Sometimes the prompt for the
monthly blog stumps me, and I’m forced to ruminate for a few days before
settling on the best theme and angle. With this one, I immediately knew how I
would approach it. You see, both my heroines and I know a bit about marching to
the beat of a different drummer.
The Red
Cross recruited extraordinary and accomplished women for overseas assignments.
Even though the Red Cross eventually deployed nearly 6,000 women overseas during
WWII and the occupation years, they had exacting standards for potential
recruits. Only one in six applicants was successful in the application and
interview process. Marked not only by higher education and professional
experience than most women of the era possessed, the women selected by the Red
Cross also possessed some or all of the following attributes in some
measure: poise, charm, good conversational skills, self-assurance,
independence, ingenuity, adaptability, stamina, and creativity. Even in the
early days of the war, the Red Cross knew they needed self-starters who could
draw on a range of varied life experience to do unprecedented work. 
The women who
served as Red Cross Girls were exceptional and ahead of their time. One Red
Cross Girl writing back to one of her training instructors from Europe said,
“Some fellas think we’re brave, but we really don’t know enough to be scared.
Some think we’d be better off at home, where a woman’s place used to be . . .
about 200 years ago.” I think most of us probably find it astonishing that this 1940s woman viewed the women-as-only-homemakers model as an outdated norm. For some of these women then, the war presented another
way to break free of the strictures imposed back home. Based on memoirs, many of them did go on to start or continue a successful career outside
the home, whether they married or remained single.
Their unique
qualities didn’t shield them entirely from fear or from experiencing profound
anxiety, stress, and war-weary despair. The same woman writing to her teacher
noted: “Red Cross hasn’t done badly at all in picking personnel. Working here
is what you’ve been all your life, but disciplined and worn down smooth, so
that you smile when you’re dying.”
While they could
request a transfer back to the United States after serving two years overseas,
most of them felt a duty to continue on in their assignments. They had signed
on for the duration after all, and they meant to see that through. Imagine
being a young woman serving overseas near the front lines in France or Germany
or on a bomber base in Guadalcanal or working on a train traversing Burma or
Iran or at a cold and desolate station in Iceland. They had such courage,
didn’t they?
So, I promised
that I had something in common with my heroines, but I have to confess, I’m not
sure I would have had the guts to do what they did. Sometimes when lying awake
at night and thinking about a scene, I’m struck by the astonishing leap of
faith it must have taken for them to board a troopship with destination
unknown, duration unknown, dangers unknown, and even more by the courage it
must have taken to stick it out.
But writing their
stories is my own way of marching to the beat of a different drummer, for the
industry professionals all said that WWII couldn’t sell as romance. Sure, there
are WWII stories within Christian inspirational romance, and there are
certainly plenty of mainstream historical fiction novels set during WWII
(though the industry again says that too is glutted and out of fashion). I’m in uncharted waters to a large degree – though my novels are written with
traditional romance novel beats and the expected HEA, they incorporate the
serious historical research of mainstream historical fiction with a few hot and
steamy interludes. Marketing has been a challenge, but reader enthusiasm tells
me I’m on the right track. In any event, I’m living the maxim of writing what
you love, and it is certainly making me happy.
Learn
more about me and my writing on my website,
and you can also find me on Facebook,
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You can purchase my debut novel
through the links below.
5 comments:
Eleri, your posts about the Red Cross's Clubmobile Girls inspire me. Love that there were women in that time period whose goals were not necessarily to be a wife, mother, homemaker, etc. While my Aunt Ruth was not a Red Cross girl, she did remain single until her late 30's when she married a Native American man she'd known for years. She lived away from home (4 hours with an interstate and most likely a full days drive before it was built). Another aunt did volunteer at Red Cross events and she married a military man. My mom and her sister were a bit more traditional with my mom being the most traditional in that she only went to college two years because she'd met my dad and he proposed...no point in continuing on and getting a degree. I know she regretted that although she did not regret marrying my dad.
Great post, Eleri. I admire the Red Cross ladies, too. And I applaud you for writing what you love. I'm not surprised you have found readers--your books are on my to-be-read list. :-)
I love that you write WWII Historical Romances, Eleri. It's a period in history that's imperative for people to understand and remember. How better to teach history than through universal experiences, like falling in love?
The petebees (power-that-bes) have been denigrating WWII fiction for a long time, yet it persists. Good for you in following your heart. I think it is a time that deserves a lot more exposure. People who lived through WWII are few and far between now, as are those who heard the stories from those who lived through it.
I loved this description of a red cross woman: "Even in the early days of the war, the Red Cross knew they needed self-starters who could draw on a range of varied life experience to do unprecedented work."
That is the description of a great writer as well--self-starter who can draw on a range of life experiences to do unprecedented work. So keep it up!
Thank you so much ladies!
Maggie - I really just don't understand why the industry continues to think that the WWII market is saturated or non-existent. I've loved reading fiction set in that time period my entire life!
Judith -- yes, these women who worked for the Red Cross definitely marched to the beat of a different drummer. Two of my mother's aunts worked in Washington DC during the war and then transferred to Germany in 1945/1946. One of them stayed a couple of years and got married to an American soldier, while the other stayed in Germany for nearly 10 years before returning to the US. Perhaps I got the germ of an idea by listening to their stories when I was younger, who knows.
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