I love it when historical fiction takes a little-known piece of history and builds an entire story around it. And that's exactly what happens in this story. After her brother is killed in WWI, Ruby applies to become a "Hello girl"—a switchboard operator on the front lines, responsible not only for connecting calls in a high-pressure environment, but also for translating those calls between French and English. The pressure, the trials, the camaraderie—it all came through so vividly in this story. And I was shocked to learn that these women didn't get official recognition for their service until 1979!

Ruby's personal story was a little less original. As the only daughter in a prominent Philadelphia family, she's engaged to be married to an equally prominent son at the opening of the story, but as her friendship with army medic Andrew Carrington develops into something more, she's forced to make some difficult choices. I wouldn't have made the same choices in some circumstances, but overall, this was an engaging read about a vital group of women and their role in WWI.

When I read historical fiction, it often tends be set during World War II, probably because there are so many wonderful novels to choose from that take place in this time period. I was thrilled to find this fascinating novel set during the lesser written about World War I.

I picked up Girls on the Line for so many reasons—the title is a clever pun (can’t pass that up!), the cover is gorgeous and the story is about a topic I knew nothing about. The story is about the "Hello girls", a group of female telephone operators who served in the army in Europe during World War I, helping to make sure battle plans could be communicated across the continent. Runyan has clearly done an enormous amount of research to make sure the novel stays true to their incredible story of courage and patriotism. A perfect combination of entertaining story and education, Girls on the Line truly delivers in so many wonderful ways.

The story centers on Ruby Wagner, a society girl from Main Line Philadelphia who is engaged to a Nathaniel, a man of similar standing. When her brother is killed in one of the early battles of the war, Ruby is devastated.. She feels useless sitting at home while the war rages on in Europe, and when she discovers the signal corps where she can put her knowledge of both switchboards and French to good use, she knows she must go. On the front, she forms fast friendships with many of her co-workers, forming a makeshift family within the hostile environment of war. A medic named Andrew also becomes a part of their group, but as Ruby and Andrew grow closer, Ruby starts to question where the relationship is headed and what that means for her future marriage to Nathaniel. She soon comes to understand that with everything she’s witnessed and withstood, nothing will ever be the same again.

“The fighting was finally over, but so much had been lost in the endless fields of mud. The landscape of the world and of ever man, woman, and child in the path of the machine of war had been irrevocably changed.”

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union for the advanced review copy. I loved everything about this book. The story is engaging, the characters interesting and real, and the ending satisfying. I rooted for Ruby every step of the way and am now a dedicated fan of Aimie K. Runyan.

A fantastic read about the ladies who were the 1st. to go overseas and man the telephone switchboards during the Great War.
They were right at the front with the men and in almost as much danger,after the War,they were never recognized in the same way.They recv'd no pensions medical treatment etc.
It wasn't until 1979 that the first "Girls" were finally recognised and recv'd any allotments or any other services to which they were entitled.
This was very interesting as to what the 1st.women,serving in war time,had to go through.They took the same oath as the men,but we're still treated as 2nd.class.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to Read "Girls on the Line" by author Aimie K. Runyan and give my honest review.
Would definitely recommend !

An interesting and well written story about the women telephone operators who worked with the Army during WWI. Ruby, the main character, is the only daughter of a Philadelphia Main Line family whose brother has been killed in the war. She decides that she cannot simply sit at home and do nothing, and applies for the job of overseas telephone operator, also know as "Hello Girls". Ruby makes numerous friends along the way and also meets a young man, Andrew Carrigan, who becomes very important in her life. The story is sort of predictable but genuinely entertaining and held my attention to the very end. Absolutely recommend, particularly for those who enjoy historical fiction.

Women's roles in times of war are always overlooked. Girls on the Line shines a light on some important work performed by women during WWI. Ruby is an engaging character and I enjoyed the story. It's informative and interesting. I'm glad I learned new things from this book. I recommend.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley.Thank you so much,Netgalley!
This is a very interesting story about the women who served, but are so often overlooked, in WWI. This particular story, as there are many of our servicewomen, is about the telephone operators. I enjoyed the book very much. I won't give spoilers, it's well worth your time to read for yourself what these ladies sacrificed for their country and how they were treated once they came home. Some great facts in this book that are unknown.
I recommend any book by this author!
All opinions are my own.

What a lovely novel about an overlooked subsection of people involved with WWI. Women are usually so often forgotten amidst war stories, and when they're remembered, the ones most commonly acknowledged for their service are nurses. I hadn't even considered that operators would have been used and particularly vital during the time, and as a historian who focuses heavily on women's history, I'm so happy to find this book giving life to a number of women who've been somewhat lost in time, which is an even more poignant realization when reading the Author's Note at the end and discovering that a number of events that take place in the novel were taken from real life diaries and letters of these young women serving as operators.

