When We Had Wings: A Story of the Angels of Bataan

by Ariel Lawhon, Kristina Mcmorris, and Susan Meissner

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Book cover for When We Had Wings

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International Trade Paper Edition

From three bestselling authors comes an interwoven tale about a trio of World War II nurses stationed in the South Pacific who wage their own battle for freedom and survival.

The Philippines, 1941. When U.S. Navy nurse Eleanor Lindstrom, U.S. Army nurse Penny Franklin, and Filipina nurse Lita Capel forge a friendship at the Army Navy Club in Manila, they believe they’re living a paradise assignment. All three are seeking a way to escape their pasts, but soon the beauty and promise of their surroundings give way to the heavy mantle of war.

Caught in the crosshairs of a fight between the U.S. military and the Imperial Japanese Army for control of the Philippine Islands, the nurses are forced to serve under combat conditions and, ultimately, endure captivity as the first female prisoners of the Second World War. As their resiliency is tested in the face of squalid living arrangements, food shortages, and the enemy’s blatant disregard for the articles of the Geneva Convention, the women strive to keep their hope— and their fellow inmates—alive, though not without great cost.

In this sweeping story based on the true experiences of nurses dubbed “the Angels of Bataan,” three women shift in and out of each other’s lives through the darkest days of the war, buoyed by their unwavering friendship and distant dreams of liberation.

“Three of the biggest powerhouses in historical fiction come together to pen this breathtaking story of three nurses serving in the Philippines during the Second World War.” —PAM JENOFF, New York Times bestselling author of The Woman with the Blue Star

  • World War II historical fiction
  • Stand-alone novel
  • Book length: approximately 128,000 words
  • Includes discussion questions for book clubs
  • ISBN10 1400240840
  • ISBN13 9781400240845
  • Publish Date 18 October 2022 (first published 21 September 2022)
  • Publish Status Active
  • Out of Print 24 July 2024
  • Publish Country US
  • Publisher HarperCollins Focus
  • Imprint Harper Muse
  • Edition ITPE Edition
  • Format Paperback
  • Pages 432
  • Language English