A story of love, war, loss, and the scars they leave, "Next to Love" follows the lives of three young women and their men during the years of World...
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Jul 09, 2011
Misfit
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Billed as "A story of war, love, loss and the scars they leave" this book is the story of three women and begins in 1941 as they are forced to watch their husbands go off to war. Millie, Grace and Babe hold down the home-front while everyone dreads being the next recipient of a telegraph from the war front. Their story continues after the war, as they and their families deal with war and its aftermath. The reader also sees the women through the 50's and 60's, as they face the changes a
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Sep 02, 2011
Jill
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“War…next to love, has captured the world’s imagination,” said the British lexicographer Eric Partridge in 1914. And indeed it has. As schoolchildren, we rapidly become acquainted with The Naked and the Dead, All Quiet on the Western Front, For Whom The Bell Tools, From Here to Eternity, Catch 22, Slaughterhouse Five…the list goes on and on.
But here’s what we don’t read about: the personal battles that are fought on the home front. We don’t get an upfront-and-personal look about t More...
But here’s what we don’t read about: the personal battles that are fought on the home front. We don’t get an upfront-and-personal look about t More...
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Aug 02, 2011
Most post-war novels focus on either those left behind during the war or the impact of the war on the returning soldiers. Ms. Feldman opts to focus on those left behind and how their lives change because their soldiers do (or do not) return. What did it mean to have to give up a job because the position needs to be vacated for a returning soldier and a wife's place is in the home? How does one adjust to married life when marriage only consisted of brief weekends together and many years apart? Wh
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Feb 15, 2012
Sometimes I just have this overwhelming urge to go to the library. Sometimes I slowly go through books and don't realize that I have nothing left to read. This happened a while ago when I had finished all my work early and wanted to settle in and take a long bath and read. But I had no books. So I bugged my mom to drive me to the library to get something good to read. And then I got there and saw that the upstairs was closed for some reason. And the first floor was all picture books. Luckily the
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Nov 15, 2011
Kate
rated it: 
"Three women and their men, friends linked forever by the tragedies of WWII." Aha, I thought when I read that brief description of "Next To Love." One of those female-friends books which has almost nothing about the men, all about women growing strong during the war. How happy I was to be wrong: this is a book that solemnly watches three couples, men and women, not only through the war years but the years after: their suffering, their triumphs, their poignant and tentative
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Nov 09, 2011
Pamela
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Next to Love is the most gut-wrenching, romantic, devastating and best book I have read this year. Bar none.
The novel centres around three friends – Babe, Millie and Grace as their husbands and boyfriends get pulled into the second World War. What I loved about this book was it showed in raw detail what it was like to be the ones left behind and how home could be just as wrecking as the home front.
The author didn’t hold back on a single thing and the stark honesty was l More...
The novel centres around three friends – Babe, Millie and Grace as their husbands and boyfriends get pulled into the second World War. What I loved about this book was it showed in raw detail what it was like to be the ones left behind and how home could be just as wrecking as the home front.
The author didn’t hold back on a single thing and the stark honesty was l More...
Nov 02, 2011
Judith
rated it:
Next to Love is big in scope while everyday in focus and beautiful in its entirety. It spans the American years from December 1941 to August 1965 (from WWII to the Gulf of Tonkin). The novel has multiple narrative points of view and its topic, the effects of war, is that eternally huge one that human history never manages to escape. That’s big, although at 320 pages, I don’t mean that it is a long book.
And yet, rather than the epic and larger-than-life action that war novels often inv More...
And yet, rather than the epic and larger-than-life action that war novels often inv More...
Sep 25, 2011
Beth
rated it:
Next To Love is the story of three women and the role World War II plays on their lives. In the beginning of the story Babe, Grace and Millie all end up sending their men off to fight World War II. The three women have to deal with the separation of war and the constant fear of receiving bad news. Babe works in the Western Union office and gets to see the news that will change peoples lives on a daily basis. We see the women dealing with their lives back home while the men are off fighting the w
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Sep 19, 2011
Alison
rated it: 
I got teary before the end of the Prologue! This book moved me, entertained me, and took me someplace new.
