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A Gathering of Men
Candor, North Carolina. The town barber brandishes a copy of the May 1927 Charlotte Observer-on the front page, Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis on its cross-country flight. At the outskirts of town, best friends Lake, Roger, and Jim take turns hurtling downhill in their wingless crate. Eyes closed, they imagine their future alongside Lindy.
Pearl Harbor changes everything. Upon enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF), the boys will have their chance to fly - not over North Carolina farm fields, but across Germany on bombing runs, facing a determined Luftwaffe. The odds of completing their tours of duty are slim.
A Gathering of Men is the account of the boys who board their aircraft for the first time and the men they become in the blink of an eye. The terrors they witness and the pressure to go up again and again and again brings them to the breaking point. It is a moving tale, based on a true story, about shattered dreams and enduring friendship, duty, and honor.
Pearl Harbor changes everything. Upon enlisting in the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF), the boys will have their chance to fly - not over North Carolina farm fields, but across Germany on bombing runs, facing a determined Luftwaffe. The odds of completing their tours of duty are slim.
A Gathering of Men is the account of the boys who board their aircraft for the first time and the men they become in the blink of an eye. The terrors they witness and the pressure to go up again and again and again brings them to the breaking point. It is a moving tale, based on a true story, about shattered dreams and enduring friendship, duty, and honor.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
262 pages, Paperback
Published February 8, 2022
About the author
Rona Simmons
11 books50 followersRona Simmons is an award winning author of historical fiction and nonfiction. For the last several years, she has focused on untold and often overlooked stories from World War II, “The sweep of events, from the First World War, to the Great Depression, to World War II, had momentous impact on our lives,” Simmons says. She adds, “the era is a period we can still almost touch with our fingertips,” as she demonstrated successfully in her writing. Her latest work, No Average Day will be released in October 2024, bringing new stories to light.
Simmons has also written for literary journals and online and print magazines and newspapers and is active in her local writing community
Simmons has also written for literary journals and online and print magazines and newspapers and is active in her local writing community
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 11, 2022
Rona Simmons, who has previously established her place as a stellar non-fiction author with a fierce passion for WWII history, brings us to Candor, North Carolina where Lake Roth, joins the Army, goes completes his training, and - inevitably- ends up in England. Simmons, writes this novel, which is based on a true story, with masterful strokes and a compassionate heart. Additionally, the publisher did a remarkable job including maps and graphics that keeps readers interested. Highly recommend.
April 26, 2022
I distinctly remember the day back in 2009 when I was notified I would be the next 100th Air Refueling Wing Commander at Royal Air Force (RAF) Mildenhall, England. As a junior US Air Force officer flying KC-135 aerial refueling tankers in the early 1990s I transited the base several times, either on my way to the Middle East to support ongoing operations there, or, to stay in place as part of the European Tanker Task Force satisfying the training and operational requirements of European-based flying organizations needing air refueling training. Thus, I was eager to learn as much as I could about the base, the mission, and the history of the organization.
Shortly after receiving the news, I set about researching as much as I could about the base and the storied history of the ‘Bloody Hundredth’—the moniker given to the then-100th Bomb Group during WWII. The nickname was attached to the 100th because of the number of 10-men B-17 Flying Fortress crews perished in a short amount of time during some key campaigns while bombing strategic targets over Germany. Though the 100th did not lose the most men or crews of the 66 bomb groups stationed in England, the concentration of losses gave that appearance. The 100th didn’t fly out of RAF Mildenhall in those days, but at RAF Thorpe Abbotts, England, approximately 36 miles way. Thorpe Abbotts is where much of A Gathering of Men takes place.
As you read this review, you might have gotten the impression that I intentionally picked up this book as a result of the connections I’ve described, when in fact, I love aviation books and the cover attracted me. Upon receipt of the book and reading the back flap and endorsements was when the powerful connection hit me. Not only that, but the day I finished the book was also the 11th year anniversary of my visit to Thorpe Abbotts (now a museum and tribute to the 100th Bomb Group) took place, as I used the historic location for a strategic offsite retreat with my senior leaders. Wow!
And so, with great interest I began Rona Simmons’ thoroughly-researched historical fiction book. It begins with three close friends who live in Candor, North Carolina, a small town situated between Charlotte and Fayetteville, in 1927. Lake, Roger and Jim are your typical young men with big dreams and a fascination with aviation, now only about 20 years old and catapulted to great fame by Charles Lindbergh’s recent cross-country flight. The boys imaginations are stoked. Furthermore, when the boys get to ride in a Curtiss Jenny and witness an air circus show in town, it solidifies their passion for flight.