As for the actual writing, I found it to be adequate! Ruby is a sympathetic character, and even if she doesn't have an abundance of depth to her the way that characters in literary fiction do, she's still complex enough to hold my attention throughout the entire novel. The structuring of the novel gets a bit messy toward the end, but overall, everything wraps up pretty well. I'm curious to see how others respond to the ending and if there are any complaints about it being "too happy." I, for one, am perfectly fine reading an ending that doesn't leave me feeling gutted and turned inside out!

I hope people, especially women, read this book because it's just a fascinating topic told from a fascinating point of view. I definitely recommend!

This is my second book I've read from Runyan, and I have to say I'm very impressed with her attention to detail and dedication to researching and bringing out lesser known women in history. This is a wonderful story that held my attention from start to finish. Ruby was an engaging and believable character, and I loved her story. She was strong, determined and just a joy to travel with, even in the hell of war. The only thing disappointing in the slightest was the ending, as it felt just a bit rushed to me. Not sure if it truly was, or if it was just my disappointment in getting to the end of her story. Well worth the read, and I look forward to more from Runyan in the years to come.

This is an honest review in exchange for an author provided ARC from NetGalley.

I enjoyed Girls on the Line and thought it was a great read. I am giving it a well deserved five stars.

Really good historical fiction about a young woman named Ruby, who, though being groomed by her family for life as a society wife, becomes one of the female telephone operators to become part of the Army Signal Corp in Europe during World War I. I love historical fiction that teaches me about something new, and this one certainly did. Plus, Ruby was just such a charming character. Really enjoyed this one and definitely will be checking out Aimee K. Runyan's previous books.

The Girls on the Line is an engaging and informative novel about the role of telephone operators during World War I.

It celebrates a very brave group of American women who volunteer to operate the switchboards in Europe during the war. The women were brave and dedicated to the task. They played a very significant role during the war that is often overlooked; especially since the responsibility these women had were different than what women traditionally did during wartime.

This is an incredible work of historical fiction. It is well-written with strong and interesting characters. The story follows Ruby Wagner from the constricting parlors of Main Line Philadelphia through her service to the Army and her interactions with other operators and the military.

I highly recommend this book to all readers of fiction and historical fiction.

Thank you #Netgalley, #AimieKRunyan #LakeUnionPublishing for the opportunity to read this book. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.

"Girls on the Line" is another fantastic novel by Aimie Runyan on almost forgotten women fighting during the world wars.

I haven't read as many novels on WWI as I have read on WWII so I loved learning more about the Great War and the role women played on it away from the home front. I loved the female characters and their friendships, and Ruby was a great protagonist. I liked reading about how she was caught up between tradition and her desire to serve her country in any way possible.

I also liked that the novel didn't end with the war but went on to show the struggles the returning soldiers, male and female, faced after returning home to a country that couldn't fathom the changes the soldiers had undergone abroad.

This was an amazing novel on a fascinating time in history.

I love reading historical fiction especially when it is thoroughly researched. I learn things that when I was in school I didn’t want to learn. This book like Aimie’s other book was very well written. Aimie has become one of my go to authors when it comes to historical fiction. Her writing is amazing and keeps you interested, she picks some awesome topics to write about. I love learning about women during WW1 and what they had to go through. This is a definite must read book.

Girls on the Line is a historical fiction book about the little known "Hello Girls" of WWI. Girls on the Line tells the story of Ruby Wagner who joins the war effort as the Supervisor of a group of telephone operators for the US Signal Corps. These strong and independent women played a vital role in getting communications to the front line. The story is well reached and written. These women helped the suffrage movement and the change in women's roles. I enjoyed this story and highly recommend it. Thank you to Aimie K Runyan, Netgalley, and the publisher for a copy of this book and this is my honest review.

While I would have liked this book, it was difficult to read. Blocks of pages came up blank, which was quite disturbing. I know there are issues with books that have not been published yet, but this was deplorable. Thinking it was just an issue with either Netgalley or because it had not been released when I opened the book, I saw that it had been released for sale and purchased it on Amazon. Same problem again and was able to get a refund. A book that I know I would have enjoyed, it was not meant to be and, therefore, there is no way I can give feedback! Nor would I recommend it!!!