It's no secret that I am a huge fan of novels set in the 1940s, so I have quite a few books of this era on my bookshelf. In company with The Book Thief, Sarah's Key and A Fierce Radiance, it's not often that a book impresses or surprises me. NEXT TO LOVE made me see this era in a whole new way.
Babe, Millie, and Grace, the narrators of this story, were changed More...
Sep 15, 2011
Ruth
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I'm usually a fan of light quick reads and while this book was not in either of those categories, I really enjoyed it. As noted above, the story follows Babe, Millie and Grace from early in WWII until the time their children are grown. It also follows Naomi, an African-American who was in school with them. We watch the men go off to war--and then see who comes home, and who doesn't. Some of the women spend the War working; others are busy with young ones. All of their lives are deeply effec
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Sep 08, 2011
Amanda
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What’s It All About?
“After the war, they wrote and promised and prayed. After the war we’ll do this or that or another thing. After the war we’ll be together. After the war we’ll be happy. After the war we’ll be safe. In all their dreaming of after the war, they never dreamed there is no after to war.” – Next to Love
Follow the story of childhood friends, Grace, Millie and Babe, and their men during the years of World War II and its aftermath. Bound together and pulle More...
“After the war, they wrote and promised and prayed. After the war we’ll do this or that or another thing. After the war we’ll be together. After the war we’ll be happy. After the war we’ll be safe. In all their dreaming of after the war, they never dreamed there is no after to war.” – Next to Love
Follow the story of childhood friends, Grace, Millie and Babe, and their men during the years of World War II and its aftermath. Bound together and pulle More...
Aug 12, 2011
Louise
rated it:
The book begins in 1944 and ends in 1964. It tells the tale of three best friends: Babe, Grace, and Millie and how they cope with their trials and tribulations and the husbands they love.
It is a deeply moving story about war, friendships, and love. This book is also a bit different from most that tell tales of WW II in that it speaks about the war’s effect on society; not just on the men who fight, their families and friends.
My favourite character is Babe Huggins who works More...
It is a deeply moving story about war, friendships, and love. This book is also a bit different from most that tell tales of WW II in that it speaks about the war’s effect on society; not just on the men who fight, their families and friends.
My favourite character is Babe Huggins who works More...
Jul 29, 2011
Zohar - ManOfLaBook.com
rated it:
"Next to Love "by Ellen Feldman is a fictional book which follows three childhood friends before, during and after World War II.
Babe, Millie and Grace are childhood friends in a small town in Massachusetts. When the men are called to server their country they know their lives will change, but they don't realize w much.
Over the next decade, the women lose their innocence, struggle with their men, society and small town politics.
The first thin More...
Babe, Millie and Grace are childhood friends in a small town in Massachusetts. When the men are called to server their country they know their lives will change, but they don't realize w much.
Over the next decade, the women lose their innocence, struggle with their men, society and small town politics.
The first thin More...
Jul 19, 2011
Girls Gone Reading
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The women in Next to Love (Babe, Millie, and Grace) all begin their marriages in the same naive way we all do. We understand, abstractly, that there will be complications on the horizon. But these problems seem far away and easy to handle. However the reality of our adulthood does not turn out the way we thought it would. Babe, Millie, and Grace do not end up in the lives they imagined before WWII, but they handle it together.
Or at least they try to.
Ironically, one main a More...
Or at least they try to.
Ironically, one main a More...
Jul 13, 2011
Holly (2 Kids and Tired)
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I've seen so many reviews of this book that just rave about it and give it the highest praise and once again, I am going to be in the minority and go against the popular opinion. The premise of the story is terrific: three women thrust into the struggle and stress of World War 2 are left alone when their husbands go off to fight. When the war ends, life goes on and America and its people are changed forever.
The novel is rich historically and provides a perspective of World War 2 th More...
The novel is rich historically and provides a perspective of World War 2 th More...
