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Book Summary and Reviews of Blue Stars by Emily Gray Tedrowe

Blue Stars by Emily Gray Tedrowe

Blue Stars

by Emily Gray Tedrowe

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  • Feb 2015, 352 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

Emily Gray Tedrowe has written an extraordinary novel about ordinary people, a graceful and gritty portrayal of what it's like for the women whose husbands and sons are deployed in Iraq.

Blue Stars brings to life the realities of the modern day home front: how to get through the daily challenges of motherhood and holding down a job while bearing the stress and uncertainty of war, when everything can change in an instant. It tells the story of Ellen, a Midwestern literature professor, who is drawn into the war when her legal ward Michael enlists as a Marine; and of Lacey, a proud Army wife who struggles to pay the bills and keep things going for her son while her husband is deployed. Ellen and Lacey cope with the fear and stress of a loved one at war while trying to get by in a society that often ignores or misunderstands what war means to women today. When Michael and Eddie are injured in Iraq, Ellen and Lacey's lives become intertwined in Walter Reed Army Hospital, where each woman must live while caring for her wounded soldier. They form an alliance, and an unlikely friendship, while helping each other survive the dislocated world of the army hospital. Whether that means fighting for proper care for their men, sharing a six-pack, or coping with irrevocable loss, Ellen and Lacey pool their strengths to make it through. In the end, both women are changed, not only by the war and its fallout, but by each other.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

BookBrowse Review
"For the past six years I have worked as a therapist with National Guard military members and their families and watched as the soldiers were deployed, some for the second, third or fourth times. I waited with the families, providing support to them as they lived each day hoping their loved one would return safely.

During that time I also supervised newly graduated therapists as they began their careers and kept a list of books about working with military families that I suggested they read. This book will be at the top of that list. Tedrowe has written a book that touches on the greatest fears of anyone who loves a military member and she did it with compassion and skill. The characters ring true, the situations they find themselves in are (sadly) very real and the emotional roller coaster the women find themselves on exists for all those who have a loved one in the military.

This is a book that needs to be read by anyone who wants to understand what our military families go through every day, even now. Thank you, Emily Gray Tedrowe, for writing this touching, realistic and much needed novel."
- Nan G., Mazomanie, WI, for BookBrowse's First Impressions Program

Other Reviews
"A deep look into the strain of being a military wife and mother and the power of women and their emotional bonds." - Library Journal

"Tedrowe's examination of military families is honest and nuanced, and she manages to wrestle some kind of equanimity for the flawed heroes of her tale. As more stories about Iraq appear, novels like Tedrowe's, focused on the home front, will be a valuable contribution to our understanding of the war." - Kirkus

This information about Blue Stars was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.

Reader Reviews

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Nancy D. (West Chester, PA)

Nothing is Black or White
Although this book is not an action packed book, it held my attention from the beginning. I appreciated that the characters were drawn in a very realistic manner. No one was completely admirable, but no one was completely despicable; they were human. The issues facing the main characters, while colored by the war, are also 21st century family issues. The book also did a fine job of showing how far reaching the consequences of war are for our servicemen and their families.

Josephine J. (Goshen, CT)

Outstanding novel
Blue Stars, set in 2006-7, is the story of two women with loved-ones in the army: One, a university professor, and the other, a personal trainer, and how they are thrown together when their soldiers injured in the line of duty. More than that, it is the story of the appalling conditions at Walter Reed Hospital; a story of friendships arising in unlikely places; and a story of how literature matters, how reading is important. This would be a great Book Club selection.

Mary B. (Laguna Woods, CA)

War's impact on home life
This story of two very different women who meet under trying circumstances & help each other was well written. The characters are very believable and realistic. I learned a lot about the problems of our military care for the wounded & their families. I think Book Clubs could find a lot to discuss in this book.

Ruth O. (Downingtown, PA)

Emotional read
I was very conflicted about this book at the beginning as it seemed to be anti-military, which is not what I expected from the description. As the story unfolded, two themes became apparent and not necessarily anti-military. One theme demonstrated a total lack of understanding of what military life encompassed, the other was all on board with the military but demonstrated how deployments can shatter normal family life. This was a gut-wrenching tale of the effect of severe injury on the lives of two service members and their families. Emotions run high throughout the book, both in the characters and also in the reader. This was a tough read but worthwhile, a good recommendation for book clubs.

Diane M. (Walden, NY)

Blue Stars
This was such a great book. I really enjoyed it because it was a story about military families left behind and when their fathers and sons return from war. As a wife of a veteran, although I didn't know him when he first came back I dealt with aftereffects such as PTSD. This book will open your eyes to the families go through. It was a wonderful realistic book.

Mary Lou F. (Naples, FL)

Treating our soldiers
Very insightful story especially with the conditions found at Walter Reed Hospital. This novel deals with the care or lack thereof of returning soldiers. Eye awakening--makes you wonder how close to realistic events this novel conveys.

...12 more reader reviews

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Author Information

Emily Gray Tedrowe Author Biography

Emily Gray Tedrowe is the Chicago-based author of the novels The Talented Miss Farwell, Blue Stars, and Commuters. She earned a PhD in English literature from New York University, and a BA from Princeton University. She has received an Illinois Arts Council award as well as fellowships from the Ragdale Foundation, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the Sewanee Writers Conference. A frequent book reviewer for USA Today as well as other publications, Tedrowe also writes essays, interviews, and short stories.

Link to Emily Gray Tedrowe's Website

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