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Band of Sisters
A group of young women from Smith College risk their lives in France at the height of World War I in this sweeping novel based on a true story—a skillful blend of Call the Midwife and The Alice Network—from New York Times bestselling author Lauren Willig.
A scholarship girl from Brooklyn, Kate Moran thought she found a place among Smith’s Mayflower descendants, only to have her illusions dashed the summer after graduation. When charismatic alumna Betsy Rutherford delivers a rousing speech at the Smith College Club in April of 1917, looking for volunteers to help French civilians decimated by the German war machine, Kate is too busy earning her living to even think of taking up the call. But when her former best friend Emmeline Van Alden reaches out and begs her to take the place of a girl who had to drop out, Kate reluctantly agrees to join the new Smith College Relief Unit.
Four months later, Kate and seventeen other Smithies, including two trailblazing female doctors, set sail for France. The volunteers are armed with money, supplies, and good intentions—all of which immediately go astray. The chateau that was to be their headquarters is a half-burnt ruin. The villagers they meet are in desperate straits: women and children huddling in damp cellars, their crops destroyed and their wells poisoned.
Despite constant shelling from the Germans, French bureaucracy, and the threat of being ousted by the British army, the Smith volunteers bring welcome aid—and hope—to the region. But can they survive their own differences? As they cope with the hardships and terrors of the war, Kate and her colleagues find themselves navigating old rivalries and new betrayals which threaten the very existence of the Unit.
With the Germans threatening to break through the lines, can the Smith Unit pull together and be truly a band of sisters?
A scholarship girl from Brooklyn, Kate Moran thought she found a place among Smith’s Mayflower descendants, only to have her illusions dashed the summer after graduation. When charismatic alumna Betsy Rutherford delivers a rousing speech at the Smith College Club in April of 1917, looking for volunteers to help French civilians decimated by the German war machine, Kate is too busy earning her living to even think of taking up the call. But when her former best friend Emmeline Van Alden reaches out and begs her to take the place of a girl who had to drop out, Kate reluctantly agrees to join the new Smith College Relief Unit.
Four months later, Kate and seventeen other Smithies, including two trailblazing female doctors, set sail for France. The volunteers are armed with money, supplies, and good intentions—all of which immediately go astray. The chateau that was to be their headquarters is a half-burnt ruin. The villagers they meet are in desperate straits: women and children huddling in damp cellars, their crops destroyed and their wells poisoned.
Despite constant shelling from the Germans, French bureaucracy, and the threat of being ousted by the British army, the Smith volunteers bring welcome aid—and hope—to the region. But can they survive their own differences? As they cope with the hardships and terrors of the war, Kate and her colleagues find themselves navigating old rivalries and new betrayals which threaten the very existence of the Unit.
With the Germans threatening to break through the lines, can the Smith Unit pull together and be truly a band of sisters?
528 pages, Hardcover
First published March 16, 2021
About the author
Lauren Willig
43 books4,492 followersLauren Willig is the New York Times bestselling author of nineteen works of historical fiction. Her books have been translated into over a dozen languages, awarded the RITA, Booksellers Best and Golden Leaf awards, and chosen for the American Library Association's annual list of the best genre fiction. After graduating from Yale University, she embarked on a PhD in History at Harvard before leaving academia to acquire a JD at Harvard Law while authoring her "Pink Carnation" series of Napoleonic-set novels. She lives in New York City, where she now writes full time.
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September 7, 2022
Band of Sisters by Lauren Willig (Author), Julia Whelan (Narrator)
I have to praise the narration of this story because it was so good. Julia Whelan does snide, droll, and snarky to perfection and I have no idea if I would have read all of that into this story if I hadn't listened to the audio. Those inflections are so important to the characters. Knowing the hardships these women faced, I think their sense of humor and irony must have helped some of them push forward under impossible odds.
This story is based on real life events that took place during WWI. In fact, many of the events have been gleaned from letters written by the women who were a part of the Smith College Relief Unit who volunteered to go to France to help villagers whose lives had been decimated by the German army. The group of eighteen women set up camp on the property of a bombed out chateau right behind the front lines. The women are helping villagers that live in the muddy, roofless basements of stables and houses. The people are sleeping in mud, have little to no food, ragged clothing, missing and dead family and friends, with sickness and injuries that haven't been treated. When the women signed up for this work they had no idea of the heartache and devastation that they would be facing. But most of the women set to work to do what they can for these people, with almost no resources and knowing that the British army doesn't want them there, just a few miles behind the front lines.
We follow Kate, Emmie, and Julia most closely. Kate, who went to Smith on a scholarship and has always felt less than the other women because her mother scrubbed floors to support herself and her daughter. Six years ago a friend taught Kate to drive a vehicle and now she's with the group as a chauffeur, hoping she can figure out how to drive a truck, not knowing she and her companions will actually have to uncrate and put together the truck before she can ever drive it. Perky, naïve, always optimistic, Emmie, who thinks that her only worth is that her mother is wealthy. Julia, Emmie's poor cousin, who has now worked her way to becoming a doctor, despite the fact that she is a woman. The subject matter is so serious but also very funny. Most of the events in the book really happened and the author learned about them through the letters the women wrote home, often asking that the letters not be shared with the public. Instead, many of the letters were passed on by proud family members, to be published, saving the events of this time for posterity.
Most of the events in the book really happened and the author learned about them through these letters written by the Smith women. The mess, the muck, the life with chickens (or horror, roosters!), the refusing to leave the front lines because the women were determined to evacuate and help as many of the villagers that they could help, for as long as they could, all these things really happened and I felt like I was right there. As hard as it was to read this story, a part of me wanted to stay with these brave women. For that reason, I'll be doing a lot of research on them, because I want to learn more about the things that they accomplished. This is what I like about good historical fiction, when I can see history through the eyes of the people who lived it and then want to learn even more about that time in our history.
Pub March 2, 2021
Thank you to Harper Audio and NetGalley for this ARC.
I have to praise the narration of this story because it was so good. Julia Whelan does snide, droll, and snarky to perfection and I have no idea if I would have read all of that into this story if I hadn't listened to the audio. Those inflections are so important to the characters. Knowing the hardships these women faced, I think their sense of humor and irony must have helped some of them push forward under impossible odds.
This story is based on real life events that took place during WWI. In fact, many of the events have been gleaned from letters written by the women who were a part of the Smith College Relief Unit who volunteered to go to France to help villagers whose lives had been decimated by the German army. The group of eighteen women set up camp on the property of a bombed out chateau right behind the front lines. The women are helping villagers that live in the muddy, roofless basements of stables and houses. The people are sleeping in mud, have little to no food, ragged clothing, missing and dead family and friends, with sickness and injuries that haven't been treated. When the women signed up for this work they had no idea of the heartache and devastation that they would be facing. But most of the women set to work to do what they can for these people, with almost no resources and knowing that the British army doesn't want them there, just a few miles behind the front lines.
We follow Kate, Emmie, and Julia most closely. Kate, who went to Smith on a scholarship and has always felt less than the other women because her mother scrubbed floors to support herself and her daughter. Six years ago a friend taught Kate to drive a vehicle and now she's with the group as a chauffeur, hoping she can figure out how to drive a truck, not knowing she and her companions will actually have to uncrate and put together the truck before she can ever drive it. Perky, naïve, always optimistic, Emmie, who thinks that her only worth is that her mother is wealthy. Julia, Emmie's poor cousin, who has now worked her way to becoming a doctor, despite the fact that she is a woman. The subject matter is so serious but also very funny. Most of the events in the book really happened and the author learned about them through the letters the women wrote home, often asking that the letters not be shared with the public. Instead, many of the letters were passed on by proud family members, to be published, saving the events of this time for posterity.
Most of the events in the book really happened and the author learned about them through these letters written by the Smith women. The mess, the muck, the life with chickens (or horror, roosters!), the refusing to leave the front lines because the women were determined to evacuate and help as many of the villagers that they could help, for as long as they could, all these things really happened and I felt like I was right there. As hard as it was to read this story, a part of me wanted to stay with these brave women. For that reason, I'll be doing a lot of research on them, because I want to learn more about the things that they accomplished. This is what I like about good historical fiction, when I can see history through the eyes of the people who lived it and then want to learn even more about that time in our history.
Pub March 2, 2021
Thank you to Harper Audio and NetGalley for this ARC.
January 2, 2021
I won this book from William Morrow/Harper Collins in a GoodReads giveaway. Thank You William Morrow. This book is a long book, 519 pages, but it it is worthwhile sticking through to the end and deserves a full 4 stars.
The first 100 pages move slowly, but the conclusion makes up for it. My wife read this book before me and found the ending to be very satisfying The book is based upon a true story. There was a group of Smith College American women who volunteered to go the front lines in France in the summer of 1917. They had to be evacuated during the German renewed push on Paris in the spring /summer 1918. They performed heroically, accomplishing incredible feats of caring for French villagers who had had their homes destroyed by German invaders. Much of the book is based upon surviving letters written by the Smith volunteers, although the characters are fictional. Many of the incidents described in the book actually did take place.
If you want to read historical fiction with women performing heroic deeds with a little romance and some backstabbing intrigue then you will enjoy this book.
Two quotes:
Liza, a rather naive Smith volunteer, describing a French brothel: "I've heard it's all a German plot. They're getting French loose women to seduce our troops to undermine the health of the American Army."
Kate, Assistant Director, describing a French General: "This office was the grandest of the many offices that Kate had processed today. The desk was roughly the size of the SS Rochambeau and the man who sat behind it was wearing a dazzling array of medals. He'd been so decorated that his medals had medals."
The first 100 pages move slowly, but the conclusion makes up for it. My wife read this book before me and found the ending to be very satisfying The book is based upon a true story. There was a group of Smith College American women who volunteered to go the front lines in France in the summer of 1917. They had to be evacuated during the German renewed push on Paris in the spring /summer 1918. They performed heroically, accomplishing incredible feats of caring for French villagers who had had their homes destroyed by German invaders. Much of the book is based upon surviving letters written by the Smith volunteers, although the characters are fictional. Many of the incidents described in the book actually did take place.
If you want to read historical fiction with women performing heroic deeds with a little romance and some backstabbing intrigue then you will enjoy this book.
Two quotes:
Liza, a rather naive Smith volunteer, describing a French brothel: "I've heard it's all a German plot. They're getting French loose women to seduce our troops to undermine the health of the American Army."
Kate, Assistant Director, describing a French General: "This office was the grandest of the many offices that Kate had processed today. The desk was roughly the size of the SS Rochambeau and the man who sat behind it was wearing a dazzling array of medals. He'd been so decorated that his medals had medals."
