Loved this book, action, story line, the characters were very varied, disappointing that there wasn’t any romance which I was expecting. But historically was very enthralling. The only disappointment was that the ending was too quick.

I am an avid historical fiction reader and have read many, many WWII novels. This one fell quite short. The writing just did not “grab” me nor engage me on a visceral level. Even during the most horrific bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, it still did not resonate any emotion in me. It was a very boring depiction of the bombing, heartache and suffering. Lieutenant Annie Fox is depicted as an incredible nurse in one regard and then as an immature woman with a crush on her Commanding Officer. There is much quite lacking and lackluster in this novel. I would not have finished it had I not agreed to read and review it. Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

This is a book that grabbed me from the beginning since I am a lover of WWII books. This is a true story of Annie Fox, Chief nurse, at Hickman Hospital that was bombed when Pearl Harbor was. She was the first woman to be awarded a Purple Heart and later a Bronze Star. She witnessed death, destruction, supply shortages, fear of another attack, prejudice and injustice against American Japanese. She also witnessed courage and long lasting friendships.

The Woman with a Purple Heart Diane Hanks is based on the real life of Lieutenant Annie Fox, Chief Nurse of Hickam Hospital, what an inspiring WWII novel of heroic guidance, fearlessness, and friendship that also exposes a shocking and shameful side of history.
Annie Fox will stop at nothing to serve her country.
But what happens when her country fails her?
Well, grab this book to find out.

Diane Hanks has written a propulsive, immersive, and beautifully rendered story.
This book had me turning the pages so fast.
I was immediately pulled back in time during 1941, with an Army nurse named Annie Fox. I could literally feel every single emotion. It was very emotional during times.
I found this book to be compelling and hard to put down.
A fascinating and gripping tale during the war.
An unputdownable, well-written descriptive novel that was just wonderful, captivating and Hanks writing gives this novel the depth and ability to pull in any reader.
Vivid, descriptive story-telling, with interesting characters that have depth to them, and are skillfully rendered.
This story of bravery and resilience but also prejudice and injustice.

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

Thank You NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

This is the kind of historical fiction that I love. A well researched and well written fictionalized story that includes many real-life people and events of that time. My biggest complaint was that I wanted more. I would have loved another 100 pages or so too learn what happened to our characters after.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this wonderful digital arc in exchange for my honest review which is not affiliated with any brand.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Annie Fox. For me, books that are based on real people and events are among the best to read. It was easy to admire Annie's spirit, kindness and general ability in all sorts of situations. The issues around enemy nationals and their incarceration always seems overkill today, but it is easy to understand the fear and uncertainty of the time, even though it was unjust and found to be unwarranted. The inclusion of the ladies of the night was wonderful, as were the snippets of stories about individual soldiers. What an amazing lady, and thank you Diane Hanks for bringing her to my attention. Thanks also to NetGalley for an advance copy to read.

Diana Hanks tells the story of Annie Gaston Fox in The Woman With A Purple Heart. Annie was the chief nurse at Hickman Field, next to Pearl Harbor, on December 7, 1941. She & her small group of nurses worked tirelessly to care for those who were wounded that day. There were Japanese American nurses who volunteered to help at the hospital. Prostitutes came to give blood and stayed to help in any way they could. Annie was the first woman to receive a Purple Heart.

This is an incredible story of courage, dedication, and friendship. May we never forget the stories of the brave women and men who fought in this conflict. I was able to read an ARC on #NetGalley.

Annie Fox is a Military nurse who served in WWI and has been transferred to Hickman Field an Air Force base in Honolulu to help set up a small military hospital in 1941. Not much goes on at this hospital and she feeling like the military is "putting her out to roost". She starts volunteering at a Japanese- American Community health center on her days off to feel needed. She makes some great friends in that community. When the attack on Pearl Harbor happens many years of experience is greatly needed. Beyond fear she leads her medical team through one of the hardest most demanded times in their life. For her bravery Annie is the first woman to receive a Purple Heart. This books also touches on how Japanese living in the US were sent off to camps just because of their heritage.

I really enjoy true stories about strong women. Some of the book is fiction but Annie and her accomplishments are real. The attack on Pearl Harbor was horrific. I like hearing stories of those who were there and how they pulled together to save human life. It also takes about the aftermath of what happen and how it changed America forever. It was a dark time in American history but also a bright spot when some came together as a country to help others. This kind of message needs to be heard today. How we can learn from our mistakes and triumphs.
This book is very well written and I finished it in about 3 days. Could not put it down. I think the Author made Annie very relatable. I liked her independence in a time where it was frowned upon and judged. It says a lot about aging and proving that you are still worthy. I look forward to reading more from Diane Hanks.

Thanks you to NetGalley and Sourcebook Landmark for allowing me to read an ARC of this book.