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Jul 06, 2011
Molly
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I absolutely love it when I can sit down with a book and become so lost in it, when I reach the end I can't believe it's over. Ellen Feldman and her novel Next To Love is one such book, and I am now a fan for life. I was taken back to another place in time, among characters who became a part of me, and a plot line that was real.
Normally, I feel a connection with all the characters but one will touch me more than the rest. Not so with these amazingly created characters. Grace, Millie More...
Normally, I feel a connection with all the characters but one will touch me more than the rest. Not so with these amazingly created characters. Grace, Millie More...
Jun 05, 2011
Anne
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I have read a lot of books about WWII, that time in our countries history fascinates me and I love reading historical fiction about it. Ellen Feldman's Next to Love is one of the best books set in this time that I have read. The story is a about three best friends and the men they love and how they get through World War II and the years after.
Babe, Millie, and Grace are the three friends in the book and all three are given a lot of time to grow into very interesting characters tha More...
Babe, Millie, and Grace are the three friends in the book and all three are given a lot of time to grow into very interesting characters tha More...
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Jul 07, 2011
Lisa
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Next to Love is a historical romance that follows the lives of three girlfriends from 1941 to 1964. It's easy to read, and I think anyone who enjoys the genre will probably like this book. The drama of families coping with war wounds is still timely and relevant. I think many military wives/girlfriends understand the struggles and fears embodied by the main characters.
The prologue is great. I'd hoped the rest of the book would've had the same tension and mystique, but it gets taken ove More...
The prologue is great. I'd hoped the rest of the book would've had the same tension and mystique, but it gets taken ove More...
Jun 17, 2011
Elizabeth
rated it:
LOVED IT….
Men leaving, women hoping, both wanting to return to normal, but.......WW II was on the verge of beginning.
Millie, Grace, and Babe were the best of friends and endured the time while their husbands were gone. They passed the time writing letters to them and waiting for letters in return. Two weeks passed without any word from their husbands and that could only mean one thing. When the Telegram from the War Department arrived, it confirmed their worst nightmare. More...
Men leaving, women hoping, both wanting to return to normal, but.......WW II was on the verge of beginning.
Millie, Grace, and Babe were the best of friends and endured the time while their husbands were gone. They passed the time writing letters to them and waiting for letters in return. Two weeks passed without any word from their husbands and that could only mean one thing. When the Telegram from the War Department arrived, it confirmed their worst nightmare. More...
Nov 19, 2011
Sam
rated it:
Next to Love is the story of three American women caught up with World War Two. Babe, Millie and Grace are left at home whilst their husbands go to war and must deal with both the waiting and not knowing and the reality of life after the war ends, a life that will never be the same again for any of them. Broad and sweeping, Next to Love follows the lives of the three women and their children for many years and deals with a multitude of issues including bereavement, anti-semitism, grief, madnes
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Oct 05, 2011
Jade
rated it:
Originally posted at my blog Chasing Empty Pavements
The Good: I think this novel really detailed the effects of WWII on American Families. The portrayal of before, during and after the war are eerily accurate. My grandfather was a WWII veteran with a purple heart and I’ve heard many stories of the war since I was a little girl and this novel describes a lot of what my grandfather went through. This story follows three young women who grew up together and all married men who went off to More...
The Good: I think this novel really detailed the effects of WWII on American Families. The portrayal of before, during and after the war are eerily accurate. My grandfather was a WWII veteran with a purple heart and I’ve heard many stories of the war since I was a little girl and this novel describes a lot of what my grandfather went through. This story follows three young women who grew up together and all married men who went off to More...
Sep 28, 2011
Andrew
rated it:
On the eve of the US entry into World War II, there was a sudden rush to the altar, as the young men and women of the “Greatest Generation” suddenly felt the urge to get married. How these young couples coped with the war and the long term impact it had on their lives is the focus of this absorbing novel. Covering two decades through the middle of the last century, we follow the lives of three women and their families as they struggle through the uncertainty of the war and then try to live nor
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Jun 29, 2011
Tara
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Despite the book being told in present tense, an irritation to me, I really loved the beginning of this book. Imagine being a telegraph operator and being the first one to know who in town has lost a husband, father, or son? I got tingles from thinking of it. Truly, sad. Nevertheless, it got my attention..