March 2, 2021
***HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY***
I love historical fiction and the premise for this sounded very good! It was great to take a break from WW2 and this story is quite a special one.
While WW1 was still raging a group of young women from Smith college wanted to do more than just knit socks or make bandages. They formed the Smith College Relief Unit, made their way to France and sought out the villages that were heavily bombed. Through their efforts they were able to help many women and children get the aid that they needed to get them back to where they could once again raise livestock and farm for themselves.
While the story is a good one I had some real issues with it. The main character, Kate, was hard to connect to. She had lots of preconceived ideas about the other women in the unit. She was a scholarship student and always felt looked down upon.
As the story progresses she did grow as a character but I felt that it was a slow and arduous task for the reader.
There is a large cast of characters in this book. We really don’t get to know them all well with the exception of Kate and Emmeline. The girls were from different backgrounds and all had a story to tell, but it was a lot to take in and to keep them all straight. I enjoyed Emmie the most as she was such a kind and caring person, always trying to help others without concern for herself.
There is a lot of back and forth chatter between the girls and more romance than was needed. I felt that this lessened the seriousness of the story and added far more pages to this novel which could perhaps have been edited back from the 528 pages.
This novel is based on extensive research and correspondence from many of the girls in the unit during the unit’s stay in France.
The author’s notes are extensive and informative and added a lot to my enjoyment of the book.
If you don’t mind a slower paced novel, this book might be the right one for you.
This book is set to publish on March 2, 2021.
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley.
I love historical fiction and the premise for this sounded very good! It was great to take a break from WW2 and this story is quite a special one.
While WW1 was still raging a group of young women from Smith college wanted to do more than just knit socks or make bandages. They formed the Smith College Relief Unit, made their way to France and sought out the villages that were heavily bombed. Through their efforts they were able to help many women and children get the aid that they needed to get them back to where they could once again raise livestock and farm for themselves.
While the story is a good one I had some real issues with it. The main character, Kate, was hard to connect to. She had lots of preconceived ideas about the other women in the unit. She was a scholarship student and always felt looked down upon.
As the story progresses she did grow as a character but I felt that it was a slow and arduous task for the reader.
There is a large cast of characters in this book. We really don’t get to know them all well with the exception of Kate and Emmeline. The girls were from different backgrounds and all had a story to tell, but it was a lot to take in and to keep them all straight. I enjoyed Emmie the most as she was such a kind and caring person, always trying to help others without concern for herself.
There is a lot of back and forth chatter between the girls and more romance than was needed. I felt that this lessened the seriousness of the story and added far more pages to this novel which could perhaps have been edited back from the 528 pages.
This novel is based on extensive research and correspondence from many of the girls in the unit during the unit’s stay in France.
The author’s notes are extensive and informative and added a lot to my enjoyment of the book.
If you don’t mind a slower paced novel, this book might be the right one for you.
This book is set to publish on March 2, 2021.
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley.
March 19, 2023
Those Smith girls must have been very good letter writers! Lauren Willig discovered a memoir that one of the girls wrote about their time in France during WW I. She was so taken with the account that she used the letters written to their loved ones back home to write this book. Although all the characters in this little band are fictional, they are based on real people AND what I loved the most is that the many adventures this group had in the book are based on real life as well. An engaging blend of history and fiction that sheds light on a group of women who did amazing things to help the French villages unfortunate enough to be stationed near the front. Many were destroyed at least twice and had to rebuild. I listened to this on audio (thank you, Harper Audio and NetGalley). This book will make you both laugh and cry. I especially enjoyed the letter excerpts before each chapter as they are so revealing of social conventions from that era. My opinions are my own.
If you love this book, be sure to check out the new title from Lauren Willig featuring a character based on the Betsy Rutherford who inspires the Smith girls to travel to France.
If you love this book, be sure to check out the new title from Lauren Willig featuring a character based on the Betsy Rutherford who inspires the Smith girls to travel to France.
November 24, 2020
Lauren Willig has done it again! I have read a few books by Lauren Willig and have enjoyed them all. Band of Sisters was no exception. She started researching something entirely different when she accidentally stumbled upon letters and journal articles written by women who were members of the Smith College Relief Unit stationed in France during World War I. Her interest was piqued and the seeds for Band of Sisters were planted and started to cultivate. Band of Sisters was based on the true story and events of eighteen incredible, determined, and courageous Smith College alumni women. I listened to Band of Sisters as an audiobook read by Julia Whelan. Most of the characters in Band of Sisters were based on the actual women of the unit. There were a few characters that were purely part of the author’s creativity and imagination. The combination of the two made the book believable and added a little favor.
Kate Moran attended Smith College on a full scholarship. She had grown up in Brooklyn, New York. Her family was far from what might be considered well off or well connected as most of the Smith College students were. Kate had never felt comfortable at Smith College or that she fit in. She had one true friend, Emmeline Van Alden. After graduation from Smith College, Kate secured a teaching position. Kate and Emmeline, or Emmie as everyone called her, kept in touch through mail. As the years progressed, their letters became less frequent and shorter and shorter in length.
In April 1917, Miss Betsy Rutherford, an archeologist and humanitarian, gave a very enthusiastic speech at the Smith College Club. In record time, Miss Rutherford accumulated enough volunteers, funding, backing and supplies to launch the formation of the Smith College Relief Unit. Emmie was determined to convince Kate to join the unit. One of the members had backed out and Emmie begged Kate to take her place. Reluctantly, Kate finally agreed. Little did she realize how much her life was about to change from this experience.
The unit arrived in Paris in July 1917 to find out that half of the inn they were to stay in had burned and was a big pile of ruins. There also were not enough rooms for all the girls in their unit. One of the members of the unit convinced the proprietor to house them dormitory style in the attic. At least they were all kept together. When they arrived at their final destination, their challenges would only begin to occur. The women who were to become the drivers for the unit, had to actually build their own vehicles from scratch. This was more than any of the women had bargained for. Nothing could have prepared the for the challenges the were about to face. Their agriculturist was delayed so the woman filling in for her, having little prior experience with farm animals before arriving in France, bought roosters instead of hens. No wonder why there were no eggs! They set out to build libraries with lots of books for the children, schools, and houses. The women provided food, milk and medical supplies to the people in the villages. There were two female doctors that were also part of the eighteen women in their unit. They all wore uniforms that were gray with a touch of French blue. One time a group of the women went to one of the nearby towns. They were greeted by a group of children. Someone threw a ball to one of the children and a child began to cry uncontrollably. The ball had been mistaken for a bomb. The children had gone through so much and had seen things that no child should have had to witness. When France became very dangerous with the imminent invasion of Germany, the women of the Smith College Relief Unit were told to evacuate. They ignored the warnings and instead drove into danger to the surrounding towns and villages to help evacuate those in the most danger from the Germans. All of these things really happened. What incredible and strong women they were. What a difference they made in the lives of those they were able to help. The women were always up for the challenge and always went the extra yard to make it happen. All the women from the Smith College Relief Unit survived the war.
This was an incredible story about bravery, determination, kindness, friendship, love, thinking outside the box, courage and strong women. I was so glad to have learned about these women and their involvement in the war effort. They should be commended. Band of Sisters will be published in March 2021.
Thank you to Harper Audio for allowing me to listen to Band of Sisters by Lauren Willig through Netgalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Kate Moran attended Smith College on a full scholarship. She had grown up in Brooklyn, New York. Her family was far from what might be considered well off or well connected as most of the Smith College students were. Kate had never felt comfortable at Smith College or that she fit in. She had one true friend, Emmeline Van Alden. After graduation from Smith College, Kate secured a teaching position. Kate and Emmeline, or Emmie as everyone called her, kept in touch through mail. As the years progressed, their letters became less frequent and shorter and shorter in length.
In April 1917, Miss Betsy Rutherford, an archeologist and humanitarian, gave a very enthusiastic speech at the Smith College Club. In record time, Miss Rutherford accumulated enough volunteers, funding, backing and supplies to launch the formation of the Smith College Relief Unit. Emmie was determined to convince Kate to join the unit. One of the members had backed out and Emmie begged Kate to take her place. Reluctantly, Kate finally agreed. Little did she realize how much her life was about to change from this experience.
The unit arrived in Paris in July 1917 to find out that half of the inn they were to stay in had burned and was a big pile of ruins. There also were not enough rooms for all the girls in their unit. One of the members of the unit convinced the proprietor to house them dormitory style in the attic. At least they were all kept together. When they arrived at their final destination, their challenges would only begin to occur. The women who were to become the drivers for the unit, had to actually build their own vehicles from scratch. This was more than any of the women had bargained for. Nothing could have prepared the for the challenges the were about to face. Their agriculturist was delayed so the woman filling in for her, having little prior experience with farm animals before arriving in France, bought roosters instead of hens. No wonder why there were no eggs! They set out to build libraries with lots of books for the children, schools, and houses. The women provided food, milk and medical supplies to the people in the villages. There were two female doctors that were also part of the eighteen women in their unit. They all wore uniforms that were gray with a touch of French blue. One time a group of the women went to one of the nearby towns. They were greeted by a group of children. Someone threw a ball to one of the children and a child began to cry uncontrollably. The ball had been mistaken for a bomb. The children had gone through so much and had seen things that no child should have had to witness. When France became very dangerous with the imminent invasion of Germany, the women of the Smith College Relief Unit were told to evacuate. They ignored the warnings and instead drove into danger to the surrounding towns and villages to help evacuate those in the most danger from the Germans. All of these things really happened. What incredible and strong women they were. What a difference they made in the lives of those they were able to help. The women were always up for the challenge and always went the extra yard to make it happen. All the women from the Smith College Relief Unit survived the war.
This was an incredible story about bravery, determination, kindness, friendship, love, thinking outside the box, courage and strong women. I was so glad to have learned about these women and their involvement in the war effort. They should be commended. Band of Sisters will be published in March 2021.
Thank you to Harper Audio for allowing me to listen to Band of Sisters by Lauren Willig through Netgalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
July 13, 2021
I listened to the audiobook of Band of Sisters and really enjoyed it. The story is about a group of Smith College alumni women who travel to France to help French civilians during WWI. They’re tasked with all kinds of responsibilities including caring for the sick, providing meals, shelter, and childhood education, and managing livestock.
It was nice to read a historical fiction book focused on a group of women that didn’t lead with romance during a war. There were several women in the relief unit though the story most closely follows Kate, Emmie, and Julia, each bringing a different personality and skill set to the group. While fictional and set in 1917, the women were relatable: struggling with feelings of self doubt, wanting to contribute to society, navigating cliques, obeying family obligations/ pressures, sexism, etc.
