Overview

""With heart and humor, Willig explores the complexities of female friendships--feuds, forgiveness, and all. A touching portrait of triumph and found family in the midst of war. Bravo!""--Stephanie Dray, New York Times Bestselling author of America's First Daughter & The Women of Chateau Lafayette A group of young women from Smith College risk their lives in France at the height of World War I in this sweeping novel based on a true story--a skillful blend of Call the Midwife and The Alice Network--from New York Times bestselling author Lauren Willig.A scholarship girl from Brooklyn, Kate Moran thought she found a place among Smith's Mayflower descendants, only to have her illusions dashed the summer after graduation. When charismatic alumna Betsy Rutherford delivers a rousing speech at the Smith College Club in April of 1917, looking for volunteers to help French civilians decimated by the German war machine, Kate is too busy earning her living to even think of taking up the call. But when her former best friend Emmeline Van Alden reaches out and begs her to take the place of a girl who had to drop out, Kate reluctantly agrees to join the new Smith College Relief Unit. Four months later, Kate and seventeen other Smithies, including two trailblazing female doctors, set sail for France. The volunteers are armed with money, supplies, and good intentions--all of which immediately go astray. The chateau that was to be their headquarters is a half-burnt ruin. The villagers they meet are in desperate straits: women and children huddling in damp cellars, their crops destroyed and their wells poisoned. Despite constant shelling from the Germans, French bureaucracy, and the threat of being ousted by the British army, the Smith volunteers bring welcome aid--and hope--to the region. But can they survive their own differences? As they cope with the hardships and terrors of the war, Kate and her colleagues find themselves navigating old rivalries and new betrayals which threaten the very existence of the Unit. With the Germans threatening to break through the lines, can the Smith Unit pull together and be truly a band of sisters?

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9781799956846

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Reviews

An affecting and memorable tale of women and the way their friendships are tested by a changing world and the unforgiving crucible of conflict. -- Jennifer Robson, author of The Gown Julia Whelan's superb narration enhances this engrossing novel inspired by the real-life experiences of eighteen women from Smith College who traveled to a French village during WWI to provide relief aid...Whelan delivers distinct characterizations so deftly that the listener becomes immersed in the personalities and astonishing events. -- AudioFile Willig expertly uses historical detail in her seamless, well-plotted tale. This will entice readers from the very first page. -- Publishers Weekly An inspiring ode to the indomitable strength of women and the fierce, indelible bonds of female friendship, a tale of she-roes that will make you both laugh and cry. -- Allison Pataki, New York Times bestselling author

An inspiring ode to the indomitable strength of women and the fierce, indelible bonds of female friendship, a tale of she-roes that will make you both laugh and cry. -- Allison Pataki, New York Times bestselling author

Author Information

Lauren Willig is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. An alumna of Yale University, she has a graduate degree in history from Harvard and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. She lives in New York City. Julia Whelan is a novelist, screenwriter, lifelong actor, and multiple award-winning audiobook narrator. She graduated with a degree in English and creative writing from Middlebury College and Oxford University. She is a former child actor who has appeared in multiple films and television shows.

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