Madeline
Gone To Soldiers by Marge Piercy is another historical fiction book about World War II. I have read plenty of these World War II historical fiction books in my day, enough to have even picked a top four to write about my top four. This book is not much different than those except there are multiple storylines running parallel to each other and it is easily twice as long as the longest historical fiction book I have read about World War II.
Premise of Gone To Soldiers
The book starts as World War II is gearing up. The reader is first put into the shoes of the characters before the war. What they did, who they spoke to, and what they did for fun. The book then takes each character through the war and then to the end, once the war has completed. The Gone To Soldiers characters have each been changed forever by this war.
The Characters of Gone To Soldiers
Bernice has a dream of flying and when the war starts she will do whatever it takes to become a pilot for the sake of the war. As a youth she has a crush on her brother’s friend and lover, Zach. But as she becomes a women through the war, she discovers that her sexuality is more complicated than a silly crush on a boy.
Louise spent before the war writing romance for women but finds that she can easily transfer her writing skills into something more meaningful for the war as a war correspondent. Although she is still in close contact with her ex-husband Oscar, she prefers him to stay at a distance. She also watches her daughter Kay growing from a young girl into a women.
Apra is the young lover of Oscar, Louise’s ex-husband. Because Apra works for Oscar she is able to hide behind him and is always second guessing both her affair with Oscar as well as her place in the world as a women. When Apra finds herself moving to London with Oscar, she finds herself ill equipped to deal with the life in a war zone in a foreign land.
Ruthie is a student in the beginning of the book but quickly finds work in the factories. She is the Rosie the Riveter of the characters. At first the men are shocked by the presence of a women in the factory, but as the war continues, they become more and more jaded by her presence.
Jacqueline was born Yakova and lived a very normal life for a Jewish girl in France. But as the war picks up she finds herself questioning the decisions of the government, disguise her identity including adopting the name Jacqueline. She eventually finds herself fleeing to the Pyrenees where she helps children cross the boarder where she gets involved with Jeff, Bernice’s brother.
Naomi is a young French girl and sister of Jacqueline is send to the United States at the beginning of the war leaving her twin sister behind. She lives with Trudi and Trudi’s husband, Leib, who convinces the teenage girl to become his lover. She is told by Leib to love him and not to tell anyone including her closest confident. Her safety in the United States can then be questioned.
Final Thoughts
There is not much that is unique to this World War II historical fiction novel. As I write this post it seems as though others feel the same, there is not much written about this book. For me, Gone To Soldiers is just a check box on my Goodreads.