Prior to reading this, I had no idea about the Smith College relief unit or that Band of Sisters was based on a true story — I found it really interesting. Lauren Willig talks about some of the history and her research in the author’s note at the end of the book. As always, Julia Whelan was an excellent narrator too.
It was nice to read a historical fiction book focused on a group of women that didn’t lead with romance during a war. There were several women in the relief unit though the story most closely follows Kate, Emmie, and Julia, each bringing a different personality and skill set to the group. While fictional and set in 1917, the women were relatable: struggling with feelings of self doubt, wanting to contribute to society, navigating cliques, obeying family obligations/ pressures, sexism, etc.
Prior to reading this, I had no idea about the Smith College relief unit or that Band of Sisters was based on a true story — I found it really interesting. Lauren Willig talks about some of the history and her research in the author’s note at the end of the book. As always, Julia Whelan was an excellent narrator too.
June 23, 2021
Katherine Moran lived in poverty as a child in Brooklyn, she won a scholarship to study at the prestigious Smith College for women and she never felt like she fitted in because all the other girls came from wealthy families. In 1917 a fellow Smith girl Betsy Rutherford is looking for volunteers to help displaced women and children living in appalling conditions in France. Kate’s former friend Emmie Van Alden convinces her to go, she’s one of eighteen women who join a group called the Smith College Relief Unit and her experiences in France will finally make Kate feel she did belong at the college and she deserved her scholarship.
The women set sail for France, once they arrived in Paris they discover it’s a very crowded city and country is consumed by the war. When they finally arrive at the Chateau it’s in ruins and what hasn’t been damaged by the war had been vandalized by the German army and it’s inhabitable. Women, children and the elderly are living in terrible conditions and many are living underground in cellars, hungry and filthy.
Band Of Sisters is based on true story about an extraordinary group of women, they endured dreadful conditions, worked long hours and while being under fire from the nasty Boche and witness firsthand how much the French women and children suffered during The Great War. They provided shelter from the harsh elements, food, emotional support, medical care and milk and education for the children.
The suffering of the French people during WW I was unimaginable, the women from the Smith College Relief Unit really made a remarkable difference and it’s an exceptional wartime story that needed to be shared. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, an outstanding and well written book by Lauren Willig and five stars from me. https://karrenreadsbooks.blogspot.com/
The women set sail for France, once they arrived in Paris they discover it’s a very crowded city and country is consumed by the war. When they finally arrive at the Chateau it’s in ruins and what hasn’t been damaged by the war had been vandalized by the German army and it’s inhabitable. Women, children and the elderly are living in terrible conditions and many are living underground in cellars, hungry and filthy.
Band Of Sisters is based on true story about an extraordinary group of women, they endured dreadful conditions, worked long hours and while being under fire from the nasty Boche and witness firsthand how much the French women and children suffered during The Great War. They provided shelter from the harsh elements, food, emotional support, medical care and milk and education for the children.
The suffering of the French people during WW I was unimaginable, the women from the Smith College Relief Unit really made a remarkable difference and it’s an exceptional wartime story that needed to be shared. I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, an outstanding and well written book by Lauren Willig and five stars from me. https://karrenreadsbooks.blogspot.com/
March 3, 2021
I listened to the audio book of Band of Sisters and have to commend the narration by Julia Whelan!!! She captured the character of the women of Smith College to perfection and I felt like it really added depth to the story telling.
I read a lot of Historical Fiction set in WWII, so I was highly anticipating reading this WWI era book. The story is based on real life events told through letters written by the 18 alumni of Smith College who risked their lives in France to help villagers whose lives had been destroyed by the German army. These women are now known as the Band of Sisters from the Smith College Relief Unit.
None of the women knew what they were actually signing up for when they volunteered to go to France....how could they even imagine facing such poor living conditions, the lack of resources and food, the missing and dead family members, the sickness and injuries of so many villagers. These brave women set up camp in a bombed-out chateau right behind the front line and went to work to do what they could to help the people in the village with little to no support from the British army. The story is told in such detail that you actually feel like you are on the front line with these dedicated Smith women facing the struggles, horrors and triumphs they faced together.
I love reading unknown stories and this was an incredible one! It is a significant part of our history, one that might never have been told if it wasn't for Lauren Willig and should be read by any history enthusiast. It is a story that will stay with you long after you read it!
I read a lot of Historical Fiction set in WWII, so I was highly anticipating reading this WWI era book. The story is based on real life events told through letters written by the 18 alumni of Smith College who risked their lives in France to help villagers whose lives had been destroyed by the German army. These women are now known as the Band of Sisters from the Smith College Relief Unit.
None of the women knew what they were actually signing up for when they volunteered to go to France....how could they even imagine facing such poor living conditions, the lack of resources and food, the missing and dead family members, the sickness and injuries of so many villagers. These brave women set up camp in a bombed-out chateau right behind the front line and went to work to do what they could to help the people in the village with little to no support from the British army. The story is told in such detail that you actually feel like you are on the front line with these dedicated Smith women facing the struggles, horrors and triumphs they faced together.
I love reading unknown stories and this was an incredible one! It is a significant part of our history, one that might never have been told if it wasn't for Lauren Willig and should be read by any history enthusiast. It is a story that will stay with you long after you read it!
July 25, 2023
“Band of Sisters” is a historical novel by Lauren Willig. In the author’s notes, she states she changed the names of the women from Smith’s College but the basics of the story are true. I found the story fascinating. Unlike many similar types of stories from World War One, the Smith College women went to help not the soldiers but the French people in the small villages around the Somme River where there was heavy fighting throughout the war. Left in the villages were mainly children, women and the elderly; many in need of medical care, food and better shelter to survive the winter. The last section of the book was very exciting as the Smith Women and villagers fled the advancing German Army in May 1918. They came back after the war to continue helping the rebuilding of the villages. Great story.
I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is fifteen hours and fifty-nine minutes. Julia Whelan does a great job narrating the story.
I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is fifteen hours and fifty-nine minutes. Julia Whelan does a great job narrating the story.
May 6, 2021
...each and every one of them a wonder, each and every one of them a sister. They had been strangers to each other when they arrived seven months ago, but now she knew each of them down to the bones, just as they knew her, better than she had ever known anyone.
-Band of Sisters by Lauren Willig p.903
Band of Sisters . I hardly know where to start. Lauren Willig recognizes the almost super-human efforts of the Smith College Relief Unit in this historical fiction saga. Her research into this story was accidental, she says, as she stumbled across their story in a memoir and had to learn more. Her search led her to letters from women of Grécourt, and many actual details and events are included in this story. Names have been changed, and some details have been changed. There is, naturally, creative license throughout, but Ms. Willig has done a marvelous work recreating the sense of time and place. The events take place in France during World War I. The relief work is not glamorous, nor is it easy.
Her story focuses primarily on Kate Moran, Emmaline “Emmie” Van Alden, and Dr. Julia Pruyn. Kate becomes the hub, more or less. It is her thoughts and feelings we are most privy to, her feelings of inadequacy because she’s not paying her own way, the resentment between herself and Julia, the very sister-like friendship with Emmie – extremely close at times, but also often at odds. Kate seems to feel that she doesn’t quite measure up and that she needs to prove herself, over and over. When push comes to shove, she is more than capable.
Emmie, on the other hand, is loved by all. She is generous and loving, willing to pitch in wherever she’s needed. She, too, has self-doubts, however. And she worries about her relationship with Kate. Whenever they have a falling out, she frets about how to make things right again.
True friendship isn’t abstaining from hurting one another, but forgiving each other when you do. (p. 777)
Julie is truly an enigma. Her prickly exterior surely hides something dark or painful? It’s a long book. Bear with Julia!
A personal note about Kate Moran: Throughout the novel, I was reminded of a friend of mine who died about four years ago of cancer. It took her very suddenly, much too soon, at age 60. Her name was Kathy Moran. Kathy for Kathleen, not Kathryn, like this Kate. But she was outgoing and adventurous. She loved to travel. She was bilingual too – she was an interpreter for the deaf. Her life had nothing to do with WWI, except that she lived with so much spirit and zest, which is what I saw in these women.
Who would expect these (mostly) well-heeled, college-educated young women to perform the most physical tasks in the snow, the mud, the rain, in the most devastating conditions imaginable. The villages they visited had been destroyed by the Germans. The villagers - mainly women, children, and elderly adults - had little shelter or food. No livestock or crops. Their wells had been poisoned. Family members killed, maimed, stolen. These women brought them supplies. More than that, they brought them dignity. Hope. Restored their humanity.
Just when real progress was being made, the Germans breached the British lines at the front, and the women and all of the villagers had to evacuate. The story does not end there. The work does not end there. It took perseverance, dedication, determination, and humor, and these eighteen women (15 in the book, for simplicity) have it in spades.
I am grateful to Ms. Willig for wriring this book. I had no idea this ever happened, and I am truly amazed at the accomplishment of these brave, tough women. Here is just one link about the Smith women: https://americanwomeninwwi.wordpress....
This work of historical fiction is long and quite detailed, and I found it helpful to read an e-version to look up French phrases and other unfamiliar terms. While there are too many characters to know them all well, I did get to appreciate the gifts of many and to know a few women fairly well. I loved the humor, the drama, the adventure, the bits of romance, and the tense moments toward the end. I recommend Band of Sisters for those who love historical fiction.
5 stars
Band of Sisters . I hardly know where to start. Lauren Willig recognizes the almost super-human efforts of the Smith College Relief Unit in this historical fiction saga. Her research into this story was accidental, she says, as she stumbled across their story in a memoir and had to learn more. Her search led her to letters from women of Grécourt, and many actual details and events are included in this story. Names have been changed, and some details have been changed. There is, naturally, creative license throughout, but Ms. Willig has done a marvelous work recreating the sense of time and place. The events take place in France during World War I. The relief work is not glamorous, nor is it easy.
Her story focuses primarily on Kate Moran, Emmaline “Emmie” Van Alden, and Dr. Julia Pruyn. Kate becomes the hub, more or less. It is her thoughts and feelings we are most privy to, her feelings of inadequacy because she’s not paying her own way, the resentment between herself and Julia, the very sister-like friendship with Emmie – extremely close at times, but also often at odds. Kate seems to feel that she doesn’t quite measure up and that she needs to prove herself, over and over. When push comes to shove, she is more than capable.
Emmie, on the other hand, is loved by all. She is generous and loving, willing to pitch in wherever she’s needed. She, too, has self-doubts, however. And she worries about her relationship with Kate. Whenever they have a falling out, she frets about how to make things right again.
True friendship isn’t abstaining from hurting one another, but forgiving each other when you do. (p. 777)
Julie is truly an enigma. Her prickly exterior surely hides something dark or painful? It’s a long book. Bear with Julia!
