Ruth and Elise run off to war. World war genre is very popular among historical fiction readers and writers, but WWI still isn’t written about much. The Sisters of War depict the hellish circumstances of war. Both sisters have aspirations and dreams while seeing the darker side of humanity from the lens of war. It’s a good read and a reprieve from WWII reading, which couldn’t have happened without the first one.

An entertaining story with a nice blend of action, romance, and family. I was disappointed to see the author write that she "tried to respect history and geography" but "ignored them" when they did not serve her purposes. I suppose this happens more frequently than I'd imagine but for me, I felt a bit robbed upon reading that.
Anyway, it's a quick and easy read and if you enjoy semi-factual WWII novels, you'll probably enjoy this one.

Visceral Tale Of Atypical Women. This is a tale of atypical women in a very atypical (well, not really) time, where Feldman does a remarkable job of showing the full realities of everything she portrays. Whether it be the one sister who wants to be a doctor and is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve that goal, the other sister who is comfortable around cars and not much else, or the war itself - in all of its gory, gritty details and mechanisms. Truly one of the more realistic novels I've seen of this period, even as it portrays women who were far from normal in that period. Very much recommended.

Focusing on the role women played and the sacrifices they made during World War 1, Feldman crafts the tale of the two unconventional Duncan sisters from Baltimore, Maryland, who volunteered with the British at the Belgian Front.

Ruth Duncan is a nursing student and longs to become a doctor but her widowed father refuses to allow it. Longing to escape the roles that society, and their controlling father, demand, Ruth signs up and helps out in the medical field in Ypres, Belgium, hoping to one day become a doctor. Her sister, Elise, an accomplished mechanic, works as an ambulance driver and a wartime mechanic and loves the camaraderie, acceptance, and friendship in the all-female Ambulance Corps. Both find love amid the battlefields of World War 1, Ruth with a doctor who encourages her dream to become a doctor, and Elise with another female ambulance driver. Both sisters work and live through bombings, heartache and loss, yet believe it’s worth it to experience independence that they wouldn’t enjoy at home.

Despite a slow plot, a writing style I didn’t enjoy, characters I couldn’t connect with and uncomfortable (for me) moments, it’s still a remarkable and unique story of resilience, sacrifice and camaraderie and features the critical role women played in WW1. This book features a LGBTQ relationship not stated in the synopsis.

Publishes October 26, 2021.

I was gifted this advance copy by Susanne Feldman, Harlequin, MIRA, and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

A decent WWI story told with vivid imagery and a perspective not often found in the genre. Suzanne Feldman is becoming a go-to author for interesting historical fiction.

Sisters of the Great War is historical fiction set during World War I. Ruth and Elise Duncan live in Baltimore, MD with the outbreak of the war in Europe during the summer of 1914. As their father's mechanic, Elise loves to take things apart and put them back together again. Ruth is attending nursing school, but her dream is to become a doctor, following in their father’s footsteps. In early 20th century America, men became doctors; women became nurses. Ruth meets John Doweling, the son of her grandfather’s good friend from England. John graduated from medical school in America and stops in Baltimore before heading home to help in the war effort. He is scheduled to work as a doctor in a field hospital in Ypres, Belgium. He tells Ruth there are schools in England willing to train women to become doctors. She decides to apply following her graduation from nursing school the following spring. However, due to circumstances beyond her control, she is expelled from school during her final semester. The wrath of her father motivates her to leave for Europe to join John in the war effort. Elise cannot allow her sister to go alone so the two of them set off for Belgium. Ruth enlists as a volunteer nurse while Elise joins many other women helping as ambulance drivers. She is also their best mechanic to keep the lorries on the road. Ruth and Elise deal with personal relationships throughout the book. Ruth falls in love with John while Elise grapples with her own sexuality.
The story gives the reader a sense of the horrors of war and the struggles the personnel in the field hospitals dealt with daily. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys war stories about the Great War.

This was one of those books that I liked to story but I just couldn’t completely get into.

There’s two sisters who go to the front, Ruth, a nurse who wishes she had the opportunity to become and physician, and Elsie, a mr Hanover who ends up an ambulance driver. Add in a family friend John, who’s a physician, and you get an interesting look at the medical units that were such an important part of WWI.

That being said, I couldn’t get fully engrossed in this book. I felt that the writing style was more of telling, not showing. We get almost a recitation of what’s going on and because of that, I could immerse myself in this book. Maybe it’s just because there’s been a surprising amount of WWI nursing related historical fiction books published this year and I’m judging this book against some of those ones that I really enjoyed. But overall, this was a decent enough read but I felt the overall narrative was lacking.

This is a really hard one to review. As for the story, it is absolutely wonderful, highly deserves 5 stars. I loved Ruth, John and Elise. But why did we have to take a downward spiral into a gay relationship. I do not judge; I respect everyone’s decisions but I have no interest whatsoever of reading a detailed gay sexual experience. The storyline had so much going for it, I don’t know why those scenes had to be covered. They didn’t add anything to the story, to me they just detracted.
If I had not had so much time and interest invested into this book, I would have shut it up and quit. But I wanted to find out if Ruth’s dreams come true, did John continue being a surgeon and what happens after the war. So, I just kept pushing the forward button on my Kindle to get past them. Even keeping the relationship lighter or alluding to it would have helped.
I received an ARC from Harlequin along with NetGalley for my honest review. Due to the content that was not revealed in the description of the book, this one went down to 3 ½ stars rounded up to 4…. (Because this is a really good story if you can get past some of it).

