August 14, 2023
The underbaked latest from Kingsbury (Someone Like You) centers on a headstrong American spy and the love triangle she negotiates amid the rising panic of WWII. When both are 12, Hank Myers promises to marry his neighbor Irvel Holland someday. Ten years later, in 1941, the two have yet to seriously date, and Irvel is instead going out with Hank’s good-hearted brother Sam. But when Sam enlists in the Army after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he and Irvel break up. Irvel and Hank stay home in Bloomington, Ind., to teach at the local high school, and an undeniable attraction simmers between them, though they’re reluctant to act on their feelings. Before long, math whiz Irvel is recruited by the Office of Strategic Services and begins posing as a nurse on a Navy ship while working as a code breaker, Sam and Hank join the fighting in the Pacific theater, and all three rely on their faith to survive and make it back home, where Irvel and Hank hope to be together. Presented in a series of frame stories—Irvel’s history is discovered by her granddaughter in a series of tapes—the novel is light on historical substance and heavy on melodrama, often abetted by trite dialogue (“I don’t know what happens next,” Hank declares at one point. “I just know... I can’t live without you”). This has heart, but it’s not enough to save the story from falling frustratingly flat.
September 15, 2023
Kingsbury's latest (after The Baxters, 2022) tells the story of Irvel Holland, a young woman who worked as a spy during WWII, and Hank, a soldier during that same war, and the singular love that drew them together all their lives. Irvel, who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, has six months before the disease ravages her brain so badly that she forgets everything--and everyone--important in her life. With Hank's help, she records her memories, including those of her time serving in the war, thereby revealing the secret that she has kept from her entire family. Her granddaughter, Audra, a professor, decides to write of her grandmother's experiences, giving her relative the honor and thanks she deserves. In a novel that is part romance, part historical text, and part Christian fiction, Kingsbury tells the story of two average people from Bloomington, Indiana, who do extraordinary things together and apart during an extraordinary time, supported by their families and their faith throughout their entire lives.
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November 1, 2023
Irvel Holland Myers has Alzheimer's. Soon she'll forget everything, but one thing she doesn't want to lose is memories of her love of a lifetime, Hank Myers. Hank buys a video camera, and they begin recording their recollections of how they met in middle school, how Irvel almost married Hank's brother instead, and how they both served their country in World War II. The tapes reveal family secrets too, like that Irvel wasn't a nurse for the navy--she was actually a top-secret codebreaker and spy. From the small towns of Indiana to the battlefields of the Pacific, Irvel and Hank explore what it means to serve God and country. VERDICT Reminiscent of timeless romantic tales such as The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks and Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller; librarians should hand this to fans of closed-door romance. While Kingsbury is best known for her long-running "Baxter Family" series, her stand-alones showcase her range as a writer, and her first foray into historical fiction is a fast and worthwhile read.
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