So- with the new year, I promised myself, that even if I didn't love the book choice at my local public library, I was going to try out Book Club, so I could maybe meet a few more readers in my community.
Hence:
Why would I say this? Well, it encompasses a time in history that easier to talk about than our current times, and is a topic that's bound to interest woman (as more women attend book clubs than men...) and thus it's one that people can pretty safely discuss without anyone feeling a need to throw hands over a book. (except maybe me).
Upon finding it available in Audiobook format from my library, I decided to at least TRY.
I did enjoy the novel. Chiaverini follows the journey of Switchboard operators who were recruited to operate the switchboards installed across Europe during World War One.
I had not thought much about switchboards at all, and so I definitely learned quite a bit about these, the operators and their role in the eventual victory. Learning about their training, deployment and service was engaging and interesting. I do wish I had skipped the book and just read this shorter article, which gave me the same information in 1-2 pages.
Why a 3.25 rating? Chiaverini falls into a trap that almost all historical fiction seems to dip into, or fall *SPLAT* into. She admittedly "made up" a few characters, and these are the characters that she has discussing segregation in the Army, with of course, the characters being flatly against it. I didn't find any information about Signal Girls championing racial equality during WW1 (it might be there but it is not easily accessible) and it's telling that these more progressive ideas of equality are espoused by the fictional character, and not pulled from the research done on the non-fictional persons featured in this book.
Why is this harmful? I'm not sure it's harmful, but it gives the reader a pretend idea about who was serving. While it makes the characters more relatable and likable to the modern reader, it sort of allows the reader to not confront the issue, as after all their character just spouted some views from 1982! Unfortunately it is indeed possible to be a pioneering first woman in the Army and be indifferent to the racial segregation that also occurred at the same time. While I am sure some women were against this, a quick search revealed there is no evidence that this was an issue that consumed their time. Though possibly the author came across a small diary entry or two? But then wouldnt she have attributed that to the diarist, not her fictional woman?
I did find the women to be pretty "cool" over all, especially given the historical time, and it led me to wonder what I would have done if I had lived in 1918. I could have done without the modern values overlaying the historic setting, in spite of the cool factor of these ladies.
But, this is not a Chiaverini problem. It's the main reason I don't read a lot of historical fiction. A bunch of the story is fiction, with some historical facts and settings used, and in the end it all feels sort of weird because the main characters in most historical fiction are always - it seems- "perfect" Even today we can probably think of neighbors and friends who support one societal change, but ignore another.
My second issue with the book was that basically everyone seemed to be quite chummy and all conflicts alluded to were resolved fully and amicably. And Again, 1918 or not... this is not the way the world works. I felt nostalgic all of a sudden for a world of work where everyone respected each other, but then, I remembered this is fiction!
So... read at your own risk. I think it's been widely enjoyed by most. I'm going to TRY to go to Book club discussion this week, and I promise to stick to my amazement at the sheer number of phone operators they found who were fluent in French and English!
Do you know a Historical Fiction novel that doesn't fall into the pitfall of ascribing modern belief systems over a historic veneer? Please- recommend me a book!!!!
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