Blue Stars by Emily Gray Tedrowe

• Title:  Blue Stars
• Author:  Emily Gray Tedrowe
• Genre:  Women’s Fiction
• Pages:  352
• Published:  March 2016 – St. Martin’s Griffin
• Source:  Publisher

My take:  Blue Stars is the story of two women, Ellen and Lacey, who never would have met if Ellen’s adopted son and Lacey’s husband hadn’t gone to war in Iraq in 2005. Two very different women and yet they find a bond when they become the primary advocates for their loved ones. They learn new perspective and discover strength they didn’t know they possessed.

Loosely based on the housing scandal at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Tedrowe’s novel drew me in – something I wasn’t expecting to happen. Ellen, a university professor from Wisconsin, never dreamed she would have a child who enlisted. She was more inclined to protest wars, not write letters to a son serving in one. Lacey, who lives in the Bronx, is a tough nut. She has a young son, works when she can get hours, and her marriage has turned cold. It’s almost a relief when her husband deploys. A few months after deployment life changes for everyone.

Blue Stars wasn’t an easy novel to read and yet Tedrowe kept me turning the pages. I imagine anyone who has had a loved one go to war would relate to it on a few levels. I was invested in Ellen and Lacey’s story and was pleased with where it went and how the author chose to end it. I think it would be a good book club selection.