Enchanted Islands by Allison Amend

The enchanted islands in the title are the Galapagos Islands near Equador, the islands of Darwin fame. And they are the setting for the second half of Allison Amend's story. Our heroine Frances starts out in Duluth, Minnesota as the daughter of Polish immigrants, flees to Chicago then Nebraska, then California, and ends up married to a secretly gay man working for naval intelligence. The two are sent to the Galapagos Islands to spy on the Germans living there just as WW2 is breaking out. It's a very primitive existence (and I thought it was a miracle that neither of them came down with any kind of deadly illness so far from medical help), but Frances learns to love life on the islands. And when she ends up back in San Francisco she misses her island life.

This story is based on 2 real people who did actually live on the Galapagos, but whether or not they were really spies is up for debate. Frances is the stereotypical plucky independent woman who makes the best of every situation but she really wants some man to fall madly in love with her and take care of her. Her best friend Rosalie is equally intriguing. She too is a survivor, though her life takes a totally different path from the one Frances followed. And in the end, they're the last two standing, in their assisted living facility, feisty as ever.

I think this would be a great book for a book group discussion.