Sisters of The Great War is captivating. From the start, the reader is brought into the sister's lives and situation. Even though they love each other and their country, each chooses to serve in a different way. They valiantly try to make a difference, persevering even when their own lives are at peril.

Ruth and Eloise are sisters who leave their comfort life to join the service. One as a nurse and the other as an ambulance driver. War was horrible for so many while these girls showed compassion. The nurse wanting to become a doctor not allowed in those days and the other as a lesbian. Warm story. I enjoyed it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read an advanced copy.
Great story about sisters who go to war together and what all they experience,: life, love and loss. I love the bond the sisters had. It stayed with them til the end no matter what they went through.

This is a story about two sisters who join the war effort in order to escape their controlling father. Both women have ambitions that are beyond their time. This is based on true experiences and show the harrowing realities of World War One.

It’s a powerful story of women’s experience during this time period, their contributions to the war effort, and the atrocities of the Great War.

Would highly recommend to those who enjoy historical fiction, books set during the World Wars, and hearing about female contributors. Difficult to read at times, due to the graphic descriptions of war and injuries, but overall, a very powerful story. One worth reading!

Two sisters leave their controlling father behind and head to the front lines during World War One- Ruth, a nurse who aspires to be a physician, and the mechanically inclined Elise, who joins the ambulance corps. Both women face challenges, fall in love, and experience the horrors of war.
This book shines a light on the roles of women during the war, particularly on the medical side. Although an enjoyable read I found the narrative to be more of a telling of the sisters experiences, thus I didn’t find myself as immersed in their world/time as with some other historical fiction novels.
Overall an interesting account of the roles women performed and the relationships they forged during the First World War.

Usually I stick more with WWII historical fiction, but the description about this book had me excited. It wasn’t all that I was hoping, but it did have some redeeming parts. The description of the front lines held my attention, or I probably would’ve stopped reading it. WWI trench warfare was horrific. The sisters’ stories didn’t interest me. They seemed to be very much like most modern fiction.

Absolutely loved this book. It was set during the First World War and focused on two sisters and their experiences, specifically as a nurse and as an ambulance driver. I loved loved loved how well this was written. I couldn't put it down! I feel like it's difficult to find books set during the First World War, so this made it unique and even more interesting to read. There was quite a bit more romance than I typically enjoy, but the rest of the plot was so engaging I didn't mind.
This book is for those who love to read historical fiction, war fiction, nurses in war and books empowering woman. Definitely recommend!

Finished this one up in two nights!

Sisters of the Great War features two sisters, Ruth and Elise, who escape from a controlled existence in Baltimore where they have been raised by a strict father to join women helping to serve England during WW1. Ruth aspires to be a surgeon, in a time where nursing is the only approved medical option for women, but the war proves a chance for her to explore the field of her dreams. Elise, an accomplished mechanic, is looking for something more than marriage or children, which she finds as an ambulance driver for one of the medical units.

With the WW1 time period, this novel really looks into the lives of women at the early part of the century, especially those who do not quite fit into the standard mold. The lead characters are both sympathetic, and the reader wants them both to succeed in finding their happiness, despite the horrors of their situation within the war. As a side note, the differences between WW1 and 2 are definitely on show in this book, especially in terms of the treatment of the wounded.

Sisters of the Great War was an excellent novel! It was well written and well researched and it gives the reader an inside view into WW1 from the perspective of a nurse and ambulance driver. The story was inspired by real women of the war. I do recommend it.

This was very different than most historical fiction novels set during war times that I have read. Usually, the war itself is more of a backstory and we only get some of the war details. In this book, the story is largely about the two sisters, stationed close to the front lines and their experience at the war hospitals and what they see and experience on the front lines and during the war, so the reader gets to experience much more of the war itself.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for this digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

#NetGalley #SistersoftheGreatWar

I received this novel as an advanced reader copy from net galley. This was an exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed the stories of Elise and Ruth, American sisters from Baltimore who volunteered with the British. This was a great spotlight on women during the time period that I do not know much about

I was excited to read this book and the only drawback is that I don’t have the luxury of reading it again for the first time. I love a good historical fiction. This was a wonderful story about the bond between sisters as well as the bond between them and their lovers, but mostly it’s about the sisters Ruth and Elise. The two go over to Belgium less because they want to help but more because Ruth wants to get experience in her quest to become a doctor and Elise wants to support her sister. Elise joins a mobile ambulance unit once over there. They end up getting to see the horrors of war, and Feldman does not shy away from the details. She describes the smells and sounds of the hospitals in a way that makes you feel like you’re there in 1914. Feldman takes you through all four years of the war and shows the progression from the idealism that many had at the start to the cynicism by the end, and as a reader, I really connected with the characters. I understood why they went from feeling like they were there to help to feeling like everything they did was for nothing. Now, personally, I do feel like there was more dialogue than description and I’m just bit wild about that kind of structure. That said, I did get sucked into this novel after the first few chapters and finished it in a day (today actually!). Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy.

I enjoyed the stories of sisters Elise and Ruth, Americans from Baltimore who volunteered with the British forces in World War I. Elise served as an ambulance driver and Ruth as a nurse but aspiring doctor. The writing was so vivid and it provided me with a powerful new understanding of those who served. I appreciated how women were spotlighted and learning how they persevered.