A personal note about Kate Moran: Throughout the novel, I was reminded of a friend of mine who died about four years ago of cancer. It took her very suddenly, much too soon, at age 60. Her name was Kathy Moran. Kathy for Kathleen, not Kathryn, like this Kate. But she was outgoing and adventurous. She loved to travel. She was bilingual too – she was an interpreter for the deaf. Her life had nothing to do with WWI, except that she lived with so much spirit and zest, which is what I saw in these women.
Who would expect these (mostly) well-heeled, college-educated young women to perform the most physical tasks in the snow, the mud, the rain, in the most devastating conditions imaginable. The villages they visited had been destroyed by the Germans. The villagers - mainly women, children, and elderly adults - had little shelter or food. No livestock or crops. Their wells had been poisoned. Family members killed, maimed, stolen. These women brought them supplies. More than that, they brought them dignity. Hope. Restored their humanity.
Just when real progress was being made, the Germans breached the British lines at the front, and the women and all of the villagers had to evacuate. The story does not end there. The work does not end there. It took perseverance, dedication, determination, and humor, and these eighteen women (15 in the book, for simplicity) have it in spades.
I am grateful to Ms. Willig for wriring this book. I had no idea this ever happened, and I am truly amazed at the accomplishment of these brave, tough women. Here is just one link about the Smith women: https://americanwomeninwwi.wordpress....
This work of historical fiction is long and quite detailed, and I found it helpful to read an e-version to look up French phrases and other unfamiliar terms. While there are too many characters to know them all well, I did get to appreciate the gifts of many and to know a few women fairly well. I loved the humor, the drama, the adventure, the bits of romance, and the tense moments toward the end. I recommend Band of Sisters for those who love historical fiction.
5 stars
January 18, 2021
Kate Moran, a Smith College alumnus and former scholarship student, has graduated and is trying to earn her living when she is contacted by her best friend Emmeline Van Alden. She is asked to join a group of Smith alumni who are going to help French civilians during World War I. She can't imagine being able to go, but when she is asked to take the place of a girl who dropped out, she agrees. The Smith group meets a scene of devastation far worse than they ever imagined, but they pitch in and do their best to help. Along they way, they are shelled by the enemy and hampered by bureaucracy at every turn. Kate and the others learn to face and beat these challenges and more. But Kate's biggest challenge may be learning to trust her fellow Smithies and rising beyond the label of "scholarship girl."
This is a well written novel based on the true story of the Smith College Relief Fund and their work in France during World War I. Each chapter starts with an actual letter from one of the alumni. Some of the events described in these letters are incorporated into the book. The characters are well developed and interesting The concept of class in the midst of war is fascinating. Will the privileged hang on to their prejudices while people are suffering and the Kaiser is trying to kill them all? Willig expertly, through her well-crafted characters, shows the conflicts between classes and shows that people are not always as they seem. In many different ways, Willig reveals Kate’s struggles to see the truth about herself through her own eyes and not her perceptions of what others might be thinking. A little humor and a love story are also threaded nto this captivating tale, which fans of historical fiction and World War I fiction will enjoy.
I received a free copy of this book from William Morrow and Custom House via Netgalley. My review is voluntary and my opinions are my own.
This is a well written novel based on the true story of the Smith College Relief Fund and their work in France during World War I. Each chapter starts with an actual letter from one of the alumni. Some of the events described in these letters are incorporated into the book. The characters are well developed and interesting The concept of class in the midst of war is fascinating. Will the privileged hang on to their prejudices while people are suffering and the Kaiser is trying to kill them all? Willig expertly, through her well-crafted characters, shows the conflicts between classes and shows that people are not always as they seem. In many different ways, Willig reveals Kate’s struggles to see the truth about herself through her own eyes and not her perceptions of what others might be thinking. A little humor and a love story are also threaded nto this captivating tale, which fans of historical fiction and World War I fiction will enjoy.
I received a free copy of this book from William Morrow and Custom House via Netgalley. My review is voluntary and my opinions are my own.
March 24, 2021
3.5 stars
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Band of Sisters is a historical fiction account of the Smith College Relief Unit that brought aid to French villagers during World War I. In the author's note, Ms. Willig states that she took real events as inspiration for fictional twists. Instances that happen in the book are all taken from researched materials, particularly the Smith girls' letters to back home, and reshaped with some artistic license to create this story while character names are changed but heavily inspired by the real women.
Debutante nonsense, her mother called it. Good enough for those that don't have to worry about getting their living.
While the Unit was comprised of over ten women, the author brings the central focus to two, Kate Moran and Emmie Van Alden. They were former roommates and great friends during college but have drifted apart the six years after graduation. The chapters begin with letters from different Smithies, providing the reader with a more rounded look at the personality of the Unit, while the chapters alternate between Kate and Emmie's point-of-view. Kate went to the college on a scholarship, where Emmie comes from a powerful rich family; their falling out stems from Kate overhearing Emmie's cousin Julia, who is a doctor for the Smith Unit and gets a strong secondary character focus, calling Kate a charity case. Kate's feelings of inadequacy and not feeling like she fits in anywhere has her restless and agreeing to join the Unit when Emmie calls to ask. Emmie has her own feelings of inadequacy because of how respected and known her mother is, a powerful suffragette. Their friendship, finding themselves, and coming into their own is more the core of the story than I expected with the War more as a strong setting.
To decency, the officer had said, and those who persist in practicing it.
She would persist. She would.
Knowing that the Smith Unit was real and the events I was reading that they endured and achieved were real, of course, add a richer and deeper feel and experience to the story. From the Unit traveling to France hoping not to be torpedoed, having to create plan z when nothing planned works out quite the way it had been envisioned, and to realizing they're going to have their homebase at Grecourt, in the Somme, which was much closer to the front than any had anticipated had me locked into the story. A few villagers grew close to the women but for the most part, the focus of the story stayed on Kate and Emmie and the navigating of their friendship and their self-growth. There was also a slow building relationship added between Emmie and an English solider that had him popping in and out, because of this you could say there was a romance element but I wouldn't go the full step of adding the romance tag.
She looked at the six other remaining members of the Unit, huddled together around the trucks, each and every one of them a wonder, each and every one of them her sister. They had been strangers to each other when they arrived seven months ago, but now she knew each of them down to the bones, just as they knew her, better than she had ever known anyone.
The ending brings the War more out of simply being the setting and into the story with the Smith Unit having to retreat from Grecourt, in what we now know was the Ludendorff Offensive. The War begins to touch the Smithies more personally and presently as instead of trying to help the French villagers rebuild, they are with them fleeing for their lives. Here is where I thought the story's emotions were felt the most and meet more of what I was expecting with a World War I setting in the Somme during 1917-1918. The ending felt somewhat abridged but the epilogue gives us answers and closure with a few letters to let us know where Kate, Emmie, and the rest of the Smithies highlighted find themselves after the War. Band of Sisters doesn't necessarily bring World War I to you but it does provide a well written way to sink into a historical fiction account, mainly through the eyes of two women, of the Smith College Relief Unit and learn about the real ways these women made a difference.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Band of Sisters is a historical fiction account of the Smith College Relief Unit that brought aid to French villagers during World War I. In the author's note, Ms. Willig states that she took real events as inspiration for fictional twists. Instances that happen in the book are all taken from researched materials, particularly the Smith girls' letters to back home, and reshaped with some artistic license to create this story while character names are changed but heavily inspired by the real women.
Debutante nonsense, her mother called it. Good enough for those that don't have to worry about getting their living.
While the Unit was comprised of over ten women, the author brings the central focus to two, Kate Moran and Emmie Van Alden. They were former roommates and great friends during college but have drifted apart the six years after graduation. The chapters begin with letters from different Smithies, providing the reader with a more rounded look at the personality of the Unit, while the chapters alternate between Kate and Emmie's point-of-view. Kate went to the college on a scholarship, where Emmie comes from a powerful rich family; their falling out stems from Kate overhearing Emmie's cousin Julia, who is a doctor for the Smith Unit and gets a strong secondary character focus, calling Kate a charity case. Kate's feelings of inadequacy and not feeling like she fits in anywhere has her restless and agreeing to join the Unit when Emmie calls to ask. Emmie has her own feelings of inadequacy because of how respected and known her mother is, a powerful suffragette. Their friendship, finding themselves, and coming into their own is more the core of the story than I expected with the War more as a strong setting.
To decency, the officer had said, and those who persist in practicing it.
She would persist. She would.
Knowing that the Smith Unit was real and the events I was reading that they endured and achieved were real, of course, add a richer and deeper feel and experience to the story. From the Unit traveling to France hoping not to be torpedoed, having to create plan z when nothing planned works out quite the way it had been envisioned, and to realizing they're going to have their homebase at Grecourt, in the Somme, which was much closer to the front than any had anticipated had me locked into the story. A few villagers grew close to the women but for the most part, the focus of the story stayed on Kate and Emmie and the navigating of their friendship and their self-growth. There was also a slow building relationship added between Emmie and an English solider that had him popping in and out, because of this you could say there was a romance element but I wouldn't go the full step of adding the romance tag.
She looked at the six other remaining members of the Unit, huddled together around the trucks, each and every one of them a wonder, each and every one of them her sister. They had been strangers to each other when they arrived seven months ago, but now she knew each of them down to the bones, just as they knew her, better than she had ever known anyone.
The ending brings the War more out of simply being the setting and into the story with the Smith Unit having to retreat from Grecourt, in what we now know was the Ludendorff Offensive. The War begins to touch the Smithies more personally and presently as instead of trying to help the French villagers rebuild, they are with them fleeing for their lives. Here is where I thought the story's emotions were felt the most and meet more of what I was expecting with a World War I setting in the Somme during 1917-1918. The ending felt somewhat abridged but the epilogue gives us answers and closure with a few letters to let us know where Kate, Emmie, and the rest of the Smithies highlighted find themselves after the War. Band of Sisters doesn't necessarily bring World War I to you but it does provide a well written way to sink into a historical fiction account, mainly through the eyes of two women, of the Smith College Relief Unit and learn about the real ways these women made a difference.
March 2, 2021
This is a remarkable story of the Smith College Relief Unit, a group of young women who went to France during World War I to offer assistance -- and it is out today!!
March 31, 2021
I really am in the minority here. Oh well…
This is the kind of book I should have loved but didn’t.
It was s-l-o-w in spite of the fact that there is a lot of dialogue which usually makes for a fast read. Not this time.
I didn’t find any of the women particularly interesting. It took 100+ pages before they even arrived at the small town in France where they were headed.
I was bored!
This is the kind of book I should have loved but didn’t.
It was s-l-o-w in spite of the fact that there is a lot of dialogue which usually makes for a fast read. Not this time.
