I have long been a fan of this author’s China Bayles mystery series. Here she branches out into historical fiction telling the story of Eisenhower and his love affair with Kay Summersby.

At the time, Eisenhower was, of course, married to Mamie. He was in Britain because of the war and former model Kay was his assigned driver. This novel vividly imagines and brings to life their attraction to one another during times of great stress and their becoming involved with each other.

This book is titled The General’s Women because, of course it tells the story of what Mamie’s life was like as well. It was not easy. Eisenhower’s own perspective is also included.

Readers may well know which relationship Eisenhower ultimately chooses. This will not interfere with their absorption in this story.

The title covers the war but also the time after it as Eisenhower seeks a number of positions.

Fans of historical fiction, give this book a look. It makes for a good read.

Kudos to Albert for doing her research and bringing this story to life.

As the U.S. is about to open the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial in Washington, DC to honor the President's devotion as a world statesman and preeminent internationalist, I can't help but wonder if Kay Summersby will be mentioned. I had not heard of Kay (Summersby), Eisenhower's volunteer Irish driver/aide until reading this book. Kay played a significant, and ever-increasing, role in IKE's life during his rise in power (stars) commanding the U.S. forces from 1942-1945. It is when the war is over and Eisenhower returns to his wife Mamie and political career that feels most real. While this is a novel, there are facts that are corroborated with Kay's biography "Past Forgetting" about her affair with Eisenhower, and that is the pleasure of reading historical fiction. Thank you to Susan Wittig Albert, publisher Persevero and NetGalley for my ARC.

Started a few times and could not get into. Sorry for the delay in reviewing. I think it was just me and not connecting with the book not poor writing or anything like that!

Another solid piece of historical fiction from Susan Wittag Albert. Her thorough research really shows in this book. I couldn't help but feel sorry for all three main characters even while I was mad at Ike for cheating. In the long run, I don't think any of them ended up 100% happy.

This was a book which combined the best of many genres. History in great descriptive detail and then the person behind the great character - his life, loves and the women he fell in love with.

General Ike Eisenhower was a character. Leading from the front, he was successful combining the Allied forces with American troops to halt the German Nazi tide in Europe. Success came to him slowly. Very slowly. For sixteen years he languished almost forgotten and then the rise and the promotions came very swiftly. It took him to London first and then to Europe and Africa. His wife of very long standing was very set in her ways - she thought she would not be able to travel, she thought she had a weak heart, could not take any stress, decided not to bring the army and his professional life home at all. Mamie Eisenhower sounded a very selfish and a self centred woman. The General getting attracted to Kay Summersby in London seemed fated from the beginning. Kay was young, attractive and determined to do her job well. She did it too showing extreme bravery during the Blitz and carrying out all duties entrusted to her, including driving the General around London in blackout conditions.

Their relationship was doomed however as he would never be able to get out of his marriage for both political and personal reasons. Kay knew this. She had been warned about it but she lived for the moment and loved him very deeply.

The poignancy of their relationship is very well told in this book. You feel sad, happy, overjoyed but the sense of an ending comes is always there. Kay came out of this badly, Ike also but not as badly. He had options open to him which he took becoming President of the United States.

For lovers of history, this is a must read. My knowledge of the American involvement in the War was sketchy. This filled out all the blanks. From a very deep love story angle, this was a classic.

Goodreads and Amazon review posted on 5/9/2017. Review on my blog mid September. Also linked to my FB page.

The story is interesting but I was often frustrated trying to separate fact from fiction. The author's sympathies all lie with Kaye Summersby and the portrait of Mamie Eisenhower is very unflattering. Too much speculation presented as fact.

I began reading this knowing virtually nothing about Eisenhower except for the "I Like Ike" slogan and feel I came out having learned a fair amount. The writing is good, the book is put together well for being told from different points of view, and it gives a clear picture of what life was like during the time of Eisenhower's ascendance in the European theatre during WWII. This is not usually a time period I'm interested in reading about, but I have no regrets about having chosen this book, and may even look into reading Kay Summersby's own books to learn more about what living in this very strange triangle in an extreme period of existence was like.

