When We Had Wings
by Ariel Lawhon, Kristina McMorris, Susan Meissner
Pub Date: October 18, 2022
Harper Muse

Thanks to the authors, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. From three bestselling authors comes an interwoven tale about a trio of World War II nurses stationed in the South Pacific who wage their own battle for freedom and survival. I think this would make a great book club selection. As a leader of a book club at our library, I am constantly on the search for the next book we should read together.
Great book!
4 stars

✨Audiobook Review✨

When We Had Wings
-Ariel Lawhon, Kristina McMorris and Susan Meissner
Pub Date: October 18, 2022

👩🏻‍⚕️ Synopsis:
The Philippines, 1941. When U.S. Navy nurse Eleanor Lindstrom, U.S. Army nurse Penny Franklin, and Filipina nurse Lita Capel forge a friendship at the Army Navy Club in Manila, they believe they’re living a paradise assignment. All three are seeking a way to escape their pasts, but soon the beauty and promise of their surroundings give way to the heavy mantle of war.

Caught in the crosshairs of a fight between the U.S. military and the Imperial Japanese Army for control of the Philippine Islands, the nurses are forced to serve under combat conditions and, ultimately, endure captivity as the first female prisoners of the Second World War. As their resiliency is tested in the face of squalid living arrangements, food shortages, and the enemy’s blatant disregard for the articles of the Geneva Convention, the women strive to keep their hope— and their fellow inmates—alive, though not without great cost.

💭Thoughts:
Wow! This book has a bit of everything- romance, friendship, drama, suspense. The descriptions in this book really make you feel like you are right there in the conflict with the nurses. Being a nurse myself, I couldn’t imagine the conditions these nurses had to work in. Their strength is truly inspiring. Prior to reading this book I knew nothing about the Angels of Bataan. Now after listening to this story, I am leaning so much.

I found myself really endured to Penny, Lita, and Eleanor. Their friendship was a light spot in this heartbreaking book. The middle of the book slowed a bit, but I had to know what happened to them.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction about World War II.

Hands down, When We Had Wings is the best WWII novel I have read this year. Based on the real-life experiences of the Angels of Bataan, this book is both heartbreaking and inspiring. Though certainly a story of war, it's foremost a story about friendship, self-discovery, and the capacity of love humans can have for each other in a time of turmoil.

Starting off in Manila pre-the attack on Pearl Harbor, we follow Penny, Eleanor, and Lita, three nurses who form a bond early in their assignments. At first, their stay almost feels like a vacation. Their work is light and Lita, local to the area, gets the opportunity to play tour guide. However, after the attack, things change drastically, eventually leading to new assignments that force the friends to part ways. When Japan turns its hostility toward the Philippines, it's only a matter of time before the three women find themselves in various internment camps. They have to do whatever they can to survive all the while worrying and wondering where the others have ended up.

Along with Penny, Lita, and Eleanor, there are several equally as wonderful supporting characters; friends, colleagues, priests, children, love interests... confined in prisons with captors who have no regard for international human rights laws, we get countless glimpses of people banding together to help one another survive.

All three of the storylines were a delight to read and flowed together nicely with each other. The pacing was on the slower side but immersive. There were some points in the book where it took me a few minutes to realize I was crying because I was so engrossed in the story and was surrounded by it in my mind. Kudos to all three of the authors! Another kudos to Saskia Maarleveld for her marvelous narration of the audiobook.

Thanks to Harper Muse and NetGalley for providing a free audio ARC to read and review!

This book was so fascinating - I love WWII historical fiction, but the way this tale was told from a new perspective that we don't hear from a ton in this genre (female nurses who are also POWs) and about a part of the war we haven't seen a ton of literature about either (Manila / Philippines / Pacific Islands). I'm a rare audiobook fan but when I saw this one I had to request it - and I'm glad I did! Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free advanced copy.

Americans Eleanor Lindstrom and Penny Franklin are both running away, and joining the Navy and Army nursing corps seems like just the ticket to leave their pasts behind. Getting stationed in the Philippines in the South Pacific feels like a dream assignment. They quickly befriend local Lita Capel, a fellow nurse, who works alongside the military nurses. The three women instantly bond over their shared dream of a new start, but little do these women realize their new beginning is about to become a nightmare.

As the Philippines is invaded by Japan, the three women are forced to serve in combat conditions that deteriorate as the years drag on. These “Angels of Bataan” never stop doing their jobs, aiding the sick and wounded as they are imprisoned. The Emperor of Japan never ratified the most recent version of the articles of the Geneva convention, and does not hold his prison camps to any standard of human decency. The three women come in and out of each other’s lives during their internment and help to bolster each other, providing hope for the future.

