Times Like These
By E.E. Smith
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Una
Description:
“Times like these are about as unpredictable as boardinghouse stew!” says Teddy Soberjowski in the author’s previous book, Boardinghouse Stew. The year was 1943, midway through World War II, when no one knew what would happen next.
Two years later, the times are even less predictable for the young heroine of Times Like These, on her way to a new home and an uncertain future with her volatile parents.
The war rages on in the Pacific, amid heavy casualties. Harry Truman is now president and secretly considering the use of a horrific new weapon to force Japan to surrender.
What would happen next?
Review:
This is a good wholesome story about a 13-year-old living during the end of World War 2 and the Korean Conflict. Evelyn is uprooted from her home to join her mother and father at a train junction that she refers to as the end of the world. Knowing her parent’s relationship is not good at the best of times Evelyn can see nothing good coming out of the move. Her sister has married a “uniform” and that relationship is not stable either. Against all odds she copes with the move, puts up with a substandard education system and ends up making a difference and friendships in the community she lives in. Evelyn’s instincts prove right and as her parent’s relationship deteriorates she tries to help out as much as she can but her father’s drinking finally causes him to lose his job, she is forced to live with her mother. When her mother has an affair she is sent back to her father and her imposing grandmother. Again things don’t go well and she ends up reluctantly going to live with her aunt and uncle. At last she has the stability to make a life of her own and get the education she is craving for.
I truly enjoyed meeting up with Evelyn again as I had read Boarding House Stew. I was again amazed at her resilience in rather harsh conditions. I also enjoyed a 13year old perspective when the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Although she knew the horror of the situation and knew it was wrong she stated she realized that the President had to make tough decisions.
The sub characters were interesting and kept the story flowing. I have truly enjoyed the series so far and I must say I am anticipating the next chapter in the Evelyn saga which hopefully will give the reader a glimpse into her adult life. I know I will be watching for the next book.
