Summary and Reviews of Next to Love by Ellen Feldman

Prologue
July 17, 1944

In the year-and-a-half Babe Huggins has worked for Western Union, she has been late only once before.  Maybe that’s why in the months to come she will occasionally persuade herself that some premonition delayed her this morning.  But in her more rational moments, she knows her tardiness has nothing to do with a sixth sense, only an unsteady hand when she draws the line down the back of her leg to simulate the seam in a nylon.  The odd thing is that before the war made off with nylons, her seams were rarely straight, but this morning, she washes off the crooked line, starts over, and is late leaving for work.

The walk uptown from her parents’ house, where she moved back after Claude shipped out, takes fifteen minutes, and by the time she turns onto Broad Street, the clock on the stone façade of First Farmers Bank says eight-ten.  As she hurries past the open door of Swallow’s Drug Store, she inhales the familiar mix of fresh ...

Please be aware that this discussion guide will contain spoilers!

1. For nine years, Babe keeps a terrible secret. How much of a toll do you think it takes on her? Does her hardscrabble background make her tougher than Grace and Millie in the face of adversity?
   


2. In the post WWII era, combat fatigue, or what we now call Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, was a dark secret. There was little therapy, and no support groups existed. Do you think in that era Babe could have found better ways to cope with Claude’s problems? Should she have insisted they have a child? How much do you think she regrets not having one? Would you have blamed her if she left him?
   


3. Grace and Millie have diametrically opposite reactions to losing their husbands, and both think they are trying to protect their children. ...

Please be aware that this discussion may contain spoilers!

Here are some of the comments posted about Next to Love in our legacy forum.
You can see the full discussion here.


All three women are relatively wealthy but do not spend excessively. What do you think this says about the beginning of the most prosperous period in America’s history and our own era?
I agree with ElizabeyhW. My parents were of that generation and nevertheless were always fearful that the depression would return. - pschulze

Any characters in the book you think were intentionally named according to their personalities in Next to Love?
Morris may, or may not have been intentionally named. In my opinion that name isn't a go-for-it hero's designation. Makes me think a rather wish-washy person. - Suzanne

Can you sympathize with King's heartbreak and loss despite his poor treatment of returning vets?
I agree. He was not a good man to start off. The interesting question is shuffle brief talk with Jack. - Peggy H

Considering the era, do you think Babe could have found better ways to cope with Claude’s problems?
Thank you, Suzanne, for the story about your brother. I cannot tell you how many e-mails I have had from readers telling about their fathers and uncles and grandfathers who came home from the war, seemingly all right on the outside, but who ended up... - EllenFeldman

Do you think Grace and Millie really believed that they were protecting their children, or were they merely justifying their own predilections?
michellleh -- I found that interesting as well. Perhaps she felt it was necessary to get the reader's attention. Their responses certainly reflected their own feelings of grief and loss. And she also showed us the effect on the children -- which ... - kathrynk