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Publisher:
Avalon |
Release
Date: Dec. 2003 |
ISBN:
0759257760 |
Awards:
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Format
Reviewed: ebook |
Buy
it at Amazon |
Read
an Excerpt |
Genre:
Historical fiction |
Reviewed:
2004 |
Reviewer:
Janet Elaine Smith |
Reviewer
Notes: Janet Elaine Smith is the author of 12 published
novels, including her latest two, Par for the Course and
And They Called Her General Leigh. She also writes
for many magazines, both print and ezines. |
Copyright
MyShelf.com |
|
Stage
Door Canteen
By Maggie Davis
Stage
Door Canteen is set in New York City during World War II. This
is not a book for the faint-of-heart. It paints a very graphic,
realistic picture of what life was like. It presents the glitz and
glamour of Broadway, while also depicting the fear, the blackouts,
the German U-boats, battles, and above all the loneliness of the
armed forces men who were far from home.
The
main story line revolves around three young women who work at the
“Stage Door Canteen,” the uptown hangout for most of
the men who were in New York City, many of them just for short periods
of time. The women were Genevieve Rose, an up-and-coming “star”
in a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical; Elise Ginsberg, a young refugee
who knew the horrors of Hitler’s world all too well; and Bernadine
Flaherty, a teenage dancer with her eyes set on “making it
big” in the theater.
The
men went through friendships with one another, using the girls from
the Canteen—who would only “go so far” with them,
drinking, keeping secrets, and living in conditions they never thought
they would have to face.
One
of the most endearing parts of the book was the sashaying in and
out of movie stars and musicians who had already become household
words—people like Kathryn Hepburn, Ava Gardner and Tommy Dorsey.
These stars volunteered at the “Stage Door Canteen”
the same as the commoners who dished the food up day after day.
This
book is a very delightful blend of history and fiction. It gives
a new appreciation of our soldiers, and will leave you laughing—and
crying—as you turn page after page.
Highly
recommended, whether you enjoy history or not.
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