The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line: Untold Stories of the Women Who Changed the Course of World War II

by Mari K. Eder

For fans of Radium Girls and history and WWII buffs, The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line takes you inside the lives and experiences of 15 unknown women heroes from the Greatest Generation, the women who served, fought, struggled, and made things happen during WWII - in and out of uniform, for theirs is a legacy destined to embolden generations of women to come.

The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line are the heroes of the Greatest Generation that you hardly ever hear about. These women who did extraordinary things didn’t expect thanks and shied away from medals and recognition. Despite their amazing accomplishments, they’ve gone mostly unheralded and unrewarded. No longer. These are the women of World War II who served, fought, struggled, and made things happen - in and out of uniform.

Liane B. Russell fled Austria with nothing and later became a renowned US scientist whose research on the effects of radiation on embryos made a difference to thousands of lives. Gena Turgel was a prisoner who worked in the hospital at Bergen-Belsen and cared for the young Anne Frank, who was dying of typhus. Gena survived and went on to write a memoir and spent her life educating children about the Holocaust. Ida and Louise Cook were British sisters who repeatedly smuggled out jewelry and furs and served as sponsors for refugees, and they also established temporary housing for immigrant families in London.

Retired US Army Major General Mari K. Eder wrote this book because she knew their stories needed to be told - and the sooner the better. For theirs is a legacy destined to embolden generations of women to come.

Genres: Audiobook, History, Historical, World War II, Nonfiction

Audible Audio

Published September 7, 2021

About the author

Mari K. Eder, retired U.S. Army Major General, is a renowned speaker and author, and a thought leader on strategic communication and leadership. General Eder has served as Director of Public Affairs at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies and as an adjunct professor and lecturer in communications and public diplomacy at the NATO School and Sweden’s International Training Command. She served in a number of senior positions in the Pentagon, on the Army Staff, as Deputy Chief of Public Affairs and Deputy Chief of the Army Reserve, and with DoD’s Reserve Forces Policy Board. General Eder speaks and writes frequently on communication, ethics, and security topics in universities and for international audiences and consults on communications issues.
When not writing, lecturing, or traveling, she works with rescue groups and fosters rescued Schnauzers.

Reviews

[Michelle N · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book about many courageous and inspirational women and their contributions during WW2.

Listened to the audiobook version and the narration by Bernadette Dunn was lovely.

[Jodie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great up until the last chapter in which she lists modern females who are supposedly stepping out of line and being firsts of some kind. She also makes a statement about such women being known by their humility and humanity ….. after listing Greta Thunberg, Nancy Pelosi, and Ilhan Omar as such women. If those are the types of women who are supposed to be our role models these days, females are doomed. What an absolute joke.

All of the women from WW2 were exceptional and I greatly enjoyed hearing their stories. Some I had heard before, whereas others were new and fascinating. They were extraordinary women living in extraordinary times.

[Kayleigh Antenucci · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 stars. Interesting info! Felt too long for what it was.

[AJ Hall · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an interesting book but some of the stories were drawn out. The last section of the book, authors overview, was repetitive of the information already presented in the book. It took all of my will power to finish it.

[Arthur Rohloff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great stories but mediocre writing. Better off finding some of the books or articles about the individual characters.

[Megan Moss · Rating 4 out of 5]

My husband works in the medical field and had a patient reading this book. He wrote down the title to share with me. I’d never heard of it.

I started listening to it and wouldn’t stop talking about it so it became our road trip listen.

This book is comprised of chapters focusing on various women that made contributions during WWII. I’d never heard of these women and their stories were fascinating!!! The stories also brought light to facets of WWII I didn’t know about, which I love. There was such a variety as well. There were women living in the U.S., multiple countries in Europe and in Asia as well.

There were spies, escapees, refugees, cartographers, prisoners of war, journalists, etc.

Some of the stories were soo exciting!

Some of the stories were not quite as exciting, but I am still glad they were included.

This book was a tremendous research effort and I am very glad we listened to it.

Neither of us liked the ending chapters as much, but I’d still highly recommend this one to any history enthusiasts.

[Lyndsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really in depth look at several women who are otherwise unknown. With the exception of Virginia Hall whom I had read a book about in 2020, none of these names were familiar. I am glad the author chose to dig into these people's stories and share them, especially as they have all since passed away and therefore cannot share their own stories any longer. It is important to recognize that winning the war was a collective effort not undertaken solely by white men, but was a national effort. This book celebrates that. I highly recommend it.

[Kristin Hallett · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the book my book club read for Sept and one of the ladies said it best-it read like a history book. All of the stories about the ladies were interesting but I felt like I was reading one story after another about different women. I picked up this book for a while - stopped read two others And came back to it. I’m glad I read it but different than my normal reading.

[Maggie Burns · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mean… the stories of these women are incredible. But the repetition of the title was a bit much.

Plus at the end, we were charged with “holding the line” which feels the opposite of “stepping out of line” so that was disappointing.

[Jeni Linder Davenport · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook. Amazing stories of heroic women. So important to hear about these women who made a difference in the war.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each chapter is the story of a new woman or women. Great dive into some women who made history!

