Last summer when I was still ordering books, I remembered seeing A Star for Mrs. Blake in one of the catalogs from the publishers. It sounded great but I didn't really think anything of it until it showed up in a list of picks for book clubs. When we chose the books in December, this was one of the titles.
A Star for Mrs. Blake follows the journey of Cora Blake, a woman living on a Maine island who lost her only son in World War I, on a voyage with other Gold Star Mothers to France. Although fiction, this book is based on real-life diary of Colonel Thomas Hammond, the young army official who accompanied Party A throughout their journey. I did like the story but I think more for the historical perspective than the plot which was to me lacking until almost the end of the book but then it just ends. I had so many questions I wanted answers to and I felt like their were so many links, like what happened when Cora got home, what happened when any of them got home, what happened to the other Mrs. Russel, etc.? I could write an entire post just of questions.
After reading this book, I definitely want to read a nonfiction piece about the Gold Star Mothers, since it is true. To me that was very interesting but also made me wonder why the government would spend so much money on this trip when America was entering the Great Depression. This is briefly mentioned but never elaborated on. It wasn't just a budgeted journey either - it was first class for every aspect.
The reviews all said that fans of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and Major Pettigrew's Last Stand would like A Star for Mrs. Blake. I've read both but found it to be similar in the way it read to the latter. I would recommend this book for the history factor but I would probably never read it again or buy it.
Happy Reading!
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