Four inspiring stars to this fabulous historical fiction featuring strong, courageous women!
🌟🌟🌟🌟
The “Hello Girls” are credited as being among the many unsung heroes of World War I. Leading the pack is Ruby, the daughter of a prominent Philadelphia family and a member of high society. Her older brother is killed in combat and suddenly, Ruby is presented with an opportunity to go overseas and do her part in the war. The military is looking for women operators to help overseas and Ruby is thrilled to be chosen to join this crew of courageous women. The “Hello Girls” are sent to France, in the thick of the war, to do their part to help their country. Based on real history, this was a fabulous tale of strong women blazing their way in unlikely circumstances. This novel is thick with strong, likable female characters and I am all for it! For me, Girls on the Line was ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars. Thank you @amazonpublishing for this advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

A thoroughly original and captivating novel of some English switchboard operators who are recruited and sent to France to aid the Allies in communication during WWII. From the author of Daughters of the Night Sky.

I read this EARC courtesy of Net Galley and Lake Union. pub date 11/06/18

It wasn’t until very recently that I started enjoying Historical Fiction titles. I prefer more about World War II era so I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this one or not. The main character was supposed to be a likable character but I felt throughout most of the book she just carried herself like a spoiled brat. Despite my dislike for the main character, I did finish the book. It was interesting to learn about these women, who played a big role back then in the war. The ending was the most interesting part to me when it turned out their fight wasn’t over and they had to fight to get their veteran’s benefits.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4 out of 5 stars) I would definitely recommend this to anyone interested in Historical Fiction and Women’s movements.

Once again I was drawn to reading a novel about relatively unsung female heroes of the past, and this one does not disappoint. Although I do prefer novels about real women, Runyan’s protagonist Ruby is a totally fictional character; however, according to the author’s notes, she is actually a conglomeration of a group of real-life women, as are all the other women depicted here. Of course, the advantage to this is that Runyan could allow her imagination to run wild, and cherry pick the best stories from among many different women. The end result is a group of women, with Ruby as the main focus, who feel real and alive and ultimately admirable, even when they’re less than perfect. As I’ve mentioned many times before, imperfections in protagonists and other characters make them far more sympathetic and human to readers than those who are portrayed as flawless ideals.

I should mention that I’m actually old enough to have seen a real plug-in switchboard in action, and my mother worked as a switchboard operator when she was a young woman. When I used to visit my father’s offices, my mother would explain what these women were doing, and how the whole thing worked. (I think she actually helped out a couple of times; it was fascinating to watch.) So I know what these switchboards are like, and I felt that Runyan did a stellar job of describing them, along with the types of pressures these women could face. It also occurred to me that if you’ve never seen one of these, you might think that working a switchboard isn’t all that complicated or heroic. Thankfully, this novel shows both the complexities of this work as well as the importance of getting messages through between the battle fields and headquarters, which is something that should not be underestimated. Putting realistic and empathetic faces and personalities to these women only emphasized this, and heightened my enjoyment of this narrative.

That said, there was one aspect of this book that didn’t sit completely right with me. You might notice that the Goodreads summary for this book talks about how “Ruby must find her place in the military strata, fight for authority and respect among the Allied soldiers, and forge a victory for the cause.” This was very true and Runyan has Ruby deftly navigating all this. However, it goes on to say, “But balancing service to country becomes even more complicated by a burgeoning relationship with army medic Andrew Carrigan.” This is the bit that I was less enthusiastic about; how Runyan handled the romantic parts of this story. For the most part, Ruby’s relationship with Andrew is filled with all the right amounts of tension and chemistry. However, once things start to go well for the couple, there is a section that was, for me, overly sentimental. It was as if all of reality disappeared, and suddenly everything was ‘hearts and flowers,’ which didn’t fit in with the urgency of the rest of the book. Thankfully, this is just a small portion of the narrative, and when reality comes crashing back in, the action comes along.

There’s so much I more I would like to say about the subject matter of Runyan’s novel, particularly about how Runyan saw these women as being instrumental in women’s suffrage, and more. This is covered nicely in Runyan’s author’s notes at the end of this book, and I encourage readers to not skip that part, since it puts an additional perspective on the novel as a whole, as well as on the characters that Runyan so beautifully portrays here. Overall, I enjoyed this book very much. Runyan has given us a fascinating story, with believable characters and a narrative that will draw in the reader from the start. I can warmly recommend this book and I believe it deserves a healthy four out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the chance to read and review this book in exchange for an honest review.
I really enjoyed this book. I like to read stories about the women who were heroes in the war effort throughout history. They seem to be forgotten. When her brother is killed in the WWI, Ruby Wagner wants to find a way to help. She enlists in the Army Signal Corps as a telephone operator. Much to her surprise, she is chosen to go to France and help win the war. This is such an honor because only a few talented young women are chosen. This is their story. Highly recommend if you like stories about strong, courageous women!