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Start giftingBand of Sisters
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“Willig’s Band of Sisters pulled me in and took me on a journey of complicated friendships that grew and matured in the midst of hardship and trial. Between mishaps with roosters, snowstorms, and reminders of the kindness and resilience of people, this historical fiction is a delight to read.”
— Laura DeLaney • Rediscovered Books
Bookseller recommendation
“I am so glad I decided to take a break from psychological thrillers and listen to this absolutely amazing work of historical fiction which was based on a true story. It is the story of the Smith College Relief Unit – a group of 18 young Smith alumni who go to France during WWI to try and bring relief, aid, food and caring to remote villages of women and children that were decimated by the Germans. Most of the Smith woman were from rich aristocratic families and had never even cooked their own meals much less try and help others. The tales of their trials and tribulations during such trying and dangerous times were funny, scary, heartwarming, heartbreaking and everything in between. I laughed out loud one moment and cried the next. It is an amazing story of women who are as much heroes as the men who went to war, a beautiful tale of friendship, and an intriguing look at wartime that I had never seen before. Made even more intriguing by the fact that many of the characters and events that happened were based on true stories found in journals and letters from Smith alumni. I loved the narrator and the way each chapter began with the voice of a different character reading a letter they had written home.”
— Nancy • Fiction Addiction
“With heart and humor, Willig explores the complexities of female friendships—feuds, forgiveness, and all. A touching portrait of triumph and found family in the midst of war. Bravo!”—Stephanie Dray, New York Times Bestselling author of America's First Daughter & The Women of Chateau Lafayette
A group of young women from Smith College risk their lives in France at the height of World War I in this sweeping novel based on a true story—a skillful blend of Call the Midwife and The Alice Network—from New York Times bestselling author Lauren Willig.
A scholarship girl from Brooklyn, Kate Moran thought she found a place among Smith’s Mayflower descendants, only to have her illusions dashed the summer after graduation. When charismatic alumna Betsy Rutherford delivers a rousing speech at the Smith College Club in April of 1917, looking for volunteers to help French civilians decimated by the German war machine, Kate is too busy earning her living to even think of taking up the call. But when her former best friend Emmeline Van Alden reaches out and begs her to take the place of a girl who had to drop out, Kate reluctantly agrees to join the new Smith College Relief Unit.
Four months later, Kate and seventeen other Smithies, including two trailblazing female doctors, set sail for France. The volunteers are armed with money, supplies, and good intentions—all of which immediately go astray. The chateau that was to be their headquarters is a half-burnt ruin. The villagers they meet are in desperate straits: women and children huddling in damp cellars, their crops destroyed and their wells poisoned.
Despite constant shelling from the Germans, French bureaucracy, and the threat of being ousted by the British army, the Smith volunteers bring welcome aid—and hope—to the region. But can they survive their own differences? As they cope with the hardships and terrors of the war, Kate and her colleagues find themselves navigating old rivalries and new betrayals which threaten the very existence of the Unit.
With the Germans threatening to break through the lines, can the Smith Unit pull together and be truly a band of sisters?
Lauren Willig is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of Band of Sisters and Two Wars and a Wedding, plus four popular historical novels cowritten with Beatriz Williams and Karen White. An alumna of Yale University, she has a graduate degree in history from Harvard and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. She lives in New York City with her husband, two young children, and lots and lots of coffee.