Fast forward a number of years and Pearl Harbor changes everything for the United States, and these young men. Their desire, and specifically fly, causes them to sign up. Disappointingly, though, during Lake’s processing physical he doesn’t pass the vision test and is not permitted to be a pilot. The story more or less follows Lake at this point, and he makes lemonade from the assignment lemons of being designated an aircraft mechanic. Lake thrives at his profession yet still pines to be a pilot. Simmons conveys this yearning continuously throughout the book in emotional detail readers can relate. The only satisfaction to the shortcoming is that Lake is an exceptional mechanic, sought after by peers because of his intuition for the craft.
After an assignment stateside as a mechanic instructor, Lake is sent to England and stationed at Thorpe Abbotts in early 1944. For the near balance of the book Simmons details the battle rhythm of the crews and the planes and the missions. She brilliantly conveys enough detail describing the hardships and loss of life, without going into the gory details of that loss of life, leaving it to our imagination because it is not that important to the plot and storyline.
Eventually, Jim and Roger end up at Thorpe Abbotts, and Lake becomes the crew chief for Roger’s plane. The separation of career fields—pilot and mechanic—serve also as a physical barrier to the close friendship the boys once shared, as Lake desperately wants to be closer to Roger now that they are together at Thorpe Abbotts. Roger keeps his distance though and readers feel Lake’s pain. In addition, the mental toll of tough missions has a traumatic effect on Roger, something that Lake never fully grasps. Again, Simmons conveys this tension and Roger’s PTSD (though this term didn’t exist then) in realistic detail. You’ll have to read the book—which is very readable—to get the rest.
Rona Simmons patterned the characters and circumstances on real-world events and real people, which makes this work of historical fiction more history, than fiction. The Afterword section contains fascinating background material on her research, and how this work was very personal to her.
Having read hundreds of aviation books, I can honestly say that this book ranks among the very best, and I look forward to delving into more of this author’s works. Highly recommend!
Shortly after receiving the news, I set about researching as much as I could about the base and the storied history of the ‘Bloody Hundredth’—the moniker given to the then-100th Bomb Group during WWII. The nickname was attached to the 100th because of the number of 10-men B-17 Flying Fortress crews perished in a short amount of time during some key campaigns while bombing strategic targets over Germany. Though the 100th did not lose the most men or crews of the 66 bomb groups stationed in England, the concentration of losses gave that appearance. The 100th didn’t fly out of RAF Mildenhall in those days, but at RAF Thorpe Abbotts, England, approximately 36 miles way. Thorpe Abbotts is where much of A Gathering of Men takes place.
As you read this review, you might have gotten the impression that I intentionally picked up this book as a result of the connections I’ve described, when in fact, I love aviation books and the cover attracted me. Upon receipt of the book and reading the back flap and endorsements was when the powerful connection hit me. Not only that, but the day I finished the book was also the 11th year anniversary of my visit to Thorpe Abbotts (now a museum and tribute to the 100th Bomb Group) took place, as I used the historic location for a strategic offsite retreat with my senior leaders. Wow!
And so, with great interest I began Rona Simmons’ thoroughly-researched historical fiction book. It begins with three close friends who live in Candor, North Carolina, a small town situated between Charlotte and Fayetteville, in 1927. Lake, Roger and Jim are your typical young men with big dreams and a fascination with aviation, now only about 20 years old and catapulted to great fame by Charles Lindbergh’s recent cross-country flight. The boys imaginations are stoked. Furthermore, when the boys get to ride in a Curtiss Jenny and witness an air circus show in town, it solidifies their passion for flight.
Fast forward a number of years and Pearl Harbor changes everything for the United States, and these young men. Their desire, and specifically fly, causes them to sign up. Disappointingly, though, during Lake’s processing physical he doesn’t pass the vision test and is not permitted to be a pilot. The story more or less follows Lake at this point, and he makes lemonade from the assignment lemons of being designated an aircraft mechanic. Lake thrives at his profession yet still pines to be a pilot. Simmons conveys this yearning continuously throughout the book in emotional detail readers can relate. The only satisfaction to the shortcoming is that Lake is an exceptional mechanic, sought after by peers because of his intuition for the craft.