I didn’t find any of the women particularly interesting. It took 100+ pages before they even arrived at the small town in France where they were headed.
I was bored!
March 1, 2021
It’s 1917. Kate Moran is a graduate of Smith College and does not come from the world of privilege. After getting her degree with a scholarship, she is trying to earn a living when her friend Emmie Van Alden urges her to join a group of “Smithies” who will be traveling overseas to help in-need French villagers as World War I rages on. Kate decides to join the Smith College Relief Unit with her fellow alumni, a group of well-meaning women who had no real sense of the devastation and danger that awaited them.
In Band of Sisters, author Lauren Willig, inspired by the true story of this group of brave women, has created an engaging work of historical fiction. While the book is fiction, the characters are based on the actual women who served in this remarkable group. An exhaustive amount of research was done to bring a realistic sense of the conditions the French were experiencing after their towns and villages were destroyed and the danger that remained. But this book is less about the horrors of war than the relationships that develop among the women. Kate, Emmie and the strong cast of characters learned skills and realized inner strengths that would make them valuable assets during the war while rivalries and class differences threaten their ability to do their jobs.
I first discovered Lauren Willig in the wonderful books she has written with Beatriz Williams and Karen White and have gone on to read her individual works as well. As a wink to those who have enjoyed her collaborative books, eagle-eyed readers will spot a character (and setting) from their last book All the Ways We Said Goodbye, another don’t-miss book.
Many thanks to Edelweiss, William Morrow/HarperCollins and Lauren Willig for the opportunity to read an advance copy of Band of Sisters. At over 500 pages, prepare to spend some quality time with a group of women who lived over 100 years ago and with few rights of their own in society, truly made a difference.
Rated 4.25 stars.
Review posted on MicheleReader.com.
In Band of Sisters, author Lauren Willig, inspired by the true story of this group of brave women, has created an engaging work of historical fiction. While the book is fiction, the characters are based on the actual women who served in this remarkable group. An exhaustive amount of research was done to bring a realistic sense of the conditions the French were experiencing after their towns and villages were destroyed and the danger that remained. But this book is less about the horrors of war than the relationships that develop among the women. Kate, Emmie and the strong cast of characters learned skills and realized inner strengths that would make them valuable assets during the war while rivalries and class differences threaten their ability to do their jobs.
I first discovered Lauren Willig in the wonderful books she has written with Beatriz Williams and Karen White and have gone on to read her individual works as well. As a wink to those who have enjoyed her collaborative books, eagle-eyed readers will spot a character (and setting) from their last book All the Ways We Said Goodbye, another don’t-miss book.
Many thanks to Edelweiss, William Morrow/HarperCollins and Lauren Willig for the opportunity to read an advance copy of Band of Sisters. At over 500 pages, prepare to spend some quality time with a group of women who lived over 100 years ago and with few rights of their own in society, truly made a difference.
Rated 4.25 stars.
Review posted on MicheleReader.com.
Shelved as 'dnf'
April 21, 2021Bored! Onto better I hope!
March 12, 2021
Band of Sisters by Lauren Willig is an inspirational WWI story featuring strong female characters! The title kind of gives that last bit away...
This book gives voice to the unsung heroes and forgotten stories of more than a dozen American women, The Smith College Women, who served in France during WWI aiding in recovery and rebuilding. The author's note at the end of the book is especially important and I wouldn't want you to miss it! It goes into fascinating detail about the history, Willig's research and the inspiration behind the characters and narrative. Almost all of this book is based on true events or recollections of true events. It's really special.
The narrative is captivating, the context is historically accurate and very interesting, and the female drama is totally realistic! Put that many women together for a long period of time and there's bound to be drama - no matter what their purpose or cause is - there will be drama. But despite their differences, they are united in one thing and that is to help the victims of German terror.
I am thoroughly impressed with Lauren Willig's skill at creating such a complex narrative with so many characters and keeping them all straight. Similarly, hats off to Julia Whelan for the superb narration and keeping all the characters uniquely expressed.
Thank you, NetGalley, William Morrow and Harper Audio, for a copy of this great book for review!
I think I am going to go and read all of Willig's novels now...
This book gives voice to the unsung heroes and forgotten stories of more than a dozen American women, The Smith College Women, who served in France during WWI aiding in recovery and rebuilding. The author's note at the end of the book is especially important and I wouldn't want you to miss it! It goes into fascinating detail about the history, Willig's research and the inspiration behind the characters and narrative. Almost all of this book is based on true events or recollections of true events. It's really special.
The narrative is captivating, the context is historically accurate and very interesting, and the female drama is totally realistic! Put that many women together for a long period of time and there's bound to be drama - no matter what their purpose or cause is - there will be drama. But despite their differences, they are united in one thing and that is to help the victims of German terror.
I am thoroughly impressed with Lauren Willig's skill at creating such a complex narrative with so many characters and keeping them all straight. Similarly, hats off to Julia Whelan for the superb narration and keeping all the characters uniquely expressed.
Thank you, NetGalley, William Morrow and Harper Audio, for a copy of this great book for review!
I think I am going to go and read all of Willig's novels now...
December 3, 2020
I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Band of Sisters was a such a fun book to dive into. Without knowing, I got to dive into a story that ended up being true. I also got to meet some pretty wonderful characters that lived in France during the World War I.
In it, you will meet Kate Moran. She is from Brooklyn, NY and went to Smith College on a full scholarship. Then you will meet Emmie, who became her true friend in college. Although after they graduate, they tried to write to one another whenever they could.
Not long after, they are reunited. From that moment, Kate's life has changed forever. So much happens along this journey that I had to stop and think about it all. Some of it was sad and I almost drop a tear or two. Others were pretty interesting to hear about since I wasn't alive back then and I don't remember much from my history classes in high school or college.
These girls showed so much bravery throughout the book. Even if they knew something was beyond dangerous, they still went into it without hesitation. It was amazing to read about and I am so happy that I got the chance to dive into this book.
Now I feel like I need to dive into more historical fictions books when it comes to NetGalley.
Band of Sisters was a such a fun book to dive into. Without knowing, I got to dive into a story that ended up being true. I also got to meet some pretty wonderful characters that lived in France during the World War I.
In it, you will meet Kate Moran. She is from Brooklyn, NY and went to Smith College on a full scholarship. Then you will meet Emmie, who became her true friend in college. Although after they graduate, they tried to write to one another whenever they could.
Not long after, they are reunited. From that moment, Kate's life has changed forever. So much happens along this journey that I had to stop and think about it all. Some of it was sad and I almost drop a tear or two. Others were pretty interesting to hear about since I wasn't alive back then and I don't remember much from my history classes in high school or college.
These girls showed so much bravery throughout the book. Even if they knew something was beyond dangerous, they still went into it without hesitation. It was amazing to read about and I am so happy that I got the chance to dive into this book.
Now I feel like I need to dive into more historical fictions books when it comes to NetGalley.
December 28, 2020
Band of Sisters by Lauren Willig lifted up my spirits, not easy to do in the waning days of 2020 and with a story set in wartime. But Band of Sisters delivers on all fronts: fascinating historical details about World War 1 and an intrepid group of American college women; complex fictional female characters that ground the story and genuinely develop; succinct observations on how class, religion, and education shape relationships; and finally, that true sisterhood is messy but lasting. Lauren Willig creates a compelling narrative based on the true story of a group of Smith graduates who arrived in France in the middle of the war to do good works for the people of France, not the American troops. I loved diving into this little-known story about a war that doesn't get equal shelf space to World War II. Will be recommending on Satellite Sisters. An excellent book club choice.
July 29, 2021
This story resonated with me so much. I learned something new. I had never heard about the group of Smith girls who went to France in WWI. This is just such a great story of some strong, courageous women caring for needs that seemed to be forgotten in the ravages of war.
January 8, 2021
As a big fan of WW2 books and stories I really wanted to like Band of Sisters, I was determined to like it so I listened to the whole book including the last pages where the author explains all the details where she found the inspiration for the story and what facts were real or just a creation but unfortunately, I really didn't enjoy the book it was not what I was expecting but that doesn't mean it is not a good story, I just felt so lost at all times maybe because I was expecting a more dramatic scenario and experiences for the characters.
Band of Sisters was very light for me, I really felt like I was in the women's bathroom listening to all the chit chat and drama of a group of friends, I enjoy it because of that, because it felt like a group of a friend got together and were narrating their lives in the War but without the fear or the drama more like gossip or like I said like a chit chat conversation.
I did like the main characters Kate and Emmeline but at times Kate was very stubborn and kind of insecure she felt less than at all times even if she never said a thing but she constantly felt that way, as if her best friend, was more entitle but at the end as every women drama it was just a misunderstanding or better said miss communication.
The friendship between Kate and Emmeline was great but Kate usually was the one making problems with her doubting and insecurities at least that's what I felt like she was always looking to complain or to chastise her best friend but I love when they finally understood what they were not really saying or making to improve their situation.
Overall it was a good book, it was just me that I was expecting more for such a long story.
Band of Sisters was very light for me, I really felt like I was in the women's bathroom listening to all the chit chat and drama of a group of friends, I enjoy it because of that, because it felt like a group of a friend got together and were narrating their lives in the War but without the fear or the drama more like gossip or like I said like a chit chat conversation.
I did like the main characters Kate and Emmeline but at times Kate was very stubborn and kind of insecure she felt less than at all times even if she never said a thing but she constantly felt that way, as if her best friend, was more entitle but at the end as every women drama it was just a misunderstanding or better said miss communication.
The friendship between Kate and Emmeline was great but Kate usually was the one making problems with her doubting and insecurities at least that's what I felt like she was always looking to complain or to chastise her best friend but I love when they finally understood what they were not really saying or making to improve their situation.
Overall it was a good book, it was just me that I was expecting more for such a long story.
July 25, 2021
Band of Sisters stands out in the crowd of 20th Century-based, historical war fiction. Excellently researched and solidly told, Sisters is chock-full of believable characters, each with their own personality, and from varying backgrounds.
Band of Sisters is a lovely tale based on the true story of a group of women from Smith College who journeyed to France to help out countryside villagers devastated by the ravages of World War I on the local French residents. Possessing little practical skills, save their determination, these dogged ladies find themselves accomplishing so much more than they dreamed possible. They treat the sick and injured and grow food for the villagers. They take off across the torn landscape in order to get supplies or deliver people where they need to go. They even scrape together their meager supplies to throw modest parties for the locals as well as the military men in the area.
