Saving Mrs. Roosevelt
WWII Heroines
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5.0 • 4 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
The Safety of the First Lady Rests in Shirley’s Hands
Shirley Davenport is as much a patriot as her four brothers. She, too, wants to aid her country in the war efforts, but opportunities for women are limited. When her best friend Joan informs her that the Coast Guard has opened a new branch for single women, they both enlist in the SPARs, ready to help protect the home front.
Training is rigorous, and Shirley is disappointed that she and Joan are sent to separate training camps. At the end of basic training, Captain Webber commends her efforts and commissions her home to Maine under the ruse of a dishonorable discharge to help uncover a plot against the First Lady.
Shirley soon discovers nothing is as it seems. Who can she trust? Why do the people she loves want to harm the First Lady? With the help of Captain Webber, it’s a race against time to save Mrs. Roosevelt and remain alive.
Don’t miss these other stories about Heroines of WWII:
The Cryptographer’s Dilemma by Johnnie Alexander
Picture of Hope by Liz Tolsma
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in Maine, near Franklin Roosevelt's Campobello home, this intriguing installment in the Heroines of WWII series will appeal both to romantics and history buffs. Shirley Davenport, like her brothers, worked her father's lobster boat. Unlike them, she was sidelined when America entered WWII. They enlisted, and, anxious to do more than sew and write letters, Shirley jumps at the chance to join the SPARs, an all-female Coast Guard reserve unit, even though it means defying her father's wishes. During training, Shirley becomes attracted to Capt. Leo Webber (he of the voice like "butter and maple syrup" who also "studied his Bible as faithfully as he studied military tactics") and connects with Alma, a Black woman SPARS who faces prejudice within the unit. When threats against Eleanor Roosevelt's life are uncovered, the Coast Guard brass concoct a plan to invent an illicit relationship between Webber and Shirley, dishonorably discharge Shirley, and send her home undercover to ferret out the terrorists. Shirley endures her parents' disappointment and plenty of small-town gossip—and soon suspects her German-immigrant best friend's family may be involved in the plot against the first lady. Webber, meanwhile, is reassigned (Shirley "sent a prayer... that God would protect him, wherever he might be"), and Shirley finds support in Alma as foes are exposed and Webber returns to help win the day. Patterson brings in well-researched background on the SPARs without slowing the plot. It's a fun little escape.
