This program will take place in the meetin g room.
\nThis month we will be reading \;Good Night\, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea.
\nIn the tradition of \;The Nightin gale \;and \;Transcription\, \;an exhilarating World War II ep ic that chronicles an extraordinary young woman's heroic frontline service in the Red Cross.
\nIn 1943\, Irene Woodward abandons an abusive fi ancé\; in New York to enlist with the Red Cross and head to Europe. She makes fast friends in training with Dorothy Dunford\, a towering Midwe sterner with a ferocious wit. Together they are part of an elite group of women\, nicknamed Donut Dollies\, who command military buses called Clubmo biles at the front line\, providing camaraderie and a taste of home that m ay be the only solace before troops head into battle.
\nAfter D-Day\ , these two intrepid friends join the Allied soldiers streaming into Franc e. Their time in Europe will see them embroiled in danger\, from the Battl e of the Bulge to the liberation of Buchenwald. Through her friendship wit h Dorothy\, and a love affair with a gallant American fighter pilot named Hans\, Irene learns to trust again. Her most fervent hope\, which becomes more precarious by the day\, is for all three of them to survive the war i ntact.
\nTaking as inspiration his mother's own Red Cross service\, Luis Alberto Urrea has delivered an overlooked story of women's heroism in World War II. With its affecting and uplifting portrait of friendship and valor in harrowing circumstances\, \;Good Night\, Irene \;powerfu lly demonstrates yet again that Urrea's "gifts as a storyteller are prodig ious" (NPR).
\n\n