friendships that each woman endures from 1915 until the end of the war in November 1918.
The author did a lot of research in writing this novel, and yes, there were female ambulance drivers, as well as many women working in the war zone. It was dangerous business, but it also granted these women more independence than they'd previously had in their roles of wives, mothers, and daughters. I think this book would be great for a book club!
Sisters of the Great War is published by Mira Books and will be on bookstore shelves tomorrow, October 26, 2021. I received a free ARC.
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