Karen Triplett’s novel I’ll Be Seeing You follows five women attending at the University of Washington from 1963 to 1967. Each chapter focuses on one woman individually and incorporates parts of their story with others as a group. We see their friendship form and each woman grow as individuals. This is a time where the world was changing:  Vietnam war, protests, equal rights, fashion, drugs, premarital sex, birth control, and women’s rights. Triplett navigates all these “current events” well into the storylines of these career-oriented young women. The limitations and expectations placed on women in the early sixties and the cultural events of that time were well portrayed. 

Triplett has a nice way of telling a story, at times with all the characters it might have been confusing, and she did not always let you into what they were feeling, but you had an inclination. I foresee some great books coming our way from Triplett  

Thank you @netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am sad to say I dnfed this book at 35%. It Just was not a book for me. 
Thank you to netgalley for letting me read this e arc in exchange for an honest opinion

In the autumn of 1963, five young ladies begin college at the University of Washington in Seattle and it's a big change from high school. Linzi, Marie, Jody, Helen and Dorothy, all want to further their education, without giving into parents and societies pressure to get married and have children. 

The girls settle in and share dorm rooms, find their way around the campus and begin studying. Socially they are invited to parties, sporting functions and here they meet eligible men, who have one thing on their mind, Linzi, Marie, Jody, Helen and Dorothy have to decide how far they will let their dates go, the girls only have a basic idea about sex and contraception.  

The 1960's is one of the most turbulent times in history and many things changed, from the assignation of John F. Kennedy, protests about civil rights, America’s involvement in the Vietnam War and the draft, the rights of women, forced adoptions and what was thought about unwed mothers, the invention of the pill and who’s allowed access to it and the silly idea  it will make women promiscuous. 

I received a digital copy of I’ll Be Seeing You by Karen Triplett from Rhododendron Press and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Through all of this the women remain best friends, they support each other during the good times and the bad, the numerous challenges and will they be able to fulfilling their ambitions and how many graduate?

It was interesting reading about the University of Washington, Pan Am's R&R flights home from Vietnam, and the places the Peace Corps went and the work they did. The restaurants in Seattle, the changes in fashion, hairstyles and music was a major influence of the time. The Beatles, Peter Paul and Mary, The Righteous Brothers and The Beach Boys. Three stars from me, the story did drag a little, I was pleased when the pace picked up and I enjoyed the ending.

Karen Triplett does a great job in creating this great historical fiction plot. I enjoyed getting to know each woman and what was going on with them in this novel. They all felt like they were real people and enjoyed getting to know them.

Thank you to Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review this book.  This was an interesting story about five young women attending college in Washington state in the early 1960’s, this was an era of the beginning of unrest about Vietnam, hippies, drugs, premarital sex, birth control, and women’s rights.  The story focused on each of the women individually and as a group.  I enjoyed this story although at times it was difficult to follow each individual story and keep it all straight.

It took me a while to get into the rhythm of this author’s writing style, but once I did become engaged, I could not put the book down. Perhaps it is because the cultural events of this time (1963-1967) are imbedded in my own personal remembrances. There are some challenges in tracking the intermingling stories of five women protagonists as their bond of friendship develops on the University of Washington campus. At times the transitions felt abrupt with the storyline missing depth, skipping over some aspects that would have enriched the character development. Nonetheless, I found the book a fascinating exploration of the evolving women’s movement; the turmoil of the civil rights movement; the disillusionment of the assassination of JFK; the heartbreaking impact of the Vietnam War; and the altruism of the Peace Corps – all viewed through the viewpoints of these women as they mature from naïve freshman to young adults on the cusp of their careers. Although it is a work of fiction, it also has the quality of a memoir based on the author’s own experience as a UW student and the extensive research documented in the end notes.

My thanks to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the privilege of reviewing this book. The opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This review is being posted immediately to my GoodReads account and will be posted on Amazon upon publication.

Interesting premise - my first thought was Mona Lisa Smile. Unfortunately any time the focus is on five protagonists, we're bound to only scratch the surface with each one, their voices start to blend together, and we just get used to one's story when it's time to switch to another. There just wasn't enough time to really explore any of the individuals, particularly because the context was so complex - gender roles, feminism, equality, freedom, civil rights, war... there's a lot going on.