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Set in the
middle of World War II, author Maggie Davis takes us on an incredible
journey
back in time. Stage Door Canteen was an
off-Broadway nightclub in New York, which was funded by the
USO and
catered to many U.S. Servicemen and women, as well as big names stars,
who
weren’t so big then, such as Frank Sinatra, Ray Bolger and Katherine
Hepburn.
Genevieve
“Jenny” Rose was a theater actress trying to make it big, who worked at
the
Canteen. Jenny’s husband, Major Brad Rose, a well-known writer, served
in Washington, working on top-secret
documents. At the Canteen is also junior
hostess, Elise,
who is a Jewish college student who desperately tries to bring the
horrors of
Hitler’s POW camps to the forefront and the public eye.
There is also Dina, a volunteer hostess who
is the object of G.I. Gene Struhbeck’s affection, who she refuses to
marry.
These are
only a select few of the characters who caught my attention; to discuss
them
all would be endless, while reading Stage
Door Canteen by Maggie Davis. In
a time when Hitler was alive, men were dying, women were trying to cope
with
daily life and bearing the brunt of men’s jobs while their husbands and
loved
ones were fighting war, chaos and fear ruled much of the world. Maggie Davis captures all the emotions of the
era: the people, the media and the men fighting for their lives and
freedom. It’s been many years since I
sat in a history class and while reading Stage
Door Canteen, I learned a lot and history has never been told
such as
this. Ms. Davis depicts the time with
accuracy, emotion, the humanity of the times and even some of the
excitement of
the rising stars and the nights in New York.
Stage Door Canteen is so much more than
just a mere
book of fiction. This is a work of art
that should be used as a precedent for everyone to learn about WWII. Each page was like watching a reel of a
movie. Everything unfolded with no
hesitancy, no hurried avenues were taken and it is just spectacular.
Maggie
Davis brings history in full content to the present, molds and shapes
it – with
accuracy, and makes it her own. Stage
Door Canteen exceeded all
the expectations I had when I was ready to read it and I was engrossed
from
start to finish. If books were eligible
for Oscars, Ms. Davis would be walking away with a new man in her life! Stage
Door Canteen is an Oscar winning performance in literature!
Reviewed by
Tracey West for The Road to Romance
April 26, 2004
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