For Love and Country
Lottie Palmer, daughter of a Detroit automobile magnate, has tried to be the perfect debutante, but the excesses of her social set make her queasy, especially when she thinks of her countrymen fighting overseas in WWII. Her imminent wedding to the kind, handsome, and wealthy Eugene fails to put a sparkle in her eye. Instead, what brings her joy is the chance to fix the car that breaks down on their way to visit her future in-laws. Lottie has been fascinated by engines since she was a child pestering the family mechanic to show her how to use a wrench. Thus, on the morning of her wedding, Lottie realizes that the life of a society wife is not for her, and she runs away to join the navy WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service).
This book is a page-turner. Lottie’s skills and hard work during her training lead her to the post of airplane mechanic at Pearl Harbor after the famous attack (I appreciated the novel’s historical focus on the lesser-known Battle of Iwo Jima rather than the attack on Pearl Harbor). Waters convincingly depicts the difficulties of Lottie’s position as the only woman mechanic in a group of tough men, and the technical details of her work are conveyed in a believable way. A little less believable are Lottie’s angry reactions to the praise and kindness from her instructor, Captain Luke Woodward. While it’s clear enough that her reactions are a form of resisting her attraction to him, her anger seems excessive at times. The dramatic, exciting ending requires some suspension of disbelief, but it’s a fitting showcase for Lottie’s mechanical skills. Recommended.