When We Had Wings, though written collaboratively, flows seamlessly and is very hard to step away from. Each character’s story is so well written and the friendship between the friends is inspiring. This story about the Angels of Bataan is a must read for those who enjoy the WWII historical fiction genre.

Thank you to Netgalley, Harper Muse Audio, and the authors (Ariel Lawhon, Kristina McMorris, and Susan Meissner) for the advanced copy of the book. When We Had Wings comes out on October 18th. All opinions are my own.

When We Had Wings by Ariel Lawhon, Kristina McMorris and Susan Meissner
Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld

Overall 4.5
Spice 0

• Angels of Bataan
• First American Female POWs
• Engaging and Emotional
• Intense But Not Overly Graphic
• Greatest Generation
• Multi-POV
• Diverse

BIG thank you to Harper Muse and NetGalley for the Audio ARC of When We Had Wings by Ariel Lawhon, Kristina McMorris and Susan Meissner, Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld

This brilliantly written story is about the nurses who endured capture during the Japanese Occupation of the Philippians. I appreciated the multiple POVs, particularly the story of Filipina nurse Lita Capel. It can be easy to focus only on the American experience of World War II however the addition of Lita keeps the story diverse and engaging. This book could have also delved into the depressing and horrific quite easily however it stays hopeful and though intense it is not overly graphic. I appreciate the push in publishing recently of these little-known stories of the women of WWII. The narrator has a Huskey Mid-Atlantic Accent perfect for Historical Fiction however it was hard to differentiate the multiple POVs as the narrator didn't change up her cadence or dramatization. I think this book would have benefitted from having multiple Narrators

Three women have joined the American war effort as Air Force nurses in World War II. Eleanor is fleeing the hurt and humiliation of loving a man who was in love with another woman, Penny is widow, wanting more for her life than just another marriage, and Lita is a mixed race woman who wants to join her sisters who are nurses in the United States. They form a friendship when they are stationed at bases in the Philippines, but are separated when the Japanese take control of the islands. Forced into inhumane living conditions in prison camps with little food and water, physical and emotional abuse and worse, this book is based on the real life stories of the nurses that history has dubbed “the Angels of Bataan”. Unforgettable

These three master storytellers came together to give all of us this exquisite piece of literature, and I, for one, am very happy about that!! I love my historical fiction, and with this book I was able to learn so much more than the typical WW2/Pearl Harbor drama. We're taken to the Philippines and are given a very close up look into what it looked like for Army nurses at that time (my dad's rank and profession, coincidentally enough - which is part of the reason I requested this egalley). The nurses on this team are all female and we're shown all the ins and outs of being captured by the Japanese Imperial Army and held in several different POW camps, a very harsh reality indeed.

I like that the romance didn't drown out the plot, which was very essential to the storyline, but it was still given enough of a presence for an element of happiness in a time and place where there were very few things to be happy about. Sort of like a light at the end of a long, dreary tunnel.

A few things that made me subtract a star from this otherwise fantastic book... The relationship between the three women. We're not given much of a backstory on their bond/friendship. Just that they worry about each other immensely while held at different/separate prison camps. Was it that they went through Basic together? Met at parties after graduation? But even then that doesn't really work because 1 of the girls is Navy. And at least 1 is Army. So their Basic/Boot Camp would have been separate. Did they meet at Tech/Training school? When they were being trained on how to be a military nurse? I'm still wondering about this after reading the last page and it's bothering me.

Thanks netgalley for giving me the advanced audiobook so that I can listen then share my thoughts and opinions with y'all 💛

stamperlady50's profile picture
stamperlady50
When We Had Wings
By: Kristina McMorris, Susan Meissner, Ariel Lawhon

5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I am always amazed how multiple authors can write a book together and these three did such a fabulous job.

This novel is about the friendship of three women during war.

August 1941- U.S Navy nurse Eleanor Lindstrom goes to the Philippines. She meets two other women who strike up a friendship when they meet at the Army Navy Club.

They bond and each have had a difficult past. Eleanor meets Penny and Lila. Bonding over the loss of a husband, lost love and promises, yet their future remains unclear.

At first the are enjoying life in the South Pacific and dealing with light nursing duties, but then Pearl Harbor is bombed. Next the Philippines is attacked and the three are sent to different internment camps.

This novel tackles so many topics and things that happened during that time in history. I enjoyed that the novel follows up with the ladies after the war.