When We Had Wings is a riveting account of the Japanese takeover of the Philippines after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, December 1941, told seamlessly by three authors through the lives of three nurses.
The three nurses representing the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and the Filipina community, Penny, Eleanor, and Lita, experience hospitals with few supplies, orphans facing starvation, and the horrors of prisons and internment camps in Manila, the Bataan Peninsula, and Corregidor Island. The Philippine assignment was considered ‘paradise’ at the time each enlisted but after the declaration of war they must come to grips with atrocities and realities of warfare.
The history of the Philippines, the political and social upheavals, along with demolished cities and details of conflicts add to compelling personal accounts as the three nurses are separated for years and wonder who survives. The detailed descriptions of their personal contributions, experiences and sacrifices evoke feelings ranging from pure disgust to extreme delight, as they became the first female prisoners of World War ll.
General MacArthur declared, “I shall return!” This commitment keeps hopeful readers interned with the “Angels of the Bataan and Corregidor” when the tanks roll in, hatches open, and they hear in a distinct American accent, “Hello, folks”. God Bless America!

I just loved this book! It is set in the Pacific theatre of World War II, specifically in the Philippines, and begins shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor. The book centers on a friendship between three nurses, one Navy, one Army, and one Philippina civilian. As their world is devastated by the invasion of Japan, they are often separated, as they endure and are witness to unspeakable atrocities, torture, and loss. The book is chilling in its recounting of what both the Allied military and Philipine and other civilians suffered at the hands of the Japanese invaders. The authors have created memorable, compassionate and strong characters to represent both the nurses and others caught there at the time, and all those they encountered, aided, and sometimes lost. It is also a hopeful, beautiful story of friendships that endure, despite the ravages of war. The three main characters, Penny, Eleanor, and Lita are ones that will live in my memory! I also have a personal reason for this book to be particularly meaningful to me, as my father served in the Pacific, although not in this area. He rarely spoke of his experiences, and I now realize why that may have been. I did receive a complimentary copy of this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Muse for this advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Written by three terrific authors that I follow, and set in WWII, this book has a quickly evident difference to other WWII historical fiction. Not only is it set in the Philippines rather than Europe (which, please authors, should be explored more. Even my book clubs are tired of European WWII historical fiction no matter how it is bent), but it follows three nurses (not combatants) as prisoner of war (highly unusual in the period). We meet two American nurses and one Philippine. who become friends in this world seemingly far away from war, but are quickly thrown into high stakes wartime when the Japanese invade.
I lived in Japan for 4 years and learned about the atrocities of the second world war in the pacific. My father also served on the pacific front in WWII which made this book even more interesting.
It took me some time to sort of the ladies stories. Eleanor and Penny took a little more time to develop than Lita and I kept having to stop to remember what was happening with the two American nurses. Once the story was rolling I was more riveted.

I think my book club would like it if we wanted to do another WWII historical fiction and would recommend it to historical fiction fans as a clean read as well.
4*

4.5 / 5.0 Stars

This was a most compelling read of a richly told story of the courageous and amazing women who served as nurses in the Philippines during World War II. It focuses on the narrative of three nurses, one U.S. Navy nurse, one U.S. Army nurse and one Filipina nurse. The early days of boredom in paradise brought them together. Then the harsh realities of war and all its ugliness settled upon them and tested their mettle. At times they served together and at other times, they prayed that the others were doing better than they in their personal hells. They were bringers of comfort and harbingers of hope. With courage and tenacity, they endured harsh treatment, great sacrifice, and were admired by those whom they served. They were the first U.S. female prisoners of war and this is their story - these "Angels of Bataan".

