Bookshelf

A Woman's Place

by Lynn Austin
Author's Website: www.lynnaustin.org

Available in paperback, hardback, audio download and Kindle edition. Bethany House, 2006; ISBN: 0764228900; 448 pages.

I’ve read several books about WW2, both fiction and nonfiction. This is the first that takes place entirely on American soil.

In early the 1940’s four women’s lives collide in Stockton, Michigan: Helen, a former school teacher, heiress and lonely spinster; Virginia, a timid mother and housewife who feels her usefulness has expired; Rosa, a sassy New Yorker whose husband dropped her off at his conservative parents’ home before he left for war; and Jean, an intelligent young woman of strong Christian convictions waiting for her chance to go to college and prove her worth in a man’s world. For various and individual reasons, these women become an electrical team in the Stockton Shipyard. Gender biases and racial prejudices rise with the heat that summer, and little by little these drastically different personalities become friends. They challenge one another to be their best regardless of what life hands them.

While it offers great information and a unique perspective, this book fell flat. The story was quite predictable (with one great exception at the end of the book). The characters were too one-dimensional for me. The author offers plenty of challenges; the characters change through their experiences, but overall the book was a bit dull for me.

Final Thoughts: The story was interesting. I’m glad I read it, but it’s not making my list of favorites