"Band of Sisters" by Lauren Willig - A Captivating Novel of Sisterhood and Adventure

Beverlyd: This is the first book by Lauren Willing that I have read. I think she did a very good job of telling the story of the women from Smith College who went to France to help the civilians devastated by the German War Machine in WWI. The characters were good and believable and the story flows along. I will definitely look for more of her books to read.

United States on Sep 20, 2023

Azalea: An interesting item of WWI history and Smith College history. Unfortunately, the author didn’t include how Smith College came by their Grecourte Gates. That can be found on the Smith College web site

United States on Sep 06, 2023

Ms Red: I found this book to be totally engaging. I knew very little about WW1. This was so well researched and put together I was swept away to France in mins. The fact that it was based on real events made it much more interesting. The author captured it so well. Hazar! To Lauren Willig. I look forward to the next book. I have read all to date and think this is my favorite one.

United States on Aug 21, 2023

Cathy S.: Great story of young women sacrificing for those in need in WWI in Europe. There are so many characters, I had a hard time keeping them all straight in the beginning, but by halfway through, I knew most of them.

United States on Aug 10, 2023

AG: Recrea la historia real de un grupo de voluntarias americanas que socorre a víctimas civiles en Francia durante la I Guerra Mundial. Suceso y personajes suficientemente interesantes, pero la autora no sabe desarrollarlos. Desaprovecha una buena anécdota con la que hubiera podido construir una novela histórica sólida. El relato se limite a describir los preparativos de la expedición, la puesta en marcha y la ayuda que prestan, sin giros ni avance ni suspense, ni nada que suscite el interés. Esa manera de contar puede bastar para una biografía, pero una novela necesita más recursos técnicos.
Sabemos que la acción transcurre en 1918 cerca del frente porque la autora lo dice y porque aparecen soldados y se mencionan bombardeos, pero las referencias al contexto histórico son prácticamente nulas, y las pocas que aporta son superficiales y repetitivas.
La mayoría de personajes son decorados de cartón piedra, sin rasgos ni voz propios que permitan diferenciar unos de otros. Son heroínas entregadas, altruistas y valientes; retratos épicos, pero poco más. Sólo tres personajes están algo más desarrollados, Kate, Emmie y Julia, pero les falta construcción,...

Spain on Jun 18, 2023

Sherry Sharpnack: I finished "Band of Sisters" on my way home from my Mexican vacation. The tardiness of the review is not a reflection upon my enjoyment of the book.
Kate is a French teacher at a private school. The pay is miserable, basically just room and board. But at least it is a job, and she doesn't have to try to live in her overcrowded home, w/ her mother, stepfather, and four little half-brothers. Kate doesn't feel like she belongs anywhere: she doesn't fit in her working-class family, nor does she belong w/ the society women w/ whom she graduated from Smith College as a scholarship student.
So when her former Smith roommate, Emmie, reaches out to her and invites her to join a group of alumni from Smith College in an outreach program to help French citizens destroyed by the early days of WWI, Kate accepts the offer to join. Kate and Emmie have not been close since graduation, and Kate wears her inferiority complex like armor. Kate's sense of inferiority makes her unlikable to me at first, and it causes quite the blow-up w/ Emmie in the future.
In the meantime, Kate is one of 18 Smith alumna who travel to northern France, enduring privations and hardships along the way, and having...

United States on May 21, 2022

Caren S.: arrivé plus vite que prévu, bonne condition

Canada on Nov 10, 2021