A Woman's Place, by Lynn Austin

Pages: 448

Rating: PG(it's a very clean book but there is a little bit of violence in it)

Summary:They watched their sons, their brothers, and their husbands enlist to fight a growing menace across the seas. And when their nation asked, they answered the call as well. Virginia longs to find a purpose beyond others' expectations. Helen is driven by a loneliness money can't fulfill. Rosa is desperate to flee her in-laws' rules. Jean hopes to prove herself in a man's world. Under the storm clouds of destruction that threaten America during the early 1940s, this unlikely gathering of women will experience life in sometimes starling new ways as their beliefs are challenged and they struggle toward a new understanding of what love and sacrifice truly mean.

My Review: This is one of my favorite books. This was actually a second read, I read it a few years ago and wanted to read it again. Now it's on my wish list so one day I'll maybe have it in my own personal library. The book follows the lives of four women who are very different from each other, and have each chosen to work in the shipyards for their own personal reasons. They become close friends and they begin to help each other through various difficulties in their lives. For instance, Ginny feels like she is unneeded and that her husband no longer loves her. She works in the factory without his knowledge or permission. Jean has a boyfriend back home who is pressuring her for marriage, but she has always dreamed of going to college first. Rosa feels extremely out of place in such a small town, and feels that everyone is expecting her to be someone other than who she is. Helen has had a harsh life with very little love, even though she never lacked money. She has never really had friends before, and finds herself being drawn into the other women's lives. There is a strain of religion in the book. Helen is struggling to even believe in God anymore, and Rosa is learning about God for the first time.

 Even though this book is rather long, it doesn't feel long at all. It's an easy read, and enjoyable too. I mentioned earlier that there is some violence. The book also deals a little bit with civil rights. The women try to get a black woman hired in the factory, and all hell breaks loose. The foreman is threatened and some violence happens in the shipyards against all those that sympathize with the black workers. It's not terribly graphic or anything, but it's there. It's a really great book, with a surprise towards the end about Helen's childhood love.

The main theme of the book is that women can be useful in places other than at home, and that's what I think the book is really aiming at, but I love it a lot anyway. it's a great, perfectly clean story.