Wednesday, October 20, 2010

I’ll Be Home for Christmas-Julie L. Cannon

I’ll Be Home for Christmas
Julie L. Cannon
Summerside, Sep 1 2010, $12.99
www.summerside.com
ISBN: 9781609360184

In December 1943 in Athens, Georgia Maggie Culpepper grieves the death of her beloved Mother blaming God for her loss and vowing never to trust in the Lord again as her prayers went unanswered. Thus she is caught totally off guard when her childhood sweetheart William Dove proposes though at one time she expected him to ask her to marry him.

Instead of marrying him, Maggie enlists with the U.S. Navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Voluntary Emergency Service) and stationed at an air station in New Jersey. William, who due to polio is unfit to serve, has not given up on his Maggie as he believes his faith in God and in love will bring them together if she only moves on with her grief.

With Bing singing on the radio, fans will feel like they are whisked to 1944 on the homefront as Julie L. Cannon brings to life those wonderful women who volunteered to serve as WAVES. Maggie is terrific lead protagonists as she is somewhat confused, still grieving for her mom, and feeling lonely being away from her father, her beloved William, her hometown, and God. The audience will root for William who insists home is where the heart is and his heart is with her.

Harriet Klausner

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