Ship of Brides by JoJo Moyes
During WW2, a number of Australian women ended up marrying British soldiers. Ship of Brides tells the story of 600 of these women and their journey to England on a crumbling aircraft carrier to start their new lives. The story focuses mainly on Maggie (a farmer's daughter, already pregnant), Avice
(a rich and spoiled girl who wishes she could have traveled on the Queen Mary instead), Frances
(a solemn nurse who spent the war close to the front lines), and Jean ( a wild, young teenager).
While it's a little hard to keep everyone straight at the beginning, it is an engrossing story. And you can see how brave these women really are--to leave behind their homes and families to reunite with husbands they haven't seen in a long time--and often didn't know very well at all. The women soon realize how precarious their position is. Any kind of unsavory gossip can get them sent back to Australia--as can a telegraph from a husband who has changed his mind--or whose family has convinced him he has made a mistake. They also have to deal with a ship full of men who haven't been around women in a long time as well as the dangers of a long sea voyage on a rickety vessel.
Once I got all the characters straight, I couldn't put it down.
(a rich and spoiled girl who wishes she could have traveled on the Queen Mary instead), Frances
(a solemn nurse who spent the war close to the front lines), and Jean ( a wild, young teenager).
While it's a little hard to keep everyone straight at the beginning, it is an engrossing story. And you can see how brave these women really are--to leave behind their homes and families to reunite with husbands they haven't seen in a long time--and often didn't know very well at all. The women soon realize how precarious their position is. Any kind of unsavory gossip can get them sent back to Australia--as can a telegraph from a husband who has changed his mind--or whose family has convinced him he has made a mistake. They also have to deal with a ship full of men who haven't been around women in a long time as well as the dangers of a long sea voyage on a rickety vessel.
Once I got all the characters straight, I couldn't put it down.
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