The book introduces three different women with different mentalities and lives. WWII arrives, they all rush into marriage, and after the war, they face the consequences. Some will b More...
The book introduces three different women with different mentalities and lives. WWII arrives, they all rush into marriage, and after the war, they face the consequences. Some will b More...
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Dec 05, 2011
Sherri aka SDMomChef
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I thoroughly enjoyed this book, except for the ending - the ending left too many loose strings.
When I think of WW II, I think of the soldiers/boys going off to war, the challenges they faced, the efforts by Allies in terms of propaganda and espionage, e.g. code breaking. What I don't think much about is the women left behind - the wives married at the last minute before their "guys" are leaving to go to training. The mothers and fathers waiting for any news of their sons. More...
When I think of WW II, I think of the soldiers/boys going off to war, the challenges they faced, the efforts by Allies in terms of propaganda and espionage, e.g. code breaking. What I don't think much about is the women left behind - the wives married at the last minute before their "guys" are leaving to go to training. The mothers and fathers waiting for any news of their sons. More...
Jun 04, 2011
Eva
rated it:
Next To Love by Ellen Feldman is a story about three couples(all friends)...the men were all in World War 2 and their wives were back in United States. Babe and Claude, Millie and Pete, and Grace and Charlie are the three couples and the book is written in the form of letters and individual chapters of the women. It is interesting because it shows you how their lives were, how women were working outside of the home and becoming independent and when the men came back home, they lost their jo
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Sep 12, 2011
Olga
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This is a story of love, war, loss, and the scars they leave, Next to Love follows the lives of three young women and their men during the years of World War II and its aftermath, beginning with the men going off to war and ending a generation later, when their children are on the cusp of their own adulthood.
I could simply say that this was one of the best books I've read this year and be done with it but that wouldn't be very fair, would it? So here goes.
Babe, Grace and Milli More...
I could simply say that this was one of the best books I've read this year and be done with it but that wouldn't be very fair, would it? So here goes.
Babe, Grace and Milli More...
Aug 19, 2011
Adrienne
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Babe, Grace, and Millie are all young, deeply in love, and recently married--and their husbands are all headed off to fight in World War II, along with many other young men from the town. However, not all of these men will come home, and even those who do won't come home whole. The women all soon come to realize the devastating effects of war on relationships and every day life.
Being just before the men go off to war, this book then follows the lives of these three women and their fami More...
Being just before the men go off to war, this book then follows the lives of these three women and their fami More...
Sep 04, 2011
Laurel-Rain
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Sweeping across the decades, from 1941 to 1964, this saga of friendship, family, war, and social issues takes the reader along for the life-changing events that mark this period of time in history.
Told through the voices of three women whose lives were impacted, the reader comes to understand and know Babe, Millie, and Grace, as well as the men they marry. Some chapters revealed the home front with the women working and waiting for letters. Following the returns of some of the soldiers More...
Told through the voices of three women whose lives were impacted, the reader comes to understand and know Babe, Millie, and Grace, as well as the men they marry. Some chapters revealed the home front with the women working and waiting for letters. Following the returns of some of the soldiers More...
Jul 18, 2011
Sarah
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Feldman crafts a haunting, evocative story of war and those who are left behind. Following the lives of three women and their families before, during, and after WWII, Feldman has created a memorable and beautiful novel. I loved and connected with all the characters and was delighted to follow them through the years and watch how their lives changed. I love historical fiction and Feldman's story is executed flawlessly and believably. Nothing seems out of place. The characters are well-defined and
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Aug 12, 2011
Lauren
rated it:
A very insightful look into war and how it affects three best friends; their relationships with each other, their spouses and their children.
It took me a while to get truly connected with the three main girls but once I did, I was easily able to wrap myself into their worlds. I loved Ms. Feldman's writing style.
It took me a while to get truly connected with the three main girls but once I did, I was easily able to wrap myself into their worlds. I loved Ms. Feldman's writing style.
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