A story by any one of these writers would be an amazing read. Put the three of them together and you have an unforgettable and spectacular powerful story. The stories of the three nurses flowed easily from one to the other without a single hiccup. The writing is descriptive without being flowery and is even rather cinematic in its delivery. One could feel the excessively warm humidity of the tropical climate, hear the guns blazing in the not so distant marshes and smell the rank odors of injured soldiers and civilians as well as rotting food and flesh. The authors garnered from the reader tremendous sympathy as the nurses' rations in captivity were continuously reduced so as not to kill them off too quickly. War brought them to the brink. Yet hope carried them through. For fans of historical fiction, I highly recommend this story.

I am grateful to Harper Muse publishing for having provided a complimentary e-copy of this book. Their generosity, however, has not influenced this review - the words of which are mine alone.

This is an area where I didn't know what I didn't know, and while it makes me want to read more historic fiction, I'm not naive enough to believe that stories like this are abundantly available.

Eleanor, Penny, and Lita are three nurses during WWII. Each woman's story is uniquely her own, but her ties to the other women weave a fabric of friendship through shared experiences. Of course the sacrifices of soldiers are well-known, but the situations endured by these women (as well as the health teams and the soldiers) becomes vivid, horrifying realities as they fight to maintain hope and professionalism.

Even now, I'm not sure whose story resonated with me most. Everyone has baggage. Everyone has fuzzy familial connections. Everyone has dreams. But each woman is continually tempering expectations as they lift up others, sacrificing in a multitude of ways that fully embodies the multifaceted nature of being human.

There are some "too-neat" wrap ups at the end...but I get it. And maybe it's too harsh of me to want more realism in a story that doesn't shy away from the difficult....

This is a book that I fully intend to recommend to EVERYONE.

I'll need to tell my students about: mention of rape, violence/gore, death, trauma, infant loss, personal injury, language

**Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Harper Muse for the free ARC prior to publication. All opinions
expressed are my own.**

There’s something special about the way these three established authors have illuminated a piece of history for readers ~ How the bombing of Pearl Harbour affected those serving in the Philippines.

They invite us to empathize with their characters’ journeys while subtly teaching us something new on every page! I heard an author reveal recently that it irked her to see people comment that she’d ‘obviously done a lot of research for her novel’ because she felt that it shouldn’t be obvious. I didn’t understand her comment…until I read this book. I get it!!!! These authors have made sure that the focus is on the story, not the facts. There’s no information dumping. It’s woven into the plot. It’s amazing, really.

I was excited to read about a setting I knew very little about and, knowing about the authors, was expecting a great story. However, I wasn’t prepared for a fantastic story which immersed me into the setting immediately. The world-building completely drew me in; mentions of food such as pan de sal, Filipino egg rolls, carabao milk and lumpia, the exotic fragrances of jasmine, and Tagalog expressions such as ‘mestiza’. As I kept reading, I transcended into the setting even more and I wanted to keep reading about this unfamiliar place and time instead of returning to reality.

For anyone who’s read wartime fiction, we know all about what the men are doing, but we rarely read about what it was REALLY like for the nurses who served overseas. I’d never thought of the mosquitos, dysentery, beriberi or malaria, of fingernails stained daily with blood, and of the constant moaning and cries “from an endless assembly line of patients shredded by war.” I’d never considered what it would feel like to experience a bomb going off beside me, how electricity would go out making it difficult for instruments to be sterilized, nor have no elevators to transport/evacuate patients, or what would go through my mind when I thought I was dying, of what it would be like to be a nurse in an internment camp or a prison, nor about what they’d have to resort to in order to stay alive. I was mesmerized.

The balance of internal and external conflict was perfectly balanced and added to the story both in plot and character development.

This was like a gateway drug; I’m thrilled about delving into more novels set in the Pacific theatre and reading more by these amazing authors! I'd like to see them collaborate on more historical fiction.

You need to add this book about the ‘Angels of Bataan’ to the top of your reading list!

Thank you to Harper Muse and NetGalley for this advance copy. I was under no obligation to provide a review.

This book is a well written historical fiction, focusing on nurses stationed in the Philippines when Pearl Harbor was bombed and the years following.

