A Woman's Place

A Woman's Place follows four women: Helen, Jean, Rosa and Ginnie --- all working Rosie-the-Riveter jobs in Northern Michigan during the Second World War. Each represents a different type likewise a different strength of woman: Rose is a fiery new wife of Italian origin who leaves Brooklyn to settle with her strict inlaws when her husband is shipped overseas; Helen is a middle-aged teacher and heir to a large fortune ---the only lasting member of a large family. Her past love life is explored and carries more than one surprise. If Rosa is the free-spirit, Helen is, at first glance, the stick-in-the-mud. Jean is a fresh-faced woman--- just 18 at the start of the novel, who yearns to go to college against the wishes of her All-American jock boyfriend. Her friendship with Earl the foreman at her ship-building factory job is the highlight of the novel; Ginnie is a stay-at-home mom whose war-time employment she hides from her keeping-up-with-the-Jones's huband. Ginnie yearns to discover that her value lay outside the conformity of a housewife ensconced in appearances of domestic norms. At one point, she is assured that the dog is the only member of the household who holds any affection for her. The novel begins with a snapshot of the quartet in their respective pre-war lives nicely developing characters who will grow into dear friends as the pages progress. When the attack at Pearl Harbour hits, their lives are uprooted and the narrative continually rotates to each perspective of women-at-war. The novel is at times funny, heartbreaking and warm. A scene where Rosa accidentaly spikes the punch bowl with vodka intoxicating her mother-in-law's church women's group had me in stitches. The structure of the novel also works extremely well. More and more I learn that structure is one of many of Austin's strong suits. Structure and the development of complex themes and issues. The first, in this novel, being racial prejudice. Though an inadvertent victim of prejudice herself, Helen is quick to judge a German POW begging for her acceptance.... driving the consequence of bigotry close to home. Earl and his factory workers become victim to acts of racial persecution when they stand up for a black female engineer and Jean discovers that hatred is sometimes harboured not a stone's throw from your front porch. Above all, Austin tackles the established role of women: at home, at work and through a Christian lens. Austin empowers women while allowing them to thrive in a domestic role. Her housewife, Ginnie, is not "tame", her middle-aged teacher is not silent and submissive and Rosa and Jean are in turn intellectual, passionate and strong: women who carve their own path----for whom life as a wife and mother is a result of choice and not standard trajectory. I especially felt that Austin did not favour one type of woman; nor champion one choice. Instead she realistically provided four examples and let her readers discover the universal spark in each... no mat

Prolific author, Lynn Austin, well know for her biblical and American Civil War novels brings to life the early 1940's to tell the story of four woman whose lives are forever changed by the Second World War. Four women, brought together by America's call for women to aid the war effort, take jobs at the Stockton Shipworks and train in electronics. Newly married Rosa wants to escape the disapproval of her parents-in-law while her husband Dirk fights overseas, Jean, the youngest, dreams of going to college, Helen is all alone after the death of her elderly parents and the wealth left to her is simply not enough and Virginia is desperately afraid she has become nothing more than a "servant" to her husband and sons. Working as a team the women discover that their differences are not enough to stand in the way of friendship. They discover abilities previously untapped and challenges never before experienced. When tragedy strikes and prejudice threatens to separate them these women find strength and hope in eachother and discover that faith and friendship is truly enough to overcome all things. Lynn Austin has written a beautiful novel that held my interest throughout all of its 446 pages. Each chapter is written from the perspective of one of the characters but this is not a distraction or hard to follow. Despite finding Virginia's timidity irritating in the early chapters she soon developed into a character I understood more as her personality and circumstances were revealed. The remaining three characters were fascinating and believable and while from another era, their hopes, fears and challenges were easy to relate to. The author transports you to the 1940's with relevant detail and obviously impeccable research. The prejudices these women face entering a man's world are explored as well as other issues as relevant today as they were then like racisim, prejudice, bitterness and forgiveness. A Woman's Place is a tribute to all women who sacrificed so much while their men were sacrificing their lives during the World War II era.

I loved reading "A Womans Place" by Lynn Austin. This is the first book that I read by Lynn Austin and I could not put it down. I loved the backdrop of the American homefront during WWII and how women proudly worked to help win the war. She tells a great story of how 4 women from different backgrounds became good friends in the workplace. I hated to put the book down!

I had read "Eve's Daughters" before and that was my only exposure to Lynn Austin's delightful writing ability. I found this book to be amazingly well written. I feel that Austin writes with so many different layers of character and story development. She is a refreshing and delightful writer. I cannot wait to read all of the rest of her books! I highly recommend this book to anyone. I learned a lot about the time period in which the book takes place.

In Michigan during WW II, four women from different walks of life want to help the fight against the Nazis so they follow the ads of Rosie to accept jobs in factories. Ginny is a bored mousy housewife who assumes her spouse has cheated on her. Rosa fears nothing not even her new in-laws who demand she fit the mold of a nice Italian girl now that she is married to their son. Jean wants to leave the farm and her boyfriend Russ behind to attend college. Helen feels all alone since her parents death makes the spinster schoolteacher wealthy and depressed. These four females meet and forge a sisterly bond helping one another cope better with their problems and trepidations. Lynn Austin provides a deep historical look at A WOMAN'S PLACE during WWII when many of the gender stereotypes were broken. Each member of the quartet has problems with what society expects of them to include whether to obey is God's way. Inspirational fans and historical readers will enjoy the pivotal period in women's rights when proof became obvious that a female can do much more than housekeep and raising a family; we have come a long way baby. Harriet Klausner