What readers think of Next to Love, plus links to write your own review.

The book begins in 1944 and ends in 1964. It tells the tale of three best friends: Babe, Grace, and Millie and how they cope with their trials and tribulations and the husbands they love.

It is a deeply moving story about war, friendships, and love. This book is also a bit different from most that tell tales of WW II in that it speaks about the war’s effect on society; not just on the men who fight, their families and friends.

My favourite character is Babe Huggins who works in the Western Union office. She prides herself on the fact that she cuts the ticker tapes as they come out of the teletype with precision and never accidentally cuts off a letter. It also pleases her that she is able to tape the tickers in perfectly straight lines on the message forms. But, like any job, there are unpleasant parts and for Babe it’s a hugely emotional one. She is the one who must deliver the news to families of a lost son, a brother, a husband, an uncle, or a friend.

Babe’s own husband, Claude, (who formerly taught history at the local high school) is a deployed soldier and each time the teletype spits out another message Babe holds her breath and almost passes out from abject fear of seeing Claude’s name.

Not all of the three women get their husbands back at the end of the war, and I can’t tell you who did or didn’t without ruining the story. The way the women deal with their grief will have you feeling the same emotions they do, you’ll become very involved with these three women over the course of the novel and you’ll feel as though you were the invisible fourth friend.

Of the many books about WWII, this is the first I have read that addresses the lasting pyschological effects on the families. Ms. Feldman has shown me a part of my parents' life that was not discussed. For baby boomers, the continuing impact of the war on the lives of their parents will lead to new and insightful discussions.

Set in a small town on the East Coast, “Next to Love,” follows the lives and loves of three young women as they struggle to find themselves and meaning to their lives during an era when the world was fast changing. Their lives, bookended by World War II and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, provide a strong sense of place and time. The book will find an audience with those who enjoy realistic stories about friendships and relationships. Fans of Elizabeth Berg and Nancy Thayer can now add Ellen Feldman to their list.

Next to Love weaves the story of three women, childhood friends from a small town, who loved and then married men who were going off to fight in World War II. One of the aspects that I found fascinating was the way in which the author illustrated the fact that soldiers from this war experienced PTSD also, made even more difficult by the code that made it impossible to talk about or get help for. All three women dealt with their situations in different ways but stayed friends, sometimes in spite of great odds. I enjoyed the book very much; I found the ending to be a bit rushed - this book could easily have had a sequel with the storyline extending into the next generation.

This novel is a moving tribute to the GI's who fought World War II and the wives & parents who waited for them. It also shows the profound changes WWII brought to America Women, for the 1st time, went to work outside the home. The GI's returned, changed forever, and their wives & girlfriends were not the women they left behind. You feel the love, loss & scars the war left.

Good story - I couldn't put it down.

The story of three friends who all have to live through and after the war. Some of the descriptions made me feel like I was going through exactly what they were experiencing. I couldn't put it down.

If you like interesting, believable characters and a good story interwoven with its historical background, you will enjoy Next to Love. Reading about the female perspective on World War II and the time after the soldiers returned from war was quite intriguing. I look forward to reading more of this author's writing in the future.

Ellen Feldman, in Next to Love brings to life the time period during and shortly after World War II. Couples quickly married before the young men went off to war. Some of the husbands returned and others did not. I could feel the anxiety experienced by the three young women at the center of this book. It was interesting to observe how each one coped with difficulties and heartbreak in such different ways. I was disappointed how some relationships developed -or failed to develop, toward the end of the book. Perhaps a sequel is coming. I was a young girl during this time of history and the book is excellent describing what life was like on the home front for the wives, parents, and children of the soldiers. Women who had jobs during the war gave them up to soldiers when they returned. Prejudice against African Americans and Jews is also emphasized. This book offers provocative material for discussing life then as compared with life today. I recommend Next to Love and I think it is a great book for book club discussions.