If it won’t ruin it for you, with this book I would recommend reading the Historical Note(s) at the end of the novel first. I don’t think this story made quite the impression on me it should have until I read these end notes and discovered just how much research Lauren Willig put into the novel, and how entrenched in true history the story actually is. The Historical Notes moved this novel from a 4-star to a solid 5-star for me. Willig details out what parts of the tale are true, where she had to bend the story a bit to fit a novel’s pacing, as well as the names of the real “Smithies” in the Smith College Relief Unit who went to France, along with her inspiration and sources for the story.
I especially loved how the book was peppered with “quotes” from the various “sisters” of the Smith group. While spoken from the point of view of Willig’s fictional characters, the lives and stories of the Sisters women were based on the vast piles of letters and journals by Unit members housed in the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College. The book itself is based on Willig’s research into thousands of pages of source material, allowing her to lovingly recreate the group’s time in France and the lives of these incredible women.
As an aside, along with the efforts of the Smith College ladies, the reader also gets a brief glimpse of additional volunteer women from Andover, Boston College, and Reed College, who also travel to France to assist with relief efforts.
Hear from Willig herself on Band of Sisters on SoundCloud. And be sure not to miss the Book Club Kit for a Q&A with the author, photos of the real-life Smith College Unit, suggestions for further reading, and more!
~~~~~
Drop me a Comment below and let me know what you thought of this review… And if you decide to read Band of Sisters (and I hope you do), let me know your thoughts on the book too!
A big thank you to Lauren Willig, William Morrow’s Custom House Books, and NetGalley for providing a complimentary Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for this honest review.
Band of Sisters released on March 2, 2021 and is available now in hardcover and large-print paperback from William Morrow & Company publishers. Get your copy today at bookshop.org – the online bookstore that donates 75% of each book’s profit margin back to independent bookstores. Over $13.6 million contributed since 2020!
From the publisher: Lauren Willig is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than twenty novels, including The Summer Country, the RITA Award–winning Pink Carnation series, and three novels cowritten with Beatriz Williams and Karen White.
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2021 Release
March 2021 Release
Band of Sisters is a lovely tale based on the true story of a group of women from Smith College who journeyed to France to help out countryside villagers devastated by the ravages of World War I on the local French residents. Possessing little practical skills, save their determination, these dogged ladies find themselves accomplishing so much more than they dreamed possible. They treat the sick and injured and grow food for the villagers. They take off across the torn landscape in order to get supplies or deliver people where they need to go. They even scrape together their meager supplies to throw modest parties for the locals as well as the military men in the area.
If it won’t ruin it for you, with this book I would recommend reading the Historical Note(s) at the end of the novel first. I don’t think this story made quite the impression on me it should have until I read these end notes and discovered just how much research Lauren Willig put into the novel, and how entrenched in true history the story actually is. The Historical Notes moved this novel from a 4-star to a solid 5-star for me. Willig details out what parts of the tale are true, where she had to bend the story a bit to fit a novel’s pacing, as well as the names of the real “Smithies” in the Smith College Relief Unit who went to France, along with her inspiration and sources for the story.
I especially loved how the book was peppered with “quotes” from the various “sisters” of the Smith group. While spoken from the point of view of Willig’s fictional characters, the lives and stories of the Sisters women were based on the vast piles of letters and journals by Unit members housed in the Sophia Smith Collection at Smith College. The book itself is based on Willig’s research into thousands of pages of source material, allowing her to lovingly recreate the group’s time in France and the lives of these incredible women.
As an aside, along with the efforts of the Smith College ladies, the reader also gets a brief glimpse of additional volunteer women from Andover, Boston College, and Reed College, who also travel to France to assist with relief efforts.
Hear from Willig herself on Band of Sisters on SoundCloud. And be sure not to miss the Book Club Kit for a Q&A with the author, photos of the real-life Smith College Unit, suggestions for further reading, and more!
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Drop me a Comment below and let me know what you thought of this review… And if you decide to read Band of Sisters (and I hope you do), let me know your thoughts on the book too!
A big thank you to Lauren Willig, William Morrow’s Custom House Books, and NetGalley for providing a complimentary Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for this honest review.
Band of Sisters released on March 2, 2021 and is available now in hardcover and large-print paperback from William Morrow & Company publishers. Get your copy today at bookshop.org – the online bookstore that donates 75% of each book’s profit margin back to independent bookstores. Over $13.6 million contributed since 2020!
From the publisher: Lauren Willig is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than twenty novels, including The Summer Country, the RITA Award–winning Pink Carnation series, and three novels cowritten with Beatriz Williams and Karen White.
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Tags/Shelves:
General Fiction (Adult)
Historical Fiction
Women's Fiction
World War I
2021 Release
March 2021 Release
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June 16, 2021Those Smith girls must have been very good letter writers! Lauren Willig discovered a memoir that one of the girls wrote about their time in France during WW I. She was so taken with the account that she used the letters written to their loved ones back home to write this book. Although all the characters in this little band are fictional, they are based on real people AND what I loved the most is that the many adventures this group had in the book are based on real life as well. An engaging blend of history and fiction that sheds light on a group of women who did amazing things to help the French villages unfortunate enough to be stationed near the front. Many were destroyed at least twice and had to rebuild. This book will make you both laugh and cry. I especially enjoyed the letter excerpts before each chapter as they are so revealing of social conventions from that era.
*Review by Darla from Red Bridge*
Click on the this link for more info on the Smith girls and their relief work during WW I:
https://americanwomeninwwi.wordpress....
*Review by Darla from Red Bridge*
Click on the this link for more info on the Smith girls and their relief work during WW I:
https://americanwomeninwwi.wordpress....
January 29, 2021
Lauren Willig is an established author, but she is new to me. Band of Sisters, her newest release, has made me a fan. I read it free and early, and my thanks go to Net Galley, William Morrow, and Harper Audio for the review copies. It will be available to the public March 2, 2021.
A group of Smith College alumni sail to France on a mission to help civilians suffering extreme deprivation during World War I. “They carry money, supplies, and good intentions—all of which immediately go astray,” says the promotional blurb, and that’s what happens. It’s hard to make plans when you don’t know which way the battle may turn or where bombs may fall, but these are plucky women, two doctors among them, and several of them are members of wealthy, influential American families as well. The story is based on actual women and events, and the teacher in me wishes I were still in the classroom and able to order sets of this excellent novel to share with honors students, girls especially, who need to see more of themselves in the study of American history.
Our two protagonists are Kate and Emmie, best friends and roommates a decade ago, united in this adventure. Kate is the only woman among the “Smithies” that doesn’t come from money and that doesn’t pay her own way; she is led to believe no one else paid their own way, either, but it isn’t true. And this is a chewy, inviting historical truth that we don’t see often in fiction. Though social class divisions are every bit as present and sharp today, assumptions made by most Americans have become more generous. During the early years of the twentieth century, there was a widely held belief that rich people were better in other ways as well, whether they had earned their fortunes or inherited them. They considered themselves to be God’s own chosen ones, and their wealth was one more sign that the Almighty loved them a bit more than others. Poverty was considered shameful, a thing to be concealed; there were no government funds of any kind to help the poor, and if there had been, women like Kate would have just about died before accepting them. Taking charitable contributions was a sign of personal failure and possibly dishonesty to most people back then. And the truth is, Kate isn’t impoverished, and she surely hasn’t failed at anything, but she has to work to earn her living, a thing most Caucasian women in the U.S. didn’t do in 1917. She is horrified when, midway through our narrative, she learns the truth about her travel expenses, and this creates one of the crises within the story.
Willig is a fine novelist. The pace never flags, and there’s never a moment of revisionism that makes me blink. She is true to the time period and the characters. Emmie’s character is a harder sell, to my way of thinking, because she comes from tremendous wealth, but her family has made her feel unworthy because of her physical appearance, and by the end of the book, I love Emmie as much as I do Kate.
I’ve plucked a sample for you, a scene in which Kate and Emmie are evacuating an area which is being overrun by the Germans:
[Kate] wanted Mrs. Barrett; she wanted Dr. Stringfellow; she wanted anyone who could tell them what to do and where to go. Grecourt looked different already, the anemones churned up by the tread of two hundred soldiers, tents dotted around the lawn, Maybe, if she closed her eyes and wished hard enough, she could make it a week ago; the ground bright with flowers; slipping into story time and holding Zelie on her lap while Nell read to the basse-cour children in French about little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, joking with the unit around the supper table about their amazing ability differentiate between types of guns.
But it wasn’t a week ago. The Big Bad Wolf was here, he was on the march, with his big, big teeth and big, big guns, and maybe she wasn’t the best the Unit could have, but she was what they had right now.
By the time we reach this part of the story, I could not stop reading if I wanted to. It would have been impossible.
The hardest characters for many writers are the children, and although we have no child protagonists, there are numerous scenes in which children play a part. How does a child act when he is traumatized by war? Willig is in perfect form here as well.
I received both the digital review copy and the audio, and I used them both. At the beginning there are so many women introduced to us at once that I felt lost with just the audio, and so I listened and read along to keep track. The narrator, Julia Whelan, does a superb job with a challenging manuscript, changing her tone and point of view to let us know which woman’s point of view we are hearing. My only concern regarding the audio version—which is much easier to follow once you have learned the most important characters—is that the story begins with a lengthy list of the women that participated, and it’s not great to listen to. I recommend you fast forward the audio to somewhere between five and seven percent, and then dive in.
I requested this galley because a number of Goodreads friends whose opinions I respect recommended it to me, and all of them were absolutely right. This book is a gem, and I highly recommend it.
A group of Smith College alumni sail to France on a mission to help civilians suffering extreme deprivation during World War I. “They carry money, supplies, and good intentions—all of which immediately go astray,” says the promotional blurb, and that’s what happens. It’s hard to make plans when you don’t know which way the battle may turn or where bombs may fall, but these are plucky women, two doctors among them, and several of them are members of wealthy, influential American families as well. The story is based on actual women and events, and the teacher in me wishes I were still in the classroom and able to order sets of this excellent novel to share with honors students, girls especially, who need to see more of themselves in the study of American history.
Our two protagonists are Kate and Emmie, best friends and roommates a decade ago, united in this adventure. Kate is the only woman among the “Smithies” that doesn’t come from money and that doesn’t pay her own way; she is led to believe no one else paid their own way, either, but it isn’t true. And this is a chewy, inviting historical truth that we don’t see often in fiction. Though social class divisions are every bit as present and sharp today, assumptions made by most Americans have become more generous. During the early years of the twentieth century, there was a widely held belief that rich people were better in other ways as well, whether they had earned their fortunes or inherited them. They considered themselves to be God’s own chosen ones, and their wealth was one more sign that the Almighty loved them a bit more than others. Poverty was considered shameful, a thing to be concealed; there were no government funds of any kind to help the poor, and if there had been, women like Kate would have just about died before accepting them. Taking charitable contributions was a sign of personal failure and possibly dishonesty to most people back then. And the truth is, Kate isn’t impoverished, and she surely hasn’t failed at anything, but she has to work to earn her living, a thing most Caucasian women in the U.S. didn’t do in 1917. She is horrified when, midway through our narrative, she learns the truth about her travel expenses, and this creates one of the crises within the story.
