Inspired by the true story of the World War I American Women’s Hospital, Mercy Road is a novel about love, courage, and a female ambulance driver who risks everything.
In 1917, after Arlene Favier’s home burns to the ground, taking her father with it, she must find a way to support her mother and younger brother. If she doesn’t succeed, they will all be impoverished. Job opportunities are scarce, but then a daring possibility arises: the American Women’s Hospital needs ambulance drivers to join a trailblazing, all-female team of doctors and nurses bound for war-torn France.
On the front lines, Arlene and her fellow ambulance drivers work day and night to aid injured soldiers and civilians. In between dangerous ambulance runs, Arlene reunites with a childhood friend, Jimmy Tucker, now a soldier, who opens her heart like no one before. But she has also caught the attention of Felix Brohammer, a charismatic army captain who harbors a dark, treacherous secret.
To expose Brohammer means risking her family’s future and the promise of love. Arlene must make a choice: stay in the safety of silence or take the greatest chance of her life.
Wartime Intrigue. This is yet another Lake Union book dealing with the Great War this year, and this one presents a few wrinkles other similar efforts have not - which is always welcome by this wide ranging reader. Very solid work, from the setup in rural Kentucky through the bulk of the tale in France and through the conclusion of the tale. Presents its various topics in a very period-appropriate setting while also using them to discuss larger issues. Great story, my first from this author - and won't be my last. Very much recommended.
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19 November, 2019:
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19 November, 2019:
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