After an assignment stateside as a mechanic instructor, Lake is sent to England and stationed at Thorpe Abbotts in early 1944. For the near balance of the book Simmons details the battle rhythm of the crews and the planes and the missions. She brilliantly conveys enough detail describing the hardships and loss of life, without going into the gory details of that loss of life, leaving it to our imagination because it is not that important to the plot and storyline.
Eventually, Jim and Roger end up at Thorpe Abbotts, and Lake becomes the crew chief for Roger’s plane. The separation of career fields—pilot and mechanic—serve also as a physical barrier to the close friendship the boys once shared, as Lake desperately wants to be closer to Roger now that they are together at Thorpe Abbotts. Roger keeps his distance though and readers feel Lake’s pain. In addition, the mental toll of tough missions has a traumatic effect on Roger, something that Lake never fully grasps. Again, Simmons conveys this tension and Roger’s PTSD (though this term didn’t exist then) in realistic detail. You’ll have to read the book—which is very readable—to get the rest.
Rona Simmons patterned the characters and circumstances on real-world events and real people, which makes this work of historical fiction more history, than fiction. The Afterword section contains fascinating background material on her research, and how this work was very personal to her.
Having read hundreds of aviation books, I can honestly say that this book ranks among the very best, and I look forward to delving into more of this author’s works. Highly recommend!
February 8, 2022
This book is a reimagining of real events and, as is often the case with truly great stories, truth trumps fiction.
The themes are growing up, bravery, camaraderie, and something darker as the story develops. To classify this book as historical fiction would be inaccurate. It transcends genres, which may be a headscratcher for publishers and bookshops, but is an absolute delight for readers.
Roger, the main character is destined to be an airman from his first flight in the Jenny at an airshow, “It was the moon and the stars. It was everything,” and we follow him and his buddies from childhood to wartime Europe and Roger’s command of B-17s and the fateful Niner-zero bomber.
Along the way, we see the world, in all its glory and horror, through Roger’s eyes, or rather through Simmons meticulous research and understanding of human psychology. I may be going out on a limb here, but I suspect that Rona Simmons was not a member of the 100th Bomb Group and has never flown into combat, which makes this book all the more remarkable. The exquisite choice of details in A Gathering of Men is what make it so convincing, evoking the times and the places so powerfully. Air crew in barracks, awaiting their next flight over enemy territory, pass around a comic strip of the hapless Dagwood Bumstead, received in a letter from home, or learn about how well the Red Sox are doing, comforting themselves with familiarity, but longing to be back with their families.
The reader is right there with the airmen, experiencing their determination and terror as they take off on a perilous mission, then another, then another, each time facing the spinning barrels of a gun in a game of arial Russian roulette.
A Gathering of Men is a story in which three boys get to live their dreams, then experience their nightmares. It is a tale of honour, brotherhood and true courage with a twist in the tail that could only come from real life.
The themes are growing up, bravery, camaraderie, and something darker as the story develops. To classify this book as historical fiction would be inaccurate. It transcends genres, which may be a headscratcher for publishers and bookshops, but is an absolute delight for readers.
Roger, the main character is destined to be an airman from his first flight in the Jenny at an airshow, “It was the moon and the stars. It was everything,” and we follow him and his buddies from childhood to wartime Europe and Roger’s command of B-17s and the fateful Niner-zero bomber.
Along the way, we see the world, in all its glory and horror, through Roger’s eyes, or rather through Simmons meticulous research and understanding of human psychology. I may be going out on a limb here, but I suspect that Rona Simmons was not a member of the 100th Bomb Group and has never flown into combat, which makes this book all the more remarkable. The exquisite choice of details in A Gathering of Men is what make it so convincing, evoking the times and the places so powerfully. Air crew in barracks, awaiting their next flight over enemy territory, pass around a comic strip of the hapless Dagwood Bumstead, received in a letter from home, or learn about how well the Red Sox are doing, comforting themselves with familiarity, but longing to be back with their families.
The reader is right there with the airmen, experiencing their determination and terror as they take off on a perilous mission, then another, then another, each time facing the spinning barrels of a gun in a game of arial Russian roulette.
A Gathering of Men is a story in which three boys get to live their dreams, then experience their nightmares. It is a tale of honour, brotherhood and true courage with a twist in the tail that could only come from real life.