I was provided an ARC of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow what a powerful story!
This is a story about two very different women who were both in love with General Eisenhower. Kay Summersby who was his driver and then eventually became his lover and his wife Mamie Eisenhower who knew about Kay but refused to acknowledge her.

The detail in his book is amazing not only about Kay and Mamie but also General Eisenhower's war and the pivotal role he played in it.

Kay's story was exciting and compelling to read but also very sad as she knew he would go back to his wife when the war was over so made the most of the times they had together. Her memoirs are to treasure as they have allowed us a glimpse into what must have been a hard life to lead.

Mamie's story is equally compelling as she suspected what was happening between Kay and Ike but refused to allow gossip to get the better of her.

This was an engrossing book that I would recommend to anyone who not only wants to know more about Kay and Mamie's stories but about the war and the key roles they played in it.

History, as well as biography/autobiography fans will enjoy this book and the fascinating insight into the life of General Eisenhower. The character of the 2 women of the titles origination is of central importance (in my opinion) and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I brought it with me every where so I could squeeze a page in whenever I had the chance!

“She would forever remember that moment as the point at which her old life ended and a new life began. If I survive, she thought, I will be different. I will know, always, that I am a part of something larger than myself.”

The story is astonishing. The General’s Women tells the story of the love affair between General Dwight Eisenhower and a former model and now driver, Kay Summersby during the Second World War. At this point he had been married to Mamie for twenty-five years – years in which they had had two children, and lost one of their young sons to illness. Kay is married but separated, and engaged to be married to another man when she comes to work for Ike when he is stationed in London, directing military operations. Wittig Albert’s astoundingly readable novel imagines that affair – from London to North Africa and back to England.

Told mostly from Kay’s point of view, there are still sections devoted to the thoughts and lives of both Ike, and Mamie.

Mamie is in in Washington for the duration of the war, isolated, away from her husband and the frontline. And it’s Mamie who comes off badly – her portrayal, while sympathetically painted – means she comes across as a cossetted, spoiled army wife, more interested in unpacking her china than in understanding the politics of the war raging across the ocean. The world of jealous army wives is fascinatingly portrayed – wives jealous of the rankings of their friends’ husbands, and wives who revel in gossip and in repeating such gossip under the guise of being sympathetic. And Mamie hears the gossip, is sickened by it and can do no more than smile through it. You feel somewhat sorry for her.

But set against the strong, brave Kay, driving in war-darkened London, through the infamous pea soup fogs and then in the frontline in North Africa – Mamie comes off badly. No wonder, you think, Ike would have preferred the resilient Kay to his delicate, neurotic wife. And when she reveals how far she may have gone to save her marriage, the dislike is compounded.

Ike, the historical figure, is humanised here. A man confident when plotting war tactics, less so when declaring his feelings for another, or even admitting those feelings to himself. Kay and Ike’s romance is portrayed against the violence of war, snatched, secret moments are all they have; their time is limited, in more ways than one. Nevertheless the affair is rendered beautifully – as two people fall in love against the odds, against perceived wisdom, despite his marriage and growing fame, and despite their age gaps. Kay was in her thirties when the affair began, Ike his early fifties.

Wittig Albert writes of their togetherness: “Still, as she drifted off to sleep with Ike fitted closely against her— the two of them breathing together, their hearts, she thought, beating together— she knew that a line had somehow been crossed. Her last thought as sleep came was her mother’s word: dangerous. Yes, it was, she thought, yes.”

The story is compellingly told – and as always, Wittig’s historical fiction is gripping, fascinating, enjoyably so. The novel wears its research lightly and convincingly. Her research is based Kay’s memoirs, Ike’s letters, fellow officers’ wartime diaries, and newspaper archives. Wittig evokes deprived war-time London with an authenticity that is remarkable, and contrasts it against the harshly lit North African scenes and the claustrophobic Washington apartment scenes.

Of course this is fiction – but as you read on, astonished, you can’t help wondering where the truth lies. To this end Wittig includes an author note at the end, explaining some of her sources and reasoning, and is as fascinating to read as the novel.