The friendship of Eleanor, Penny, and Lita is the common thread of the book. but I felt the real story was bringing their experiences to life. Through the words of the authors. I was able to glimpse what each nurse saw and felt throughout the war. They each had a history that was shared at just the right moment. For both Penny and Lita, I appreciated that there wasn’t too much focus on their past, but just enough to show how it shaped them. Of the three, I did find Eleanor’s past to be the most implausible, especially her continued dwelling on it.

I couldn’t tell how the three authors divvied up the book, and that is a testament to how seamlessly their writing melded together.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Muse for the opportunity to read and review this book.

What a great story written by 3 great authors. It was written in away that you felt like one person was doing all the writing. Read about a side of the war that I had never read about. Love to see more form the 3 of them again.

When three incredible authors team up to write an unforgettable historical story, you cross your fingers NetGalley approves your request and do a little happy dance when they do!

When Penny and Eleanor step off the boat in the South Pacific in 1941, they have to pinch themselves just to believe that they get to be nurses in paradise. Soon after their arrival, they befriend Lita, a local nurse and unbeknownst to them at the time, their friendship would help get them through the next few years of life when things take a dangerous, frightening and potentially deadly turn.

Their days in paradise are short lived once they learn that the Japanese have bombed Pearl Harbor and are looking to take over the entire South Pacific. When the invasion finally occurs, the trio of friends become some of the first women POWs of WWII. With food rations dwindling, the sounds of bullets piercing the air, bombs dropping and the threat of disease taking over…these nurses…sometimes together, sometimes apart…do everything they can to take care of everyone around them. Their friendship kept them going when no end was in sight, when the threat of starvation and even execution were so close that the ditches had been dug. These brave, selfless women were tested in ways they never imagined and learned how friendship and bravery can help get one through the toughest of times.

This book is absolute extraordinary and I loved every page of it. The history lesson it provided me was invaluable as I knew very little about the war in the South Pacific beyond the big key points taught in school. More importantly, it reminds us that ordinary people can do extraordinary things in wartime.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Harper Muse, Susan Meissner, Ariel Lawhorn and Kristian McMorris for this remarkable homage to the Angels of Bataan! I was incredibly moved and inspired by these women and will carry their story with me always!

I absolutely inhaled this book. I've read McMorris and Meissner before but not Lawhon. I was a bit dubious about three authors writing and assume they each took a character but the story was seamless. I loved stories set in less discussed but equally important aspects of WW II, The friendship between the three girls rang true - they saw each other for the human beings they were, faults and all. The horrific trials the captured men and women, prisoners of the Japanese are outlines not so much in bare bones but enough graphic detail to give you the picture. Difficult to read. I love how the authors included the Filipinos but although hinted at, the racial discrimination they underwent both from the US and the Japanese was not as well developed as it may have been. That said, it was a fabulous book and highly recommended.

Susan Meissner and Ariel Lawhon are favourite and go-to authors for me. So it only stands to reason I would read this book. Also Kristina McMorris is new and a new author is fun to discover.

The premise for this book sounds very interesting, off the beaten track in the world of WW2 HF. The authors definitely did the research, which shines through but for me this book came off flat and had that non fiction tone. I struggled to connect with any of the characters.

A heartbreaking story that just didn't work for me. But given all the other reviews, this is obviously a me issue.

I loved this book. A lot of books are written about World War II, Germany, and the Holocaust. Not so many about Japan in the Philippines. Again, we know about the Nazis, but not so much about the culture of the Japanese army that valued honor and did not respect surrender. Nor do we read much about how the Philippine people suffered. When We Had Wings is the story of an Army nurse, a Navy nurse, and a native Philippine nurse, They practiced medicine on the front, and in the three different prison camps they were sent to. Spoiler--all three survive--but the conditions in which they lived, while horrendous, were described so that the faint of heart can endure reading about them. Highly recommend this book, and will purchase it for my high school library. I read this as an arc and am under no pressure for a positive review..

