Genre Fiction
![Luis Alberto Urrea - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B001HCXBH4.jpg)
Good Night, Irene: A Novel
This "powerful, uplifting, and deeply personal novel" (Kristin Hannah, #1 NYT bestselling author of The Four Winds), at once "a heart-wrenching wartime drama" (Christina Baker Kline, #1 NYT bestselling author of Orphan Train) and "a moving and graceful tribute to heroic women" (Publishers Weekly, starred review), asks the question: What if a friendship forged on the front lines of war defines a life forever?
In the tradition of The Nightingale and Transcription, this is a searing epic based on the magnificent and true story of courageous Red Cross women.
"Urrea's touch is sure, his exuberance carries you through . . . He is a generous writer, not just in his approach to his craft but in the broader sense of what he feels necessary to capture about life itself." -Financial Times
In 1943, Irene Woodward abandons an abusive fiancé in New York to enlist with the Red Cross and head to Europe. She makes fast friends in training with Dorothy Dunford, a towering Midwesterner with a ferocious wit. Together they are part of an elite group of women, nicknamed Donut Dollies, who command military vehicles called Clubmobiles at the front line, providing camaraderie and a taste of home that may be the only solace before troops head into battle.
After D-Day, these two intrepid friends join the Allied soldiers streaming into France. Their time in Europe will see them embroiled in danger, from the Battle of the Bulge to the liberation of Buchenwald. Through her friendship with Dorothy, and a love affair with a courageous 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 intact.
Taking 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 powerfully demonstrates yet again that Urrea's "gifts as a storyteller are prodigious" (NPR).
In the tradition of The Nightingale and Transcription, this is a searing epic based on the magnificent and true story of courageous Red Cross women.
"Urrea's touch is sure, his exuberance carries you through . . . He is a generous writer, not just in his approach to his craft but in the broader sense of what he feels necessary to capture about life itself." -Financial Times
In 1943, Irene Woodward abandons an abusive fiancé in New York to enlist with the Red Cross and head to Europe. She makes fast friends in training with Dorothy Dunford, a towering Midwesterner with a ferocious wit. Together they are part of an elite group of women, nicknamed Donut Dollies, who command military vehicles called Clubmobiles at the front line, providing camaraderie and a taste of home that may be the only solace before troops head into battle.
After D-Day, these two intrepid friends join the Allied soldiers streaming into France. Their time in Europe will see them embroiled in danger, from the Battle of the Bulge to the liberation of Buchenwald. Through her friendship with Dorothy, and a love affair with a courageous 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 intact.
Taking 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 powerfully demonstrates yet again that Urrea's "gifts as a storyteller are prodigious" (NPR).
Editorial Reviews
"For soldiers mired in despair and scarred, both emotionally and physically, the sounds of these women's American voices, the silly talent shows they sometimes led and the casual conversations they initiated lent a sense of normalcy and offered a brief respite from the surreal nightmare they were living . . . The magic of these brief encounters is captured beautifully in Good Night, Irene . . . With each turn of the page, a feeling builds that Urrea is on his own quest, a decades-long journey to fill in the blanks of a period in his family history that his mother - struggling with undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder - did not want to revisit . . . Urrea has a gift for writing heart-pounding action scenes that are also lyrical."
―Washington Post
"In Good Night, Irene, Urrea pays moving tribute to his mother and her Clubmobile comrades whose wartime service was largely forgotten because, even though they sometimes served under fire, they merely staffed what was called the "chow-and-charm circuit." . . . As befits a contemporary war novel, Good Night, Irene is morally nuanced: It doesn't turn away from scenes of random violence inflicted by our "boys" and it also acknowledges the traumas endured by many who served and survived. Maybe, in Good Night, Irene, Urrea has written yet another powerful "border story" after all: this time about the border between those who live in blessed ignorance of the worst humankind can do and those who keep that knowledge to themselves, often locked in silence."
―NPR
"In the story of the Clubmobile Corps . . . Urrea finds the historical novelist's gold: an empty space within a well-trodden time period in which to invent a story. He wears his extensive research lightly, but his immersion in the existing documentation is clear . . . a master storyteller."―New York Times Book Review
"Good Night, Irene paints a touching portrait of female friendship and valor in wartime."―Time
"Urrea bends a fertile bough from his own family tree in Good Night Irene, a sweeping novel loosely based on his mo...
