Soldier Girls
The Battles of Three Women at Home and at W
The Battles of Three Women at Home
and at Wa
From an award-winning, “meticulously
observant” (The New Yorker), and “masterful” (Booklist) writer
comes a groundbreaking account of three women deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq,
and how their military service affected their friendship, their personal lives,
and their families.
America has been continuously at war since the fall of 2001. This has been a
matter of bitter political debate, of course, but what is uncontestable is that
a sizeable percentage of American soldiers sent overseas in this era have been
women. The experience in the American military is, it’s safe to say, quite
different from that of men. Surrounded and far outnumbered by men, imbedded in
a male culture, looked upon as both alien and desirable, women have experiences
of special interest.
In Soldier Girls, Helen Thorpe follows the lives of three women over
twelve years on their paths to the military, overseas to combat, and back
home…and then overseas again for two of them. These women, who are quite different
in every way, become friends, and we watch their interaction and also what
happens when they are separated. We see their families, their lovers, their
spouses, their children. We see them work extremely hard, deal with the
attentions of men on base and in war zones, and struggle to stay connected to
their families back home. We see some of them drink too much, have illicit
affairs, and react to the deaths of fellow soldiers. And we see what happens to
one of them when the truck she is driving hits an explosive in the road,
blowing it up. She survives, but her life may never be the same again.
From an award-winning, “meticulously observant” (The New Yorker), and “masterful” (Booklist)
writer comes a groundbreaking account of three women deployed to
Afghanistan and Iraq, and how their military service affected their
friendship, their personal lives, and their families.
America has
been continuously at war since the fall of 2001. This has been a matter
of bitter political debate, of course, but what is uncontestable is
that a sizeable percentage of American soldiers sent overseas in this
era have been women. The experience in the American military is, it’s
safe to say, quite different from that of men. Surrounded and far
outnumbered by men, imbedded in a male culture, looked upon as both
alien and desirable, women have experiences of special interest.
In Soldier Girls,
Helen Thorpe follows the lives of three women over twelve years on
their paths to the military, overseas to combat, and back home…and then
overseas again for two of them. These women, who are quite different in
every way, become friends, and we watch their interaction and also what
happens when they are separated. We see their families, their lovers,
their spouses, their children. We see them work extremely hard, deal
with the attentions of men on base and in war zones, and struggle to
stay connected to their families back home. We see some of them drink
too much, have illicit affairs, and react to the deaths of fellow
soldiers. And we see what happens to one of them when the truck she is
driving hits an explosive in the road, blowing it up. She survives, but
her life may never be the same again.
Deeply reported, beautifully written, and powerfully moving, Soldier Girls
is truly groundbreaking. - See more at:
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Soldier-Girls/Helen-Thorpe/9781451668100?style=true&style=true#sthash.fW3JrIs6.dpuf
From an award-winning, “meticulously observant” (The New Yorker), and “masterful” (Booklist)
writer comes a groundbreaking account of three women deployed to
Afghanistan and Iraq, and how their military service affected their
friendship, their personal lives, and their families.
America has
been continuously at war since the fall of 2001. This has been a matter
of bitter political debate, of course, but what is uncontestable is
that a sizeable percentage of American soldiers sent overseas in this
era have been women. The experience in the American military is, it’s
safe to say, quite different from that of men. Surrounded and far
outnumbered by men, imbedded in a male culture, looked upon as both
alien and desirable, women have experiences of special interest.
In Soldier Girls,
Helen Thorpe follows the lives of three women over twelve years on
their paths to the military, overseas to combat, and back home…and then
overseas again for two of them. These women, who are quite different in
every way, become friends, and we watch their interaction and also what
happens when they are separated. We see their families, their lovers,
their spouses, their children. We see them work extremely hard, deal
with the attentions of men on base and in war zones, and struggle to
stay connected to their families back home. We see some of them drink
too much, have illicit affairs, and react to the deaths of fellow
soldiers. And we see what happens to one of them when the truck she is
driving hits an explosive in the road, blowing it up. She survives, but
her life may never be the same again.
Deeply reported, beautifully written, and powerfully moving, Soldier Girls
is truly groundbreaking. - See more at:
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Soldier-Girls/Helen-Thorpe/9781451668100?style=true&style=true#sthash.fW3JrIs6.dpuf
From an award-winning, “meticulously observant” (The New Yorker), and “masterful” (Booklist)
writer comes a groundbreaking account of three women deployed to
Afghanistan and Iraq, and how their military service affected their
friendship, their personal lives, and their families.
America has
been continuously at war since the fall of 2001. This has been a matter
of bitter political debate, of course, but what is uncontestable is
that a sizeable percentage of American soldiers sent overseas in this
era have been women. The experience in the American military is, it’s
safe to say, quite different from that of men. Surrounded and far
outnumbered by men, imbedded in a male culture, looked upon as both
alien and desirable, women have experiences of special interest.
In Soldier Girls,
Helen Thorpe follows the lives of three women over twelve years on
their paths to the military, overseas to combat, and back home…and then
overseas again for two of them. These women, who are quite different in
every way, become friends, and we watch their interaction and also what
happens when they are separated. We see their families, their lovers,
their spouses, their children. We see them work extremely hard, deal
with the attentions of men on base and in war zones, and struggle to
stay connected to their families back home. We see some of them drink
too much, have illicit affairs, and react to the deaths of fellow
soldiers. And we see what happens to one of them when the truck she is
driving hits an explosive in the road, blowing it up. She survives, but
her life may never be the same again.
Deeply reported, beautifully written, and powerfully moving, Soldier Girls
is truly groundbreaking. - See more at:
http://books.simonandschuster.com/Soldier-Girls/Helen-Thorpe/9781451668100?style=true&style=true#sthash.fW3JrIs6.dpuf