Willig is a fine novelist. The pace never flags, and there’s never a moment of revisionism that makes me blink. She is true to the time period and the characters. Emmie’s character is a harder sell, to my way of thinking, because she comes from tremendous wealth, but her family has made her feel unworthy because of her physical appearance, and by the end of the book, I love Emmie as much as I do Kate.
I’ve plucked a sample for you, a scene in which Kate and Emmie are evacuating an area which is being overrun by the Germans:
[Kate] wanted Mrs. Barrett; she wanted Dr. Stringfellow; she wanted anyone who could tell them what to do and where to go. Grecourt looked different already, the anemones churned up by the tread of two hundred soldiers, tents dotted around the lawn, Maybe, if she closed her eyes and wished hard enough, she could make it a week ago; the ground bright with flowers; slipping into story time and holding Zelie on her lap while Nell read to the basse-cour children in French about little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, joking with the unit around the supper table about their amazing ability differentiate between types of guns.
But it wasn’t a week ago. The Big Bad Wolf was here, he was on the march, with his big, big teeth and big, big guns, and maybe she wasn’t the best the Unit could have, but she was what they had right now.
By the time we reach this part of the story, I could not stop reading if I wanted to. It would have been impossible.
The hardest characters for many writers are the children, and although we have no child protagonists, there are numerous scenes in which children play a part. How does a child act when he is traumatized by war? Willig is in perfect form here as well.
I received both the digital review copy and the audio, and I used them both. At the beginning there are so many women introduced to us at once that I felt lost with just the audio, and so I listened and read along to keep track. The narrator, Julia Whelan, does a superb job with a challenging manuscript, changing her tone and point of view to let us know which woman’s point of view we are hearing. My only concern regarding the audio version—which is much easier to follow once you have learned the most important characters—is that the story begins with a lengthy list of the women that participated, and it’s not great to listen to. I recommend you fast forward the audio to somewhere between five and seven percent, and then dive in.
I requested this galley because a number of Goodreads friends whose opinions I respect recommended it to me, and all of them were absolutely right. This book is a gem, and I highly recommend it.
October 13, 2021
Oh my gosh, Ms. Willig; you have outdone yourself! This fictional account of the Smith College Relief Unit which served during World War I, exquisitely captures the derring-do, tenacity and sheer heroism of the real Smith women who served in The Somme from the summer of 1917 through the summer of 1918. (The unit continued on in service well past Armistice Day, days which are not captured within this story.)
During the days in which I attended Smith College, I was often greeted by the commanding wrought iron Grécourt Gates in front of the Administration Building. At no time during those school days was I ever aware that these gates were the replication of those which greeted the Relief Unit upon their arrival in Grécourt. These gates stood in front of Chateau Robecourt of Grécourt, the derelict home on the grounds where the Smithies were bivouacked during their service days of WWI. The gates were replicated on the Smith College campus to honor the service and heroism of the Smithies who served in the Somme. This commanding novel by Lauren Willig magnificently captures the spirit of these brave Smith women who served freely, willingly and unfailingly during the war, a mere nine miles from the front lines of battle. From the reading of this story, my heart is full of pride, wonder and joy in hearing the accomplishments and challenges overcome by my Smith College predecessors. These ladies rocked!
The story focuses mainly upon the lives of two Smith graduates, Kate Moran, a proud scholarship student from Brooklyn, and Emmeline ("Emmie") Van Alden a somewhat naïve woman of an upstanding Knickerbocker family of New York City. Kate is painfully aware of the economic differences between her and the other Smithies. (Personally, I immediately related to Kate as I too was one of those scholarship students and strongly felt the economic differences between the haves and have nots.) Emmie encourages Kate to join the unit as Emmie is unsure that she has the courage to serve without Kate. Both rise to the occasion in their own ways, yet not without some friction between them. This is their story and worth every moment in the telling.
Ms. Willig's writing is highly descriptive without being flowery. She captures the scent of rural air replete with all its barnyard creatures. One can easily imagine the derelict conditions encountered after the Germans had burned the villages and poisoned the wells. Just reading of the lice infested villagers hovering in the basement of a barn, existing yet not truly living, breaks one's heart. With the arrival of the Smith College Relief Unit, there was yet again hope for the villagers' future.
The dialogue among the Smithies, including touches of snarkiness, reminded me how petty young women can be to one another. Ms. Willig perfectly captured the cutting tongues of these women who are sometimes just too bright for their own britches. There is also an element of humor where one must laugh at themselves for their shortcomings. Just because they may have graduated with a 3.95 GPA doesn't necessarily mean they know which end of a cow to milk. The down to earth existence in Grécourt brought new learning to these Smithies as they in turn brought hope to the villagers.
This is truly a beautifully written, harrowing, yet hopeful tale of these amazing heroic women and well worth the reading.
During the days in which I attended Smith College, I was often greeted by the commanding wrought iron Grécourt Gates in front of the Administration Building. At no time during those school days was I ever aware that these gates were the replication of those which greeted the Relief Unit upon their arrival in Grécourt. These gates stood in front of Chateau Robecourt of Grécourt, the derelict home on the grounds where the Smithies were bivouacked during their service days of WWI. The gates were replicated on the Smith College campus to honor the service and heroism of the Smithies who served in the Somme. This commanding novel by Lauren Willig magnificently captures the spirit of these brave Smith women who served freely, willingly and unfailingly during the war, a mere nine miles from the front lines of battle. From the reading of this story, my heart is full of pride, wonder and joy in hearing the accomplishments and challenges overcome by my Smith College predecessors. These ladies rocked!
The story focuses mainly upon the lives of two Smith graduates, Kate Moran, a proud scholarship student from Brooklyn, and Emmeline ("Emmie") Van Alden a somewhat naïve woman of an upstanding Knickerbocker family of New York City. Kate is painfully aware of the economic differences between her and the other Smithies. (Personally, I immediately related to Kate as I too was one of those scholarship students and strongly felt the economic differences between the haves and have nots.) Emmie encourages Kate to join the unit as Emmie is unsure that she has the courage to serve without Kate. Both rise to the occasion in their own ways, yet not without some friction between them. This is their story and worth every moment in the telling.
Ms. Willig's writing is highly descriptive without being flowery. She captures the scent of rural air replete with all its barnyard creatures. One can easily imagine the derelict conditions encountered after the Germans had burned the villages and poisoned the wells. Just reading of the lice infested villagers hovering in the basement of a barn, existing yet not truly living, breaks one's heart. With the arrival of the Smith College Relief Unit, there was yet again hope for the villagers' future.
The dialogue among the Smithies, including touches of snarkiness, reminded me how petty young women can be to one another. Ms. Willig perfectly captured the cutting tongues of these women who are sometimes just too bright for their own britches. There is also an element of humor where one must laugh at themselves for their shortcomings. Just because they may have graduated with a 3.95 GPA doesn't necessarily mean they know which end of a cow to milk. The down to earth existence in Grécourt brought new learning to these Smithies as they in turn brought hope to the villagers.
This is truly a beautifully written, harrowing, yet hopeful tale of these amazing heroic women and well worth the reading.
February 27, 2021
Poignant, affecting, and incredibly immersive!
Band of Sisters is an absorbing, stirring tale set in German-Occupied France during WWI that follows seventeen young American women from Smith College as they embark on a mission that doesn’t quite go as smoothly as planned, to befriend and use their own unique skillsets to provide relief, food, medical care, and education to the villagers whose lives have been decimated by war.
The prose is seamless and vivid. The characters are courageous, driven, and resilient. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel into a sweeping saga of life, loss, secrets, insecurities, self-discovery, heartbreak, determination, survival, tragedy, and friendship.
Overall, Band of Sisters is a rich, evocative, beautifully written novel by Willig that grabs you from the very first page and is sure to be a big hit with book clubs and historical fiction fans everywhere. I absolutely devoured it, and it is hands down one of my favourite reads of the year!
Thank you to William Morrow for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Band of Sisters is an absorbing, stirring tale set in German-Occupied France during WWI that follows seventeen young American women from Smith College as they embark on a mission that doesn’t quite go as smoothly as planned, to befriend and use their own unique skillsets to provide relief, food, medical care, and education to the villagers whose lives have been decimated by war.
The prose is seamless and vivid. The characters are courageous, driven, and resilient. And the plot, including all the subplots, intertwine and unravel into a sweeping saga of life, loss, secrets, insecurities, self-discovery, heartbreak, determination, survival, tragedy, and friendship.
Overall, Band of Sisters is a rich, evocative, beautifully written novel by Willig that grabs you from the very first page and is sure to be a big hit with book clubs and historical fiction fans everywhere. I absolutely devoured it, and it is hands down one of my favourite reads of the year!
Thank you to William Morrow for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.
February 2, 2024
" If there's an incident in the book, it almost certainly happened. " I found this in the Author's Notes, which all of you who read this book should read to see how this amazing book came to be! She changed some names but the rest is true! I finished this on Wednesday, January 30, 2024 but only now do I have a few minutes to write my review. I've a lot of appointments coming up for pre operation and a wheelchair appointment on the 9th for a new wheelchair!! Yay 😁 I need a new one as mine is 8 years old. I'll try to keep it as short as possible, because I could write pages to describe this excellent book!
I absolutely loved this book and it's worth at least a thousand stars, if not more!! It's based on true events of the 17 women from Smith College going to Grecourt , France in WW1. It's first of all amazing that women were allowed to go to college pre World War 1 and to be hand selected by the director, Mrs. Rutherford to be called " The Smith Unit" to go to France to help the villagers with everything they need to rebuild and replace what was lost in that part of France during WW1. They provided medical care, better living places as most of the people were living in houses without roofs or anything to sleep on. They planted gardens and provided cows, goats and chickens for milk and eggs. I have to take a second and say how much I laughed at some of the scenes about the animals and birds that, Emmie ( one of the main characters) said and did! Emmie is such a sweetheart and kind hearted lady who is also too trusting and at times naive. Emmie was put in charge of acquiring the animals and birds, when the truck came with the cows, she and Kate were trying to get them out of the truck by calling them! " Bending over, Emmie patted her hands against her knees and called ' Here cows! Here cowey cows!"' 🤣 " The cows flicked her looks of what Emmie could have sworn was bovine distain. " " It - it worked on our old sheepdog." I should mention that these ladies are from New York and never seen farm animals and birds. Since I work at a farm, I was laughing out loud and yet felt sorry for Emmie!