[Nancy Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed this book. Reading about so many women of “The Greatest Generation”, who were firsts in their military occupations was so interesting and eye opening.

[Evangeline M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book sparked interesting conversations with my mother, so I think it’s a necessary book and probably good for an overview history/social studies course related to WWII. It’s fairly long and dry however, and reads a bit like an encyclopedia. My husband is reading the print version and I imagine the book might be better with the photographs he gets to experience. Also, the stories are supposedly “untold,” but as you go along it’s apparent that the majority of the women wrote their own memoirs or had books written about them as far back as 40 years ago, so the stories were definitely told before. The only new information seems to be the women dying circa 2019, which I guess turns the book into an obituary section of the newspaper.

I don’t mean to downplay the fantastic lives and accomplishments of the women listed in the book, but as far as a good read goes, I imagine the separate memoirs are better. I have read fantastic nonfiction historical records that are written in a page-turning style, so it is possible. Still, as a woman born in the 1980s, all of these stories were news to me, so clearly important that my generation make some study of this history, and I suppose a collection like this one makes that study more convenient. Probably some college professors should take note of the title for their students, or AP history teachers. But if you’re reading for pleasure, I’d advise skimming the reference section of this book for the actual memoirs. That’s what I plan to do for any future reading I do on this topic.

[Ashley Morrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing to read. All women that were mentioned had courage, determination, motivation, and finished their duties until the very end. I wished I had learned about them when I was in grade school or high school. This book would encourage young girls to find follow their dreams or give them an idea on what they want to do for their future. I just wish that women would have been treated better in the past like they do now.

[Lauren Sussmann · Rating 1 out of 5]

So I'm trying to read more nonfiction. Unfortunately this one reminded me why I don't read non fiction. It read like my college thesis.My college thesis was not good. ** I'm back a month later to say this book was actually not good after having sat with it for a minute. I get a headache anytime I think about it.

[Charise Jewell · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories were interesting but the way they were told was not.

[Ichiban186 · Rating 3 out of 5]

While these are all amazing stories of suffering, survival and endurance, Couldn’t finish. Too long, repetitive.

[Sharon Healy-Yang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed Major General Mari K. Eder's collection of stories about women who "stepped out of line" during WWII to put their talents to use, challenge bigotry and prejudice, and save lives. Her book celebrates women whose accomplishments during the war were swept under the rug due to prejudice. You learn of the courage of Resistance fighters, women who rescued Jews and others persecuted by the Nazis, flyers, cartographers, nurses, spies, and the 6888th Postal Battalion who saved fighting morale - all overcoming impossible odds with courage, discipline, insight, determination, and compassion. Eder's research and sources are reliable and extensive, her writing itself is clear and exciting, while her extensive array of the various roles women played is convincing. An enjoyable and inspirational book.

[Natalie Gubler · Rating 4 out of 5]

From some of these women’s stories it brought tears in my eyes being from mostly the gratitude I feel for them but also because my feminism was screaming in learning they were not getting recognized—until 50 later, having no benefits, having to keep their life a secret, cracking war codes, military status denial. I cannot imagine where our country would be without these women! I gave 4 stars because the writing around the stories was not strong and it made it slow.

[Margaret Romine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting stories of very courageous women in World War II, whose stories need to be shared. However, I found at times that the book was a little dry. It wasn't a book that made me want to keep reading. Fortunately, the chapters were rather short. I forced myself to finish but found the later chapters to be less interesting and, at times, a bit repetitive.

[Erin Riedle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting topic. I had an issue with them calling it the “Palestine problem”, but outside of that it was interesting to learn about the women that changed history. I can only imagine how hard it would have been to do so much for our country during world war 2 only to then have to return to the status quo submissive life of the 1950s for women.

[Pauline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book and well titled. We’ve read extensively about women résistants, spies, and code breakers in WWII but this has expanded our knowledge of the role of women in military WWII history. The detailed bibliography is providing us future reads.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one one of the most interesting books about women in the war that I've read. Each chapter is about a different woman so it really was easier to read. I highly recommend this book. I have 3 more books on women in the war to read. A very interesting and great read.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved every chapter of this book. I listened to it after solo-hiking the Tanner Trail in Grand Canyon. It was fun to hear all the stories of women much braver than I. And the stories are very entertaining, not boring at all.

[Amanda Maguire · Rating 5 out of 5]

“We stand on their shoulders because they stepped out of line.” Amazing stories about women who paved the way for women today. We still have a long way to go but wouldn’t be where we are without these brave heroes! 🫡 💪

[C.S. Kjar · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book holds stories of individual women who stood out in their fields during wartime. Some of the stories I'd heard, but most I hadn't. It's an interesting look at how women stepped up and conquered the barriers to succeed in helping during the course of the war.

[Dawn Plestina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating stories about the women who came before us up to present day. A must read for young women and our daughters!

[Colette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve read so many of these stories in other book, but some I’ve never heard before. Great book about women’s accomplishments and triumphs in our history. Good read.

[Karen Bussone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who were these women I had only heard of one of them before reading this book. Very interesting a bit of repetition but nit enough to be frustrating

[Louise L Trujillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extraordinary stories from Extraordinary women.