March 5, 2022
Rona Simmons has written the kind of novel I adore – a sweeping story stretching from the main character’s boyhood in the 1920s to his richly remembered life in the 2020s. And what a life it was, unfurling from a trio of young friends’ flight in a doomed biplane to their similarly bedeviled days in the US Army Air Force's 100th Bomb Group during WWII.
Knowing that Simmons based "A Gathering of Men" on a true story only deepens the satisfaction. History buffs will be delighted by the author’s careful attention to aviation detail as she takes readers from North Carolina to England and Germany then back to North Carolina, where unseen war wounds scab over, leaving everlasting scars across the hearts and lives of survivors.
And anyone just looking for a good book to read will be captivated by Simmons’ fine writing. The author of four other works of nonfiction and historical fiction, she capably recounts the lives of WWII bombers and crews in a fashion that brings them all back to life until, for many in that storied group known as the "Bloody Hundredth,” only medals and legacies were left for their families back home.
Underscoring the novel’s poignant power are maps and a fascinating afterword meticulously detailing the facts that make this work of fiction linger long after the last word is read.
An authentic saga wrung from the soul of an author whose father and husband proudly served our country, "A Gathering of Men" rang true for this Army brat, though ancestry in the military’s heritage of duty and honor is hardly required. All anyone needs is a desire to read a gripping novel, and I happily give this one five stars.
Kathy Des Jardins, author of “Mama Tried”
Knowing that Simmons based "A Gathering of Men" on a true story only deepens the satisfaction. History buffs will be delighted by the author’s careful attention to aviation detail as she takes readers from North Carolina to England and Germany then back to North Carolina, where unseen war wounds scab over, leaving everlasting scars across the hearts and lives of survivors.
And anyone just looking for a good book to read will be captivated by Simmons’ fine writing. The author of four other works of nonfiction and historical fiction, she capably recounts the lives of WWII bombers and crews in a fashion that brings them all back to life until, for many in that storied group known as the "Bloody Hundredth,” only medals and legacies were left for their families back home.
Underscoring the novel’s poignant power are maps and a fascinating afterword meticulously detailing the facts that make this work of fiction linger long after the last word is read.
An authentic saga wrung from the soul of an author whose father and husband proudly served our country, "A Gathering of Men" rang true for this Army brat, though ancestry in the military’s heritage of duty and honor is hardly required. All anyone needs is a desire to read a gripping novel, and I happily give this one five stars.
Kathy Des Jardins, author of “Mama Tried”
March 7, 2022
In A Gathering of Men, Rona Simmons uses vivid imagery to create a memorable historical fiction novel. There is no way to walk away from this book without being more informed and touched by the stories of the men and women who served in the 100th Bomb Group. Good historical fiction is a plausible story in a known historical era. Great historical fiction puts the reader in that time and space, so they feel like they are experiencing it with the characters. This book falls a bit beyond great historical fiction. It is raw, emotional, and sometimes difficult to read – and that is because of the “real” memories used as a base for the story. I also liked how she separated the narrative into five parts. It makes for an easy trajectory of the friendship, especially between Lake and Roger. I don’t mind admitting that I teared up more than a few times. An excellent read! For more details, please visit Fireflies and Free Kicks. This review was written based on a digital copy of the book.
June 3, 2022
A GATHERING OF MEN is a well-crafted tale that presents a different perspective on the men who flew bombing missions for the mighty Eighth Air Force in WWII. The story is told from the viewpoint of a chief mechanic for B-17s that flew out of an air base in England. The novel--that could just as well be categorized as literary fiction (Rona Simmons is a wonderful writer) as historical fiction--deals with what we now call PTSD but back then was known as "battle fatigue" or becoming "flak happy." The mechanic, Lake, watches a close friend who is a B-17 pilot succumb to it. The aviator's struggle with PTSD affects both men deeply. The novel is less about war than the enduring effects of war on young men. Well done, Ms. Simmons.
March 4, 2022
Just finished reading A Gathering of Men by Rona Simmons and look on it as a masterpiece of Americana. Set in the broad expansive 20th Century, Rona takes us through an adventure - "one of boys becoming men" and fulfilling their dreams to fly above the clouds. This story has it all; hopes, dreams, life-long friendships, duty, honor, gallantry, heartache, war, death and love. Rona's true-to-life account of the main characters is well worth reading for anyone who has ever loved someone else.