―Washington Post
"In Good Night, Irene, Urrea pays moving tribute to his mother and her Clubmobile comrades whose wartime service was largely forgotten because, even though they sometimes served under fire, they merely staffed what was called the "chow-and-charm circuit." . . . As befits a contemporary war novel, Good Night, Irene is morally nuanced: It doesn't turn away from scenes of random violence inflicted by our "boys" and it also acknowledges the traumas endured by many who served and survived. Maybe, in Good Night, Irene, Urrea has written yet another powerful "border story" after all: this time about the border between those who live in blessed ignorance of the worst humankind can do and those who keep that knowledge to themselves, often locked in silence."
―NPR
"In the story of the Clubmobile Corps . . . Urrea finds the historical novelist's gold: an empty space within a well-trodden time period in which to invent a story. He wears his extensive research lightly, but his immersion in the existing documentation is clear . . . a master storyteller."―New York Times Book Review
"Good Night, Irene paints a touching portrait of female friendship and valor in wartime."―Time
"Urrea bends a fertile bough from his own family tree in Good Night Irene, a sweeping novel loosely based on his mo...
Readers Top Reviews
bamcooks
*4.5 stars rounded up. 'Women are called upon to piece the broken world together.' Irene Woodward decides on the spur of a moment in October, 1943, to leave her cushy life in NY, as well as her rather abusive fiancé, to join the American Red Cross Corp on the 'chow and charm circuit.' These volunteers will be sent to the front lines in groups of threes to run clubmobiles from which they will pass out freshly made donuts and coffee to the GIs. But most importantly, to smile and flirt and keep up the men's morale. Irene is joined by Dorothy, a 6'2" Indiana farm girl who is more interested in driving the vehicle than cooking. The third on their team is Ellie from Chicago who quickly decides this life is not for her after a few glimpses of the realities of war. So Irene (Gator) and Dorothy (Stretch) have to carry on short-handed for most of their stint of duty. I knew little of what these Red Cross volunteers did during the war so this story was quite eye opening. These women were definitely heroes. They learn life lessons and grow as people, fall in love, and suffer losses, but for the most part, keep smiling. The author found a way to make the ending the best part of the novel. Just loved it! I received an arc of this novel from the author and publisher via NetGalley. Many thanks. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.
Nancy Adair
I fell in love with these characters from the start for their wit and spunk, the deep friendships they create, their bravery and sacrifice. I suffered with them, I cried for them, and I rejoiced with them. This novel shares all the characteristics of my favorite books. Good story telling, wonderfully drawn characters filled with wit and charm, an unflinching observation of tragedy and suffering, and an ending that gave me joy. Well-off New York socialite Irene escapes an abusive fiancé by enlisting in the Red Cross to become a Donut Dollie, serving coffee and donuts on the front lines in Europe during WWII. She is paired with Dorothy, a Mid-Western farm girl who is a blond Amazon, and although an unlikely pair, they forge a deep bond. Just as the men in combat will do anything for the men beside them, these women’s bond is forged in war. From pastoral England and London to trench warfare in France and Belgium, and finally deep into Germany, the girls run the clubmobile, keeping the boys’ spirits up, offering a reminder of home and country. Thousands of men pass through their lives, and they smile and flirt until their cheeks hurt, pouring cup after cup of coffee until their arms ache. The appreciative men send them letters of thanks. Dorothy is fond of Smitty, half her height. Irene falls for a Western fighter pilot, ‘Hans. In England, the girls lived in posh hotels or quaint thatched-roofed cottages. After D-Day, they follow the men to the continent. At the front, their lives are in danger. War’s realities are all around them. The deprivation. The death. The civilian losses. The fear. The death camps. The carrying on, doing their duty. What she experiences enrages Dorothy, who ensnares Irene in a scheme that changes their lives. Women who volunteer to go to war have always experienced the same trauma as the combatant soldiers. We don’t often read about their experience and sacrifice. Urrea was inspired by his mother who had served in the Red Cross during WWII. What a wonderful tribute he has offered to these women. I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
Likestotravel
Good Night Irene is a lovely historical fiction book about a little-known part of WWII involving the Donut Dollies. The action and brutality are fierce in this depiction as well as the love, passion and regret.. Luis Alberto Urrea has crafted a beautiful story of friendship. Thanks to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the opportunity to read this ARC.
