Blue stars : a novel /

*Starred Review* Ellen an English professor in Madison, Wisconsin; longtime widow, and Edith Wharton expert would never have met Lacey, a personal trainer with a wild streak, living just outside New York City, if men in their lives hadn't gone to war in Iraq. Shocked and frightened when Mike, whom Ellen took in when he was a homeless teen, joins the marines, she comes undone when she learns that her tempestuous, 19-year-old, activist daughter is pregnant. Lacey, a single mother, married army officer Eddie in the hope of a more stable life, but instead she is lonely and still poor. When Mike and Eddie are seriously injured, they end up at Walter Reed Hospital, where Ellen and Lacey, characters of gratifying moxie and complexity, find themselves struggling with fear, sorrow, upheaval, infuriating bureaucracy, and deplorable accommodations. Tedrowe (Commuters, 2010), a deeply perceptive observer of family dynamics complicated by social and moral concerns, offers staggering insights into the struggles of military families and the ghastly conditions at Walter Reed that erupted into scandal in 2007. Tedrowe's sensitive parsing of questions of loyalty, honor, and sacrifice illuminates the wrenching conflicts inherent in women's lives and a nation at war with a clear, searching light and pinpoint humor, resulting in an enormously affecting novel guaranteed to generate much thought and discussion.--Seaman, Donna Copyright 2015 Booklist

Tedrowe (Commuters) explores the life of military women, both mothers and wives, in this emotional novel. When military wife Lacey's husband, Eddie, is sent to Iraq, she knows to lean on her military wife friends for support. But university professor Ellen is a different story. After formally adopting Mike, her son's friend who had a terrible home life, she has grown to love him as her own. When Mike joins the military, it is far out of Ellen's bailiwick. The novel picks up steam when both Eddie and Mike are injured and sent to Walter Reed Army Hospital in DC to recuperate. Both Ellen and Lacey drop everything at home and leave their lives behind, focusing only on helping their soldiers heal. This is an incredibly difficult task, and Tedrowe beautifully illustrates the intense, complicated process. Based on a true story of the poor facilities at Walter Reed, the novel conveys the stress and hopelessness of both women's situations. But as they become friends and their families become entwined, we see the beauty of a female friendship that can truly heal wounds. VERDICT A deep look into the strain of being a military wife and mother and the power of women and their emotional bonds. [See Prepub Alert, 8/18/14.]-Beth Gibbs, Davidson, NC (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A penetrating novel about the Iraq War's inevitable collateral damagethe lives of the mothers and wives left behind. In 2005, Ellen Silverman barely registers the war in Iraq, ensconced in her ivory tower, working on her beloved Edith Wharton novels. But then Mike joins up. Mike Cacciarelli is her ward, a wayward kid who found a family and a legal guardianship with Ellen. Her son, Wes, is at college, and her high school daughter, Jane, is finding herself (blonde dreadlocks, fighting for causes), so Ellen is snobbishly shocked that a boy half-raised in her bookish house would enlist. The novel's second strand follows Lacey Diaz, married to Ed, a major in the Army Reserve on his second deployment. She knows their marriage is a mistakestraight-laced Ed sneers at Lacey's wild sidebut the union offered a stepfather for her son, stability, respect. While Mike is away, Ellen writes letters about pride and fear, sending him books on the absurdity of war. But then he's injured, sent home with a missing leg, and Ellen is devastated. While Ed's away, Lacey begins an affair with Jim, a good guy from the old neighborhood who loves her any way she comes. Then Ed is sent back, blind and brain injured; Lacey knows this is punishment for her adultery. The harrowing second half of the novel takes place at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where Ellen and Lacey find themselves unlikely comrades in arms, negotiating the bureaucracy and sheer terror of their situation, the physical therapy and PTSD, and a future they don't want to think about. Tedrowe's examination of military families is honest and nuanced, and she manages to wrestle some kind of equanimity for the flawed heroes of her tale. As more stories about Iraq appear, novels like Tedrowe's, focused on the home front, will be a valuable contribution to our understanding of the war. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.