Book Summary and Reviews of The Wartime Sisters by Lynda Cohen Loigman

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Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews

The Wartime Sisters
Sisters who didn't get along because of jealousy.

Sisters who didn't get along because of different ways of looking at things.

Sisters who just didn't get along or agree about anything.

Ruth and Millie were sisters who fit into those categories. Ruth was older and more reliable. Millie just couldn't focus on anything and was not reliable but earned the favor of their mother and could do no wrong in her eyes.

THE WARTIME SISTERS focuses on relationships between the sisters, between a mother and her daughters, between other women, and on how everything affected their daily lives.

We follow Ruth and Millie from their childhood to the Springfield Armory in Massachusetts during WWII. We see the friction between the sisters during both time periods in their lives. Nothing had changed over the years for them.

THE WARTIME SISTERS held my interest because of the well developed characters. Each one had something interesting about themselves and something that truly added to the story line.

Lillian was a favorite character for me. She was very nurturing. Ruth was likeable, but a bit too strict and unforgiving. Millie was a bit pitiful because she knew she had made a bad mistake by marrying Lenny, but I liked her. Arietta was the best...I just loved her singing and her cooking.

Ms. Loigman's writing is very detailed and pulls you in with the beautiful way she has the words simply grab you.

When a small comment was slyly dropped in one of the chapters about a truth Ruth kept from Millie and then a truth Millie had kept from Ruth, the interest definitely was upped.

THE WARTIME SISTERS is a beautiful, warm, marvelously researched read.

Betty Taylor

Heart-warming
This was a beautiful heart-warming story of the relationship between sisters. But it also about the relationship between a mother and her daughters and relationships among women. Each character was very well-developed and relatable. I felt these could be women I know.

Ruth has always resented the attention beautiful Millie received. So when Ruth marries she is happy to move from Brooklyn to the Springfield Armory in Massachusetts, seeing it as an opportunity to finally step out of her sister’s shadow. But a few years later circumstances result in Millie and her little boy moving in with Ruth and her husband. This time Ruth has the upper hand. She is married to an Army officer, has two children, and lives comfortably while Millie has lost her husband and struggles financially to support little Michael.

Two other ladies, Lillian and Arietta, enter the lives of the sisters and provoke moments of tenderness, compassion, and strength. Lillian is the wife of the commanding officer at the Armory. Arietta, the cook at the Armory cafeteria also has an amazing voice and often provides entertainment during the workers’ lunches.

But these women bear their own secrets - secrets that could destroy lives – secrets they wish could stay hidden but, in any good story, must be revealed. A mysterious man from the past appears and jeopardizes the lives these women have. I thought the pacing for the revealing of the secrets was handled masterfully. No sudden reveal at the end (that frequently does not work well).

I loved the entire story, as it evoked emotions within me. I could easily relate to Ruth’s resentment even though it often was underserved. I admired Millie’s ability handle the resentment directed at her throughout her life. The writing was beautiful and had me totally immersed in the story.