There’s no spoiler in saying that of course Ike left Kay – we all know he went on to win the Presidential election in 1952 and had his wife Mamie at his side, not another woman. This novel forces us to ask who are the winners, who are the losers, and at what price does power come? If Ike had divorced Mamie in the conservative 1940s the scandal of his affair and other political machinations would surely have put paid to his political ambitions.

It also forces us to look at the real sadness that results when people put ambition, duty, fear of the consequences or the lust for power above and beyond their own feelings. Was Ike being inauthentic to his true self? Did he stay with Mamie because he knew he’d be ruined professionally if he didn’t?

In the end Kay comes across as both a warm, loving woman unwittingly falling in love with a man so charismatic and powerful that she couldn’t help herself, despite her own engagement to another, and we’re reminded through her story that love happens. Despite ourselves, love happens, even when it seems foolish and stupid to let it. But Kay’s story is ultimately a sad one – by loving all and risking everything, she also lost so much too. And the poignancy of that pervades the end of this novel.

You’re left with the questions: did Ike really want to divorce Mamie and marry Kay? You be the judge in the excellent, highly recommended The General’s Women.

The Generals’ Women is a fictional book that tells about the complex relationship between Dwight Eisenhower and his driver/aid Kay Summersby during and after WWII as well as his relationship with his wife Mamie Eisenhower.
This isn’t the type of book I would normally read, but I decided to take a break from my favorite genres and give it a try. I was glad to see I wasn’t disappointed. I had to keep verifying that it was actually fictitious. The author does a great job in putting you in the minds of each person as well as make you feel like you are experiencing WWII as well as what each person is going through. I highly recommend for those that like this genre.

I had initially thought this was fiction until I looked closer. Its amazing that someone as high profile as Eisenhower was able to keep an affair off the radar. But of course, the media then were not the media of today. Its unlikely anyone would have "outed" the couple, given the different standards of society during the 1940s. Reading the book, I tried to work out what on earth Kay Summersby saw in Ike. I can only think close proximity combined with Eisenhower's position and a a certain personal dynamic is what kindled the affair. And away from his wife, and even if she was around, it wasn't unusual for men, especially men in positions of power, to have a mistress. George Patton's niece, Jean Gordon, was also rumoured to have had an affair with Eisenhower. Typical, once the war was over, Kay was dumped and Eisenhower returned the U.S. to eventually become President. I would love to have heard Kay's side of this story. A good read, but I'm still not convinced.

This was yet another stellar book from the author. I am loving this series of historical fiction. Interesting, well written, and clearly carefully researched. Now I wish I had the chance to meet Ike and Kay. I think I would have liked them. I enjoyed the realistic dialogue and wound up feeling as if I had really known all the main characters, especially Kay of course. Thumbs up!

DNF. Loved the book about Elanor Roosevelt, but I couldn't get interested in The General's Women.

An easy to read, exceptionally enjoyable book that engages one from beginning to end.
Susan Wittig Albert does such an excellent job with historical fiction. She imparts a feeling for the period and provides a great number of very accurate historical facts. This is the story of Dwight Eisenhower, Kay Summersby, and Mamie Eisenhower with others of Eisenhower's women alluded to in the book. While reading the book, I had great sympathy for Kay though the relationship was obviously doomed from the start. Mamie is depicted as a selfish, jealous shrew which made it impossible to feel any real sympathy for her. Kay's life after the war is described in an epilogue that answered some, but not all, of the questions I had about her.

I loved the book while I was reading it. Upon reflection, I can make these observations.
All of the major and many of the minor characters were deeply flawed and become in retrospect
not terribly likable. Eisenhower was a user of women and an adulterer whether he could admit it to himself or not. Kay was a woman blinded by love. Mamie was a jealous woman though I really wonder if she was truly as bad as the book portrays her. The war and the times explain a lot about the relationship.

The horrors of war are mentioned but not told in such a way as to register with the reader on an emotional level which was okay because the war really was just background to the relationship.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC of this book.

My favorite genre is historical fiction, I love that I can learn history without all the dry facts that tend to bog down history books. This book written by Susan Wittig Albert was an exceptional read. I hate to admit that I have not read any books by this author, but I now have her on my radar.