-- Robert Lofthouse, award-winning author of Honor Through Sacrifice
-- Robert Lofthouse, award-winning author of Honor Through Sacrifice
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March 29, 2022MWSA Review
A Gathering of Men is a World War Two novel of three young men who leave their rural North Carolina home to become airmen in the “Bloody 100th” Bomb Group, flying against Nazi Germany in the horrific early days of American’s entry in the air war over Europe.
Too often, historical fiction attempts to overlay modern attributes on characters, taking away the authenticity of their speech, emotions, and actions. The author has done a wonderful job of giving her characters in this book an “old” feel, depicting simple brave country boys who grew up in the Great Depression and whose fathers had fought in France in the Great War just a scant twenty years before.
Ms. Simmons has previously written a nonfiction book on World War Two, and her expertise clearly shows through in her descriptions and depictions of the men and machines of the 100th Bomb Group, an actual unit that lost over 730 men and 177 aircraft during the war, many of them during a three-month period in the Fall of 1943. Fans of World War Two and military aviation fiction will find this an outstanding read.
Review by Terry Lloyd (March 2022)
A Gathering of Men is a World War Two novel of three young men who leave their rural North Carolina home to become airmen in the “Bloody 100th” Bomb Group, flying against Nazi Germany in the horrific early days of American’s entry in the air war over Europe.
Too often, historical fiction attempts to overlay modern attributes on characters, taking away the authenticity of their speech, emotions, and actions. The author has done a wonderful job of giving her characters in this book an “old” feel, depicting simple brave country boys who grew up in the Great Depression and whose fathers had fought in France in the Great War just a scant twenty years before.
Ms. Simmons has previously written a nonfiction book on World War Two, and her expertise clearly shows through in her descriptions and depictions of the men and machines of the 100th Bomb Group, an actual unit that lost over 730 men and 177 aircraft during the war, many of them during a three-month period in the Fall of 1943. Fans of World War Two and military aviation fiction will find this an outstanding read.
Review by Terry Lloyd (March 2022)
June 8, 2022
I cried while reading Rona Simmon’s (The Other Veterans of WWII: Stories from Behind the Front Lines, Postcards from Wonderland) newest novel. She creates characters in this powerfully empathetic novel from composites in her own family and interviews with veterans who brought victory in WWII and then came back to live in peace. The book is marvelous fiction that transports the reader to a desperately factual time and place. Reminiscent of the film Twelve O’Clock High, her book captures both the imagination and the heart. I really don’t think there is a better way to study history than to experience this kind of story.
From the first adventure with young lads falling in love with early flight, bi-wing circus fliers, and Charles Lindberg’s exploits, the reader has whisked away with them. Based on real people and countless interviews of survivor combatants, Rona makes clear that it was the romance of flying that enthralled the young men. They were patriots but not eager for war. A skilled novelist, she created a time bubble so that readers feel every joy, disappointment, sleepless night, bitterly cold day, and what it must be like to land a plane by force of will and not much more.
“Afraid? We’re all afraid. Of everything. Don’t let anyone tell you different. Mostly we’re too busy to realize it. Right then I didn’t have time to be afraid I didn’t have time to even think about being afraid….”
Lt. Crowley, co-pilot, p 163.
Her book chronicles the exploits and trauma along with the great success of the 8 AF 100th Bomb Group pilots, mechanics, and aircrew’s heroic, invaluable demonstrations of strategic airpower. The author tells us intimate details of what can only be personal family history, and indeed from her own father-in-law’s memory. It is a gripping, immersive narrative that I finished quickly. I didn’t want to set it down.
Even more poignant was the emotional. I identified with the world she created as I have been a USAF officer and was assigned in Germany where modern aircraft launched in endless wartime drills. I identified with the protagonist and other characters as the spirit of fighting men and women has not changed nearly as much as their machines. For the most part, our fighter jets came back after every mission but there were still endlessly long shifts, bitter cold, fatal mistakes, injuries, close calls, and shared camaraderie never repeated in civilian life. Her factual account at the end of the novel of those removed from flight status was heartbreaking but understandable. I was also a wife and mother, so I could easily identify with Rona’s chapter on the women left behind, perpetually waiting, managing homes, and even losing mates. The prayers, hopes, expectations, and sadness of the women she portrays haven’t changed much in all the wars that have been.