What a startling book! I really liked it on several accounts. Number 1, the fact that the heroine came from Nova Scotia, Canada was a plus for me because I too once lived there. Number 2, I have a vested interest in the fact that Annie ended up in Hawaii and was there during the bombing of Pearl Harbor and Hickman Field because my Dad was a boy, living there at the time.

What shocked and stunned me were the details of the aftermath, especially what school children had to do. My Dad and his Dad were rather mum about it all. The details as revealed in this story, brought tears to my eyes and my heart to race, while thinking about what they, and of course all the citizens and residents of the time, went through.

Number 4, Despite this actually being a work of historical fiction, to learn that some of the nurses mentioned, along with Annie, were true to life heroines as well, and each giving their best, thrilled me. Sadly, of greater import and impact was what happened to the Japanese-Americans and other such citizens on the wrong side of the Americans' powers-that-be of the time, in being coerced to incarceration in concentration camps in the USA! The author, Diane Hanks, draws out the feelings of all this very poignantly. I'd say she has done her research well and sticks closely to the true events in order for her readers to be in the moment right along with the characters, causing one to feel the horrors and injustices; at least it did for me.

The book's addenda has some bio on the nurses; and some very good group chat questions that will get at the nerve and essence of the moral issues touched on and that are designed to get a serious reader thinking of them, and what occured during the WWII years in the USA.

A 5-Star rating from me.

~Eunice C., Reviewer/Blogger~

May 2023

Disclaimer: This is my honest opinion based on the complimentary review copy sent by NetGalley and the publisher.

An interesting look at race and racial issues in Hawaii in 1941. I do wonder how a Canadian Nurse ended up in the US Army during WWI, since the Royal Canadian Army declared war against Germany when England did and would have taken the heroine in a hot minute. I find it hard to believe a Canadian woman would be accepted by the US Army after WWI given how insular the US was then.

The weaving of this story was artfully done such that it convincingly portrayed the horrors of December 7, 1941, the courageousness of the military doctors and nurses, the racism involving the American Japanese living in Hawaii at the time, and the actions of Chief Nurse Annie Fox before and after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Chief Nurse Annie Fox was the first female to ever receive a Purple Heart. This was given to her for her bravery and exemplary service directly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. She and her nurses worked around the clock to save as many soldiers as humanly possible, all the while hearing bombs still falling from the sky.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and learning more about Pearl Harbor and the aftermath. Such a tragic time in our history. Thank you, NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the ARC.

I absolutely hate to do this, as it means the world to me that a publisher/author would choose me to read and review their book: however, I must DNF this book in particular at 25%. Here is why:

Being an avid reader of wartime historical fiction, this specific book is painfully boring. I feel awful saying this, because I know how much work goes into a book like this, but even at the “exciting” parts where there is a lot of action, it’s very dull. I did not connect with the main character, perhaps because I am so much younger than her but more likely because she was very flat as a character. She seems childish, focusing on a crush on a much younger man over the hurt she caused to others by lying and exposing her lies over her own competitiveness. I did not find that it made her character more complex, only more unlikable.

Overall I just found the story to not be intriguing at all. The synopsis had me hooked, and this is my preferred genre, but perhaps it is the authors writing style but I did not connect with this book at all. It bored me so much. Again, I feel awful not finishing it, but I owe it to myself to only read books that bring me joy (or other emotions apart from boredom).

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for allowing me to read this book.

December 7, 1941
Pearl Harbour Naval Base and Hickman Army base were attacked. Lieutenant Annie Fox,a nurse at Hickman, worked tirelessly alongside her brave nurses to save lives. Her actions would make her the first woman to earn a purple heart. This book shines a light on the other military base attacked, some of the unlikely and unsung heroes of those uncertain hours, and the aftermath for the Japanese American citizens. As well touching on the tensions between local Hawaiians and the military. There was a lot of information in this book.
I love historical fiction and this book will be added to my favourites pile. It’s one of those books that really makes me want to go find more on the topic from other perspectives. Annie is a great protagonist and she was a real person so I like her even more. If you have any interest in WW2 history I definitely recommend The Woman With The Purple Heart, releasing Nov 6 2023. Thank you to @netgalley and @sourcebooks for allowing me to review this book. #bookstagram #history #historicalfashion #thewomanwiththepurpleheart #reader #readersofinstagram #booksbooksbooks #bookreview #bookrecommendations #pearlharbor #historical #ww2 #ww2history

I read this novel as an ARC. I really wanted to like this novel as it is about the time that was when FDR presided over the US. However this novel fell short for me and I felt like not all of the characters stories were fully told. I became very bored with this and DNF the last hundred pages rather skimmed it.