This story about Eisenhower and Kay Summersby is told in three voices, Ike, Kay and Mamie. These three different perspectives adds diversity and context to the story. Susan's account of the war zone, staff, political agendas and daily life on the front lines felt up close and personal. Kay starts out as Eisenhower's driver, then becomes his Aide, a WAC and her career continues on throughout the story.

Reading details about Dwight Eisenhower and Winston Churchill added a wider depth to the story. There was so much to learn and so many countries affected in WW II, I felt like I was seeing France, England, Germany and Algiers as they were at the time.

I found I detested Mamie, so spoiled and selfish; while my affection for Kay just grew stronger. Through many hardships (including a sinking ship and loss of her finance', Kay was an incredibly strong person that endured the war with an amazingly grace, positive attitude and zest for life. I was rooting for Eisenhower and Kay to continue their relationship back in the states. They were two people who generally cared for each other and their shared intimacy was a blessing for both.

The author's notes and additional details at the end of the book made it all that more authentic for a fictional read. I don't want to say much else as to give away some of the story, but add this to your reading list. There was a never a slow moment during the entire book.

It's hard to imagine in this day and age of instant news and gossip and paparazzi; but years ago, public figures were able for the most part to keep their private lives private. Today, the affair between Eisenhower and Kay Summersby would explode in the headlines when Ike was running for president. Perhaps there were whispers of it, I don't know. I was in first grade when Ike first ran for President and I wore an "I Like Ike" button someone gave me because I liked the sound of it. If there was any scandal reported, I wasn't aware of it. I'm sure, however, that even if there was talk, it wouldn't have been blasted all over the news like it would be today.

The author did her research into the subject and we can only assume this novel is factually true. It's an interesting read and one can't help but feel sorry for all three major figures in this story. Ike, Kay, and Mamie. No true winners here.

I am a big fan of Susan Wittig Albert, and have enjoyed all of her historic fiction books on Laura Ingalls Wilder, Eleanor Roosevelt and now The General's Women. This is a well written, compelling read about the relationship between Dwight Eisenhower, Kay Summersby and Mamie Eisenhower during WWII. You are cheering for Ike and Kay during the war, when he is facing challenge after challenge in defeating Hitler. Kay is his touchstone, who keeps Ike on an even keel, and able to continue leading under near impossible conditions. This is offset by Mamie Eisenhower in Washington a fragile Southern Belle, who seems totally unsuited for Ike, and her response to the titter tattle that comes back from the front. But its the 40s and society's take on affairs and divorce is quite different from today. Albert does a great job of creating the tension between the love triangle, though they be thousands of miles apart. Wittig also handles the war well...giving us enough info to let us know what's going on and how it is affecting our characters, but not enough to bog down the narrative. The book just flew by, and I was sorry it ended. Wittig's best outing yet in the historic fiction category.

When I was in fifth grade I discovered, in my school library, the Childhood of Famous Americans biography series. I devoured them - I loved the way the subjects were brought to life as real living people for me.

Susan Wittig Albert has done the same for me with her historical fiction novels: A Wilder Rose, Loving Eleanor and The General's Women.

The General's Women is the most recent and is about General Dwight Eisenhower and his relationships with his wife Mamie, and his driver, Kay Summersby. The emotions of the main characters are authentically described, both as the woman at the side of a strong man running the American campaign in Europe and as the wife left behind stateside.

There have been other 'factual' histories written on the illicit relationship, even by the participants themselves, but Albert's book captures the characters' vulnerabilities. I highly recommend this book and author.

Reading The General's Woman is like using a knife through soft butter, it's effortless and it spreads smoothly. The story is about General Eisenhower and Kay Summersby and their relationship during World War II. Albert's depiction is realistic and poignant. It was a relationship that lived on borrowed time, intense as it happened, but doomed to endure. The author has a very thorough epilogue followed with a synopsis of her research. Albert sheds light on the rocky path of revisions Summersby's tale took, with some aspects still shadowy. Sometimes the history of a history is a story in and of itself. All in all, this is a not to be missed read. I received an ARC, courtesy of NetGalley.