Sgt. Mom’s New Work-in-Progress

As mentioned last night in the Chicagoboyz Zoom meetup, I have started a new novel, this one to be set in WWII. I’m stuck for a title, so any suggestions will be gratefully considered.

The concept for this new project is based on letters between two cousins during the years just prior to and during the war: One is the wife of a civilian internee in Malaya, waiting out the war in Australia, hoping for word that her husband has survived the fall of Singapore and captivity by the Japanese. The other is an Army nurse, eventually sent to North Africa and Italy. (Suggestions for other plot developments will be considered, also.) I am up to four chapters already, and posting excerpts on my book blog.

Introduction – here.

The first letter between the cousins, here.

A bit of narration, here, and here.

The second letter, here.

8 thoughts on “Sgt. Mom’s New Work-in-Progress”

  1. Well – the title has to reflect the genre – which is historical fiction. And I was trying to work “letters” into the title, but can’t think of anything that would work well…

  2. I’ll have to read this when I finish my errand but I was thinking that you book is somewhat like the Winds of War, although probably shorter ;-)

    I’ll have some ideas when I return.

    Was just reading that the female captives in Singapore had horrible treatment by the Japanese; some were sent to brothels.

  3. Your insights are welcome, Bill. The plot is that Peg will escape with her son and amah, at the last moment. She will spend the rest of the war in Australia with kin, hoping that her husband will survive.
    Yep, a bit more shorter that The Winds of War, and very much more focused.
    I looked in on a FB group which focused on the experiences of Malaya volunteers, and OMG, the leads and references which have been provided thus far.
    Yes – Facebook can be useful…

  4. Yes, Facebook can be very useful at times, but you have to be willing to sift through tons of “chaff” to find a few kernels of useful knowledge. I pretty much gave up a few years ago.

  5. Seconding Mike K on “A Town Like Alice”. Though I never read the book, I saw the movie decades ago, a real eye opener.

  6. Oh, yes, Mike K – read “A Town Like Alice” when I was in high school. And also “Three Came Back” and another book about the vocal orchestra organized by women captives. I have a good many books about the American home front, and about military nursing in WWII, a good few about the British imperial establishment here and there, but the Malay Volunteers FB page is a positive gold mine for details.

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