Veterans, At War and At Home

In honor of Veteran's Day, here are some books that concern the experiences of men & women in war and at home after the war.

Ordinary Heroes by Scott Turow. Stewart Dubinsky plunges into the mystery of his family's secret history when he discovers his deceased father's wartime letters to his former fiancee, revealing his court-martial and imprisonment during World World II.

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan. In 1946, Laura McAllan tries to adjust after moving with her husband and two children to an isolated cotton farm in the Mississipi Delta. The experience of an African American soldier in Europe leads to the final tragedy.

No Graves as Yet by Anne Perry. First book in series. Set in England just before England joins WWI, Cambridge professor Joseph Reavley investigates the death of his parents in a motor accident. He and his sister and brother prepare for war. In the remaining books of the series, the siblings enter WWI, each in their own way. These books present a strong vision of the hardships of war, and of WWI in particular.

The Names of the Dead by Stuart O'Nan. At 34, Larry Markham seems to be going nowhere fast. The only people he can talk to are a group of disabled Vietnam vets whose gut-wrenching stories feed his imagination. Over and over he is brought back to 1968, to the jungles of Southeast Asia where, as a young medic he had to find a way to keep his platoon alive. But now, in the present, a more imminent danger arises, and his struggle to survive a deadly threat forces him to confront the battles that rage within him. (book summary)

Rules for Old Men Waiting by Peter Pouncey. A brief, lyrical novel with a powerful emotional charge, Rules for Old Men Waiting is about three wars of the twentieth century and an ever-deepening marriage. In a house on the Cape “older than the Republic,” Robert MacIver creates a list of rules by which to live out his last days. He invents a tale of the Great War, which prompts MacIver’s own memories of his role in World War II and of Vietnam, where his son, David served. Both the stories and the memories alike are lit by the vivid presence of Margaret, his wife. (from book summary)