Handsome Women

I had a very hard time putting this book down. This was an absolutely engrossing read. We first meet sisters Marynell and Louise when they are young women in 1937 (20 and 19 yrs.) looking for suitable husbands. They're from a military family and expect to marry military officers just as their mother did, and have beautiful West Point weddings, crossed sabers and all. We follow Louise (who primarily tales the story) and Marynell through about 50 years of heartache, joy, passion, love, three wars, death, and everything else that could possibly be in between. Having grown up military my entire life, and being the wife of a military officer, I personally found this book fascinating. It was so interesting to see what a huge part officer's wives played in the military of the 30's, 40's and 50's. All the tea's, bridge games, committees, entertaining that went on, and you see how this lifestyle starts to affect each sister differently. This being an almost 600 page book, I can't possibly summarize everything, or even come close, but I highly recommend this read if you're at all interested in family saga's, or the military way of life. My only qualm with this book was all the sex talk, it didn't bother me, I just found it a little distracting at times. I didn't realize sex would be such a big part of this book, it took me a bit by surprise. But nonetheless, Judith Henry Wall has woven a very readable tale that's almost impossible to put down till it's finished.

This is book is great for anyone who appreciates a good long romance novel. I thought this book would be just some stupid tasteless smut novel because of the cover, but my friend was going on and on about it so I read it for myself. I loved it. I almost cried for Maggie and I felt really connected to Louise. This book teaches us just how tedious it can be to be an ARMY wife, even though this book takes place starting from the late 30's and goes on to the early 70's. I believe this book deserves every one of these 5 stars.

A real page turner! Had difficulty putting this book down.A great family saga of military families from WWI thru Vietnam war. This is a sweeping story that was both happy and sad. I found Franklin very controlling and not lovable in my eyes. He is a very intense man and I found myself really disliking him at times.On the whole this was a passion-filled drama spanning 30 yrs. Enjoyed it and recommend it.

Judith Henry Wall captures the mystery and the magic of military living during the '40's, 50's and 60's that is not so prevalent today. This book is a heartwarming history reminder to all military wives past and present as well a stoic valentine to a style of living that not everyone is a part of.