Ramona Thompson

Wow I loved this book. I have read so many historical fiction novels set during WWII, but this was the first one that I have read that's set in the Philippines. I also loved following the three women's stories. One thing I really appreciated is that one of the nurses was Filipina, and the book included some of the struggles of working with the Americans, but not being treated like the Americans.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Muse for the ARC!

Philippines, 1941. Three young women meet and become friends. Coming from diverse backgrounds, they have their nursing careers to unite them. Prior to WWII, the Philippines seemed to be a tropical paradise. This soon changed when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the United States entered the war and Japan eventually captured the Philippines. All three women became prisoners of war and ended up in various prison camps.

Eleanor from Minnesota, leaving a one-sided romance; Penny from Texas, suffering from the death of her unborn baby and her husband's death, and Lita, a mixed-race Filipino, not sure she really wants to be a nurse, with nursing sisters already in the United States. All three continue to be the best nurses they possibly can be, even under terrible duress and lack of medical facilities and supplies.

Each chapter focuses on one of the three women, and their resolve to survive and come together another day. The atrocities, physical and mental, inflicted on the POWs by the Japanese is well-documented. It makes for tough reading at times.

Feeling grateful for the brave individuals who fought in WWII.

I am always on the lookout for World War 2 historical fiction that illuminates some aspect of the war I knew little about. When We Had Wings does just that. Set in the South Pacific, it focuses on the stories of three nurses - the “Angels of Bataan” - who survived a few years of imprisonment by the Japanese. The women experience terrible hardships but also demonstrate great bravery as they persevere and serve those around them. I did learn quite a bit about what these women went through and their perseverence is admirable.

I struggled quite a bit with the pacing of the story. It’s just very slow and, as dramatic and shocking as the girls’ circumstances were, I feel like the authors missed an opportunity to deliver a hard emotional punch. It really comes across kind of dry and factual, despite the authors’ attempt to personalize those facts with the girls’ friendship, some romantic relationships and interactions with the civilians. So much of the story - even the romances - came across as though the facts were just being reported to me. I almost think the story would have had more of an impact had it focused on one of two of these women in the same place, rather than skipping around and back and forth among locations, which started to blur together in my head.

Good read of three nurses who go through extreme hardships during the war, how they endured it all and survived. Enjoyed the read. Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Muse for the ARC

There is not a lot of historical fiction stories about the women who served in WWII. When We Had Wings delves into the lives of three nurses who were stationed in Manila when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and the US entered the war. Their lives were forever changed and the hardships of becoming POW’s is vividly depicted. This was a disturbing but enthralling story about their friendship and abuse during their four years of imprisonment.

When We Had Wings was a very good book. I have read a lot of historical WWII books but none set in the Phillippines. It was very easy to get involved in the nurses' lives and hard to imagine the cruelty doled out by the Japanese.
I was a little unsure about reading a book with 3 authors but the result was outstanding. There were some tear shedding moments and of course some joyous moments. It was a great read and kept me up late to finish it!
Thank you to NetGalley for my copy.

This is an enthralling WWII historical novel. Navy nurses, Lita, Eleanor, and Penny are stationed in the Philippines and end up caught in the middle of the aftermath of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor and the invasion of the Philippines. This is the first novel I have read from this POV of WWII. The details given of the sacrifices given by these heroic nurses are mind-boggling. I don't know if I could have been that strong or brave. I recommend this novel, especially for historical fiction fans. Thanks to the authors, Harper Muse, and NetGalley for providing a complimentary copy of this ebook. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Three nurses find themselves in the Philippines during the Japanese occupation in WW2. I knew nothing about this part of history so it was very interesting. I liked that they also chose a Philippine point of view for one of the nurses. It did at times seem like three different stories en not really one whole. But overall a good book.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the copy.