It’s 1944. Tess
DeMello is in love. She’s always been in love with Vincent. They
grew up together and planned to wed. Vincent, a doctor, has finished
his residency. Tess is finishing her nurses’ training when a polio
epidemic strikes Chicago. Vincent feels he must go. At first Tess is
understanding, but when weeks grow into months, she finds it hard to
remain complacent.
Henry Kraft is
visiting Washington DC. Tess is there with a girlfriend. They meet,
and in one ill advised encounter, Tess becomes pregnant. She wants to
marry Vincent, but she can’t tell him the truth. She turns to Henry, and he agrees to marry her, but when they arrive in Hickory, a
traditional, segregated, southern town, Tess believes she may have
made a mistake.
Henry is not
affectionate. His mother is standoffish, and when his sister dies in
a tragic accident, Tess doesn’t know what to do. When a polio
epidemic strikes the town. She finds her place working in the
hospital created by the townspeople.
History and romance
combine to make this a good read. The South during WWII was a
difficult place for a northern girl to understand. Mixed race
marriages were forbidden and could lead to jail time. The town was
stratified with the rich, the poor, and the blacks living in separate
areas. The author has done a good job recreating this difficult era.
The characters are true to life and the plot has twists that you
can’t anticipate. I recommend this book. The difficulty of living
in times when prejudice was accepted is well described.
I received this book
from Net Galley for this review.
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