The main characters are Julia, Emmie and Kate. They have a past with each other and once were friends... something happened between them and their friendships are very rocky. Will this change as they are now working together? Can they repair what is left of their friendships? These 3 ladies are so strong, courageous, intelligent, quick thinking and go through so very much. I really love what Kate said to Emmie, " You're our conscience, Emmie. You're our heart. We need you." Julia is Emmies' cousin and they, like the other 17 are from well to do families and Kate is poor. Does this matter? These ladies are in a war zone, bombs are going off, the Germans are firing at them, shellings happen way too often, the make shift hospital is being torn apart, all this is happening around them and they can keep their heads together! Wow! What amazing strength!! The entire Smith Unit is doing everything they possibly can to help the villagers during all this commotion! I need to mention a little girl who is a 5 year old orphan named Zeile! She stole my heart as well as the smallest goat named Minerva! They were inseparable and at one point, Minerva ran away because of all the commotion, and Zeile ran to find her!! I'll let you read how the rest goes. 🤫 Hehehehe.
Well, I really meant to be short but I will start to wrap it up. Yes, this story is about war but at it's core, it's really about these 17 ladies and how they learn to depend on each other despite their differences and how I believe, changed the course of history. I'm glad that their story is told! I enjoyed reading this book and the characters are so well developed that they became my friends! I will miss them. I will end at this quote that Kate wrote to her Mom for Mother's Day. " You always found a way. I'll never be able to thank you enough for showing me that it isn't what you have, it's what you make with it - whether it's turning a can of sardines and some condensed milk into a supper or turning a group of strangers into a band of sisters." This book is excellent! It's action packed, a fast read, challenges you to put yourself in their places. Could you do what these ladies did?
Enjoy and Happy Reading 💫✨
I absolutely loved this book and it's worth at least a thousand stars, if not more!! It's based on true events of the 17 women from Smith College going to Grecourt , France in WW1. It's first of all amazing that women were allowed to go to college pre World War 1 and to be hand selected by the director, Mrs. Rutherford to be called " The Smith Unit" to go to France to help the villagers with everything they need to rebuild and replace what was lost in that part of France during WW1. They provided medical care, better living places as most of the people were living in houses without roofs or anything to sleep on. They planted gardens and provided cows, goats and chickens for milk and eggs. I have to take a second and say how much I laughed at some of the scenes about the animals and birds that, Emmie ( one of the main characters) said and did! Emmie is such a sweetheart and kind hearted lady who is also too trusting and at times naive. Emmie was put in charge of acquiring the animals and birds, when the truck came with the cows, she and Kate were trying to get them out of the truck by calling them! " Bending over, Emmie patted her hands against her knees and called ' Here cows! Here cowey cows!"' 🤣 " The cows flicked her looks of what Emmie could have sworn was bovine distain. " " It - it worked on our old sheepdog." I should mention that these ladies are from New York and never seen farm animals and birds. Since I work at a farm, I was laughing out loud and yet felt sorry for Emmie!
The main characters are Julia, Emmie and Kate. They have a past with each other and once were friends... something happened between them and their friendships are very rocky. Will this change as they are now working together? Can they repair what is left of their friendships? These 3 ladies are so strong, courageous, intelligent, quick thinking and go through so very much. I really love what Kate said to Emmie, " You're our conscience, Emmie. You're our heart. We need you." Julia is Emmies' cousin and they, like the other 17 are from well to do families and Kate is poor. Does this matter? These ladies are in a war zone, bombs are going off, the Germans are firing at them, shellings happen way too often, the make shift hospital is being torn apart, all this is happening around them and they can keep their heads together! Wow! What amazing strength!! The entire Smith Unit is doing everything they possibly can to help the villagers during all this commotion! I need to mention a little girl who is a 5 year old orphan named Zeile! She stole my heart as well as the smallest goat named Minerva! They were inseparable and at one point, Minerva ran away because of all the commotion, and Zeile ran to find her!! I'll let you read how the rest goes. 🤫 Hehehehe.
Well, I really meant to be short but I will start to wrap it up. Yes, this story is about war but at it's core, it's really about these 17 ladies and how they learn to depend on each other despite their differences and how I believe, changed the course of history. I'm glad that their story is told! I enjoyed reading this book and the characters are so well developed that they became my friends! I will miss them. I will end at this quote that Kate wrote to her Mom for Mother's Day. " You always found a way. I'll never be able to thank you enough for showing me that it isn't what you have, it's what you make with it - whether it's turning a can of sardines and some condensed milk into a supper or turning a group of strangers into a band of sisters." This book is excellent! It's action packed, a fast read, challenges you to put yourself in their places. Could you do what these ladies did?
Enjoy and Happy Reading 💫✨
January 28, 2021
What a joy this was to listen to. Wow! I haven’t read a lot about WW1 but this was a very different look at it. I had no idea American college women went to France to help. I just wanted to hug this book when I finished it. I loved it.
Julia Whelan was the narrator and she was awesome. She always does a spectacular job and she didn’t disappoint this time either.
I loved seeing these mismatch, sometimes insecure, vulnerable women come together. I saw how God used these brave women. And they were brave even if they didn’t know it at the time. At 86% I realized I was holding my breath and I don’t think I started breathing again until I got to the end!
The characters leap off the page with their human strengths, weaknesses, and foibles. I highly recommend this book and thinks it’s one of the best things I’ve listened to this year!
Thank you Harper Audio for this wonderful audiobook via Netgalley. I’ve voluntarily given my honest review.
Julia Whelan was the narrator and she was awesome. She always does a spectacular job and she didn’t disappoint this time either.
I loved seeing these mismatch, sometimes insecure, vulnerable women come together. I saw how God used these brave women. And they were brave even if they didn’t know it at the time. At 86% I realized I was holding my breath and I don’t think I started breathing again until I got to the end!
The characters leap off the page with their human strengths, weaknesses, and foibles. I highly recommend this book and thinks it’s one of the best things I’ve listened to this year!
Thank you Harper Audio for this wonderful audiobook via Netgalley. I’ve voluntarily given my honest review.
November 16, 2020
I finished this book a few weeks ago and I've been missing the characters ever since. Band of Sisters is an inspiring tale of adventure about a group of Smith graduates volunteering in France during WWI. It's filled with good deeds but never preachy, the characters are courageous but never plucky. This is the perfect story to inspire people to take action and help people.
March 5, 2024
Women’s History Month: book number 1.
While researching something entirely different, Lauren Willig stumbled upon women’s personal accounts of their service while members of the Smith College Relief Unit. The result is her book — Band of Sisters.
Band of Sisters, is a historical novel based on actual events. Proud families and friends donated letters, diaries, and articles, to Smith College, so that the history of their daughters (sisters, friends, etc.) would be preserved. I enjoyed the inclusion of some of these letters in the book.
The author’s notes explain that the names used in the novel are fictional, but are largely based on the experiences of the women of the Relief Unit.
In April of 1917, Betsy Rutherford, a Smith alumni, archeologist, humanitarian, and organizational genius, gave a rousing speech at the Smith College Club. In two months time, she had 18 “Smithie” volunteers (two were female doctors), ample funding, uniforms, supplies, completed paperwork, and a plan. This incredible group of women arrived by steamship in Paris in July of 1917. There were problems when they arrived, but the creative and resourceful women prevailed.
The story follows mostly Kate, Emmie, and Julia, as they serve the people of WWI torn France. The German military had bombed villages, destroying homes and resources. The advancing army then pillaged, abused civilians, poisoned wells, and took men as prisoners. The survivors were left in dire circumstances. The children had forgotten how to play - everything was about surviving day to day.
SOME OF THE RELIEF PROVIDED TO 16 VILLAGES:
(The Smith Women had to assemble their own trucks!)
• Comfort and hope
• Milk for the children
• Chickens/eggs
• Food staples
• Wells and pumps
• A traveling store
• Medical treatment and supplies
• Candy for the children
• Shelters
• Recreation for traumatized children
• Mass and a Christmas party
• Schools
• Libraries for children
• Seeds and planting in the Spring
LIVES WERE SAVED!
The Smith women lived in humble circumstances in the village of Grecourt near the battlefront. When the German army broke through, rather than evacuating, they risked their lives to warn and transport refugees away from imminent danger. They made several trips back into enemy territory. Then they began again (in a new location) by sheltering, feeding, providing medical care, finding condensed milk for babies, and putting families on trains who had family to support them.
Whatever challenge came their way, these remarkable women persevered! War can bring out the worst in humanity, but sometimes it brings out the BEST!
While researching something entirely different, Lauren Willig stumbled upon women’s personal accounts of their service while members of the Smith College Relief Unit. The result is her book — Band of Sisters.
Band of Sisters, is a historical novel based on actual events. Proud families and friends donated letters, diaries, and articles, to Smith College, so that the history of their daughters (sisters, friends, etc.) would be preserved. I enjoyed the inclusion of some of these letters in the book.
The author’s notes explain that the names used in the novel are fictional, but are largely based on the experiences of the women of the Relief Unit.
In April of 1917, Betsy Rutherford, a Smith alumni, archeologist, humanitarian, and organizational genius, gave a rousing speech at the Smith College Club. In two months time, she had 18 “Smithie” volunteers (two were female doctors), ample funding, uniforms, supplies, completed paperwork, and a plan. This incredible group of women arrived by steamship in Paris in July of 1917. There were problems when they arrived, but the creative and resourceful women prevailed.
The story follows mostly Kate, Emmie, and Julia, as they serve the people of WWI torn France. The German military had bombed villages, destroying homes and resources. The advancing army then pillaged, abused civilians, poisoned wells, and took men as prisoners. The survivors were left in dire circumstances. The children had forgotten how to play - everything was about surviving day to day.
SOME OF THE RELIEF PROVIDED TO 16 VILLAGES:
(The Smith Women had to assemble their own trucks!)
• Comfort and hope
• Milk for the children
• Chickens/eggs
• Food staples
• Wells and pumps
• A traveling store
• Medical treatment and supplies
• Candy for the children
• Shelters
• Recreation for traumatized children
• Mass and a Christmas party
• Schools
• Libraries for children
• Seeds and planting in the Spring
LIVES WERE SAVED!
The Smith women lived in humble circumstances in the village of Grecourt near the battlefront. When the German army broke through, rather than evacuating, they risked their lives to warn and transport refugees away from imminent danger. They made several trips back into enemy territory. Then they began again (in a new location) by sheltering, feeding, providing medical care, finding condensed milk for babies, and putting families on trains who had family to support them.
Whatever challenge came their way, these remarkable women persevered! War can bring out the worst in humanity, but sometimes it brings out the BEST!
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