Lawhon, McMorris, and Meissner: When We Had Wings

By Kelly Bridgewater

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

The Philippines, 1941. When US Navy nurse Eleanor Lindstrom, US 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 US military and the Japanese Imperial 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, they 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.

 

My Thoughts:

When We Had Wings by Ariel Lawhon, Kristian McMoriss, and Susan Meissner is a unique story set in the Pacific War during World War II. The story is told from three friends who are nurses as they face the military might of the Japanese army. Most World War II stories are set in Europe, so it was a nice change to see the war from a different perspective. The realistic elements of the war waging all around the characters rang true and horrific to the story. The heroines were wanting a little adventure when the story began, but as the story progressed, much more adventure awaited each individual woman. The writing is realistic, gritty, and horrifying. I had no issues with seeing what was happening. It was nice to put the characters in a realistic situation and show their real emotions as they deal with the horrors of what was happening around them. As for any romance, there was a slight thread, but nothing that took away from the horrors of the war and bombs flying everywhere. While the story is different and unique, the plot read like a documentary. Kind of dry with facts after facts listed. I had a really hard time staying focused as I read the plot. Wanted more personal fictionalized storyline to the story. Overall, When We Had Wings by Lawhon, McMorris, and Meisnner pictured a Pacific World War II story with plenty of realistic images, but I found majority of the story dry and did not capture my attention.

I received a complimentary copy of When We Had Wings by Ariel Lawhon, Kristina McMoriss, and Susan Meissner from Harper Muse Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating:   4 out of 5 stars

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