Rona uses a treasury of her family history, interviews with surviving veterans of WWII, military history texts, the social history of the time, and archival websites available for research. All are well documented at the end of her novel so you might explore them on your own.
This total blend of fact and fiction is splendid Americana and stands as a modern example of the best historical novel, one you want to savor, display, share with friends, crow about, and read over and over. I know I will.
From the first adventure with young lads falling in love with early flight, bi-wing circus fliers, and Charles Lindberg’s exploits, the reader has whisked away with them. Based on real people and countless interviews of survivor combatants, Rona makes clear that it was the romance of flying that enthralled the young men. They were patriots but not eager for war. A skilled novelist, she created a time bubble so that readers feel every joy, disappointment, sleepless night, bitterly cold day, and what it must be like to land a plane by force of will and not much more.
“Afraid? We’re all afraid. Of everything. Don’t let anyone tell you different. Mostly we’re too busy to realize it. Right then I didn’t have time to be afraid I didn’t have time to even think about being afraid….”
Lt. Crowley, co-pilot, p 163.
Her book chronicles the exploits and trauma along with the great success of the 8 AF 100th Bomb Group pilots, mechanics, and aircrew’s heroic, invaluable demonstrations of strategic airpower. The author tells us intimate details of what can only be personal family history, and indeed from her own father-in-law’s memory. It is a gripping, immersive narrative that I finished quickly. I didn’t want to set it down.
Even more poignant was the emotional. I identified with the world she created as I have been a USAF officer and was assigned in Germany where modern aircraft launched in endless wartime drills. I identified with the protagonist and other characters as the spirit of fighting men and women has not changed nearly as much as their machines. For the most part, our fighter jets came back after every mission but there were still endlessly long shifts, bitter cold, fatal mistakes, injuries, close calls, and shared camaraderie never repeated in civilian life. Her factual account at the end of the novel of those removed from flight status was heartbreaking but understandable. I was also a wife and mother, so I could easily identify with Rona’s chapter on the women left behind, perpetually waiting, managing homes, and even losing mates. The prayers, hopes, expectations, and sadness of the women she portrays haven’t changed much in all the wars that have been.
Rona uses a treasury of her family history, interviews with surviving veterans of WWII, military history texts, the social history of the time, and archival websites available for research. All are well documented at the end of her novel so you might explore them on your own.
This total blend of fact and fiction is splendid Americana and stands as a modern example of the best historical novel, one you want to savor, display, share with friends, crow about, and read over and over. I know I will.
November 12, 2024
In A Gathering of Men, Rona Simmons takes the reader on the life changing journey of three young boys experiencing the magic of flight for the first time through their life changing experiences and tragedies serving in WWII. Rona's main character, Lake, is an aircraft mecanic who worked ceaselessly with his men to keep the bombers flying to ensure the pilots and their crews are as safe as possible on the frequent and deadly bombing runs they were assigned. Through his character we experience the dedication, disappointment, love and loss so many faced, and walk with him to old age and the partial closure a reunion brings. The author takes the reader behind the wall of silence where so many veterans live with their memories of war. It is a walk many veterans walk through but one that has rarely been articulated. In the Afterword Simmons pays an additional tribute to the military members she based the books characters on. The stresses of war and in particular the bombing raids are clearly evidenced. This is an excellent book and one that reminds us that the brotherhood of veterans extends beyond the grave.
Monique Taylor ~ Author of Suicide Jockeys: The Making of the WWII Combat Glider Pilot
Monique Taylor ~ Author of Suicide Jockeys: The Making of the WWII Combat Glider Pilot
March 26, 2023
A worthwhile addition to everyone's World War II bookshelf. Well written and well researched, bringing together (in fact and fiction) re-imagined ideas and first-hand accounts of the young men who dreamed as boys to become American pilots. Often their dreams were realized, but at times they were not. Scenes of clear skies, close southern farming families, rivets and steel, then combat, flak and, ultimately, the mental strain of war. This tale of friendship and rejection, death and love is highly recommended.
May 29, 2024
Talk about a page turner! I couldn’t put this one down. Especially toward the end I had to find out what happened with Roger Perry. Kudos to Simmons for her expertise in blending fact and fiction. I highly recommend this one even if you are not a WW II buff. The writing will keep you engaged.
Currently Reading
September 7, 2025Combining the history of the 100th Bomb Group, and indeed all the men who sacrificed so much to win the war in Europe from the air, with a fictional coming of age story.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews