Sisters in Arms: A Novel of the Daring Black Women Who Served During World War II
By: Kaia Alderson / Narrated By: Shayna Small
Length: 11 hrs and 8 mins
You looking for recognition and celebration of the “Six Triple Eight”s? Jeeeez…
Dude! Altho’ I’m an unabashed lover/listener of Historical/Regency Romances? I gotta admit that, uhm, well, this is kinda embarrassing -BUT- I dooo like Chick Lit as well…
I KNOW! Right?!?
Soooo, when I saw the cover in Sisters in Arms (Which quite simply shrieeeeks Chick Lit), and it’s Black History Month, oh my how I shouted a mighty Huzzah to the Audiobook gods: 2-in-1 -AND- the Chick Lit inclusion of a Black author! Plus? War women; what’s NOT to love?!
Uhm, let’s start with this book, shall we? DEFinitely a lot not to love here…
At first, I was quite engaged: One of our heroines, Grace, is failing miserably at her Juilliard audition (Her family juuuust got the dreaded telegram about her brother!), and she hightails it outta the place, completely in tears. But can she go back to her home, with her domineering mother who wants to live vicariously through her daughter? Nope; and Grace is off to join up in the Army. Our second heroine is Eliza, stuck in the Society section of her, again: domineering, father’s newspaper. A phone call from THE woman leading the charge for Black women in the Army (A chum of Eleanor Roosevelt) has her mulling over the application she was sent. Sooo, when the big scoop of a story she wrote is printed in Dad’s newspaper, with Dad taking credit for it? Over! Done! Finito! And off to enlist she goes.
What started out as interesting, such as Grace, so raw and unsure, but soon navigating by finding the rhythm of places? Neat! And that maaaybe Eliza is NOT a pampered pet, a princess but is feisty (And who’s Mom might ALSO be feisty)? Awesome! Top it off with immediate racism faced as the two enlist? Throw in what is SURE to be fascinating history? Let’s gooooo!!!
Screeeeech! Brakes slammed!
Bickering, petty slights, immediate love interest for Grace who, someway, somehow, not only turns out to NOT be learning as she goes but is inHERently courageous with a spine made of steel (And who is soon dubbed “a bitch” by Eliza, and rightly so)? And Eliza being aaaaalll spunky and outspoken but then fainting at the drop of a hat (Tho’ to be fair, Grace is the first of any of the women to faint)? Jeez…
When the two begin to FINally stop sniping at each other and start working as a unit is comPLETEly turned on its head when, in fatigue, Grace FAILS to tell Eliza where-all is safe for a Negro person to go at her upcoming train station spot. Naturally things go horribly awry and the once jaunty Eliza is beaten to within an inch of her life. That done, back to Grace, horrified that she forgot to warn her friend; she’s frantic! outta control! oops! love interest: And then she TOTALLY forgets about her friend and is off to D.C. with the man who, with a touch to one of her curls, makes her swoon… right outta conveniently remembering a friendship, an obligation to another Black woman, and it’s onto a vaaaast length of romantic hours.
And Eliza? … traumatized…! And holding onto a certain, natural, rage. Until she’s not and comPLETEly forgives Grace whilst in a vulnerable moment. But does that stop the two from grousing ENDlessly at each other for HOURS here? Noooo, and does author Kaia Alderson EVER get around to the history of determined Black women who finally get to go overseas, gamely and efficiently dealing with yeeeears of backlogged mail, hangars of it, within 3 months? Baaaarely.
Instead, and I shan’t spoil anything but shall only add that Grace mucks up completely and irrefutably but holds Eliza responsible for choices she herself made. Of course, Eliza feels so very guilty, and of COURSE HER love interest helps her out. Dude! >yaaaaawning< so very much could not stop me from wanting to throttle these dips. And trust me, after hitting Wikipedia for the ACTual story of the 6888th, I sore-well wanted to throttle the author also.
Shayna Small does spot-on intonations for sisters totally and perpetually at war with each other. Does spot-on intonations for men who are cardboard cutout characters (Complete with low raspy voices… which sound vaaaaguely the same… hmmm… Ah well, they basically WERE the Same Dude…). Does spot-on voices, complete with rich sincerity for the characters who were based on true historical figures from this time, and had me admiring THEM, looking them up as well.
But all in all? The history of the 6888th, what there was of it at the verrrrry end, had this stopping short of being most unceremoniously chucked into the I Want My Hours Back category, but man oh man, not by much.
I have a feeling that Alderson drew exteeeeensively on the 1996 history by the name of “To Serve My Country, to Serve My Race” by Brenda L. Moore. There WERE actual people in this story, some of their actual words are served up here. But OY! The Creative License, the crafting of these two bombastic and laaaame numbskulls…!
Shoulda gotten m’ Chick Lit Ya-Ya’s out with all the swooning in this; alas, it kinda made me hope the German U-Boats had ended this by being able to preciiiiiiisely sink… just Grace and Eliza…
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