I received a free copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads.
When men go to war and leave their wives, mothers, and daughters behind, what do the women do? How do they make it day to day while worrying about their loved ones? For Rita and Glory, they write letters to each other, though they have never met in person. Rita is a middle-aged woman with a husband, Sal, and a son, Toby, both fighting in World War II. She misses them desperately and is curious when a young woman starts coming around who knows Toby. Glory is a young wife in her twenties who has a son and a daughter to raise while her husband, Robert, is off at war. Her and Robert's best friend from childhood, Levi, is still around due to a heart problem. Levi helps Glory as much as possible, maybe for more than the sake of Robert. Told in the letters between the two women, this novel shows the strength of women and the friendships that they form.
This book was really moving. While it was a great piece of historical fiction, its primary focus was on the depth of the friendship these two women forged and how it helped them constantly. In each other, they found a listening ear (or paper) and someone who understood what the other was going through. Rita didn't have a daughter and Glory's mom had died, leaving them both with a role to fill. The plot is very smooth, though I did gasp out loud at one twist that broke my heart. The letters give such an interesting lens to see these characters, especially the secondary ones. Rita and Glory would often say they felt they knew the people in the other's life so well because they had already heard so much about them. When reading the letters, I felt that way too. It gave a wonderful life to the characters, all of whom could easily have existed during the time period.
Overall, this was an engaging and heartwarming tale. 4/5 stars.