One of the best books I've read this year! It was beautifully written. The characters were fully described and the sequence of events leading up to, during and after the bombing of Pearl Harbor were so detailed it seemed I was there. The fear the people felt whether there would be further attacks or the how they could possibly deal with the number of injuries was raw and real. The courage and strength exhibited by the characters was believable and I, as a reader, truly cared what happened to each of them. This was a subject that could easily could have devolved into a soap opera, but did not. It remained a true testament to the courage and strength of the nurses at Hickam Hospital and their head nurse, Annie Fox, through the attack, the aftermath, and to the end of WWII in Hawaii. Annie Fox is the central person as she is the head nurse who acts as the liaison who works with locals and the hospital staff throughout the war to get the supplies, equipment, blood supplies and additional staff from connections she has made preattack. She isn't afraid to bend rules and she does whatever it requires to care for the wounded or for her friends. Often working beyond exhaustion, patients, then her nurses came first for her. She truly was a hero. The author truly researched the novel before writing.

3.5 Stars

On December 8th, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt went before Congress to ask for a declaration of war. His speech began, “Yesterday, December 7, 1941-a date which will live in infamy-the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” The Woman With A Purple Heart by Diane Hanks is a historical fiction novel based on the life of First Lieutenant Annie G. Fox (Army Nurse Corps) and the events that unfolded on that historic day.

Lt. Fox is transferred to Hickam Field on the island of Oahu, Hawaii in November of 1941, just one month before the historic surprise attack by Japanese forces. Although assigned as the chief nurse to the 30-bed hospital, she fears she has been sent to this small island post to bide her time before being forced to retire after her 23 years of service. But Annie doesn’t realize her greatest challenge as an Army nurse is yet to come and it will earn her a Purple Heart.

Hanks uses Annie’s story to showcase the harrowing time in American history when, under FDR’s Executive Order 9066, any person of Japanese descent, including U.S. citizens and children, were incarcerated in isolation camps. In The Woman With A Purple Heart, Annie must reconcile her love for country and her dedicated Army service against the reality of her government imprisoning its own citizens.

I believe both of these stories are important to tell, and, for the most part, I feel Hanks delivered compelling storylines. However, there were parts of the narrative I felt needed more developing to feel more authentic for me. For example, Lt. Fox develops a “crush” that feels more like obsession after meeting Major Lance just one time. I would have found it more believable if her admiration had developed over the course of their working together instead of instantaneously. As a mature women who has undoubtedly encounter many good looking men in the course of her service, why would she be instantly infatuated with this man. I’m not sure her romantic interest in Major Lance offered anything to the story, and, in my opinion, would have worked better as a mutual professional admiration that results in a lifetime friendship.

Annie’s relationship with Mak was another area that didn’t quite make sense to me. I’m not sure why Mak would keep entertaining Annie’s desire to help, given his very strong negative opinions about the military taking over the Hawaiian Islands and his distrust in the government. It seems unlikely that he would keep taking Annie’s calls and talking to her after Kay was taken into custody and sent away to an internment camp. I felt there was something missing from the development of Mak’s character that would give him a reason to work with Annie. Did he have a change of heart after working with the service members? Was he just using Annie to keep track of what the military was doing? We never really know.

Finally, the storyline of Mr. and Mrs. Takeda just disappeared. There is a lot of speculation about what their role is in Kay’s life and if they are saboteurs, but the reader never finds out. We know what happens to Mrs. Takeda, but Mr. Takeda simply disappears and that is the end of their story. They seemed too integral to Kay’s story in the beginning chapters to just disappear from the page in the end.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this novel and thank NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the opportunity to review an advanced copy. If you love WWII historical fiction that focuses on lesser-known people and events, then you will enjoy The Woman With A Purple Heart.

The Woman with a Purple Heart is a beautifully crafted, no put downable historical fiction from Diane Hanks. Set in WW2 at Hickham Field in Hawaii at the time of the Pearl Harbour attacks it not only touches on the immediate challenges of those based there through the eyes of Chief Nurse Annie Fox it deals with the challenges she and those in her community are facing. Ageism, sexism, racism, anguish.

A very very enjoyable, eye opening read.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark Publishing for the ARC.

I read this extraordinary book in one sitting. I hadn't planned to but I simply couldn't put it down. I expected to read about the bravery & courage of the nurses on December 7, 1941, and this book certainly delivered on that account. Chief Nurse Annie Fox joined the U.S. Army as a frontline nurse in 1918, so the patients & the medical staff were in experienced hands when the Japanese attacked that fateful Sunday morning. As I marveled at her presence of mind in solving desperate shortages of blood, medicine, and nurses, I kept wondering why I had never heard of this woman?!

But, there is much more to this story after the attack at Pearl Harbor and that is what kept me turning the pages. The suspicion and consequent internment of Japanese-Americans following the attack was heart-rending as it happened to fellow nurse, Kay and her children. Her anguish dripped off the pages. I felt Annie's pain as she tried to reconcile this injustice enacted in the name of freedom. This book will be published in November 2023 and I will be buying copies to give as gifts, especially for my daughters & granddaughter. No doubt one copy will be for myself because I will be reading this one again. I highly recommend it!

I am very grateful to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark Publishing for the opportunity to read the ARC. The review is my own of this exceptional book.