- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Atria Books; First Edition edition (Jun 1 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0743477588
- ISBN-13: 978-0743477581
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16.3 x 2.7 cm
- Shipping Weight: 481 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,290,517 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Former newspaper columnist Welch (The Things That Matter Most) presents a detailed biography of a World War II army nurse for whom death and fame came nearly simultaneously. Frances Slanger was a shy, bookish woman who worked tirelessly to care for wounded soldiers. In June 1944, she was one of the first nurses to wade ashore on Normandy beach. One night, she wrote a letter in praise of her American G.I. charges, which was published in the military newspaper, The Stars and Stripes. Hundreds of soldiers wrote to thank her for the letter, not knowing that she had been killed by enemy fire within hours of posting it. Welch carefully traces the major events of Slanger’s life: from her childhood in World War I Poland, where she suffered because she was Jewish, to her coming of age in Boston, where she decided, against her parents’ wishes, to become a nurse so she could serve her adopted country and help stop the spread of Nazism in Europe. Thanks to her famous letter, Slanger received many posthumous honors, including having a warship named for her, but Welch’s biography is the first extended account of her life. The book is at its best when describing the conditions of the army field hospital where Slanger worked. It is less assured when recounting Slanger’s experiences before she entered the army, and the author’s conceit of switching back and forth between the two time periods is needlessly confusing. Nonetheless, Slanger’s life offers a stirring story of intense personal devotion and, despite its somewhat pedestrian prose, this book should be appreciated by WWII buffs, as well as those interested in women’s history.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
This is an account of the first American army nurse to die on the Normandy front. A few days before she was killed, she had written a letter to the Stars and Stripes, a tribute to the soldiers she had helped to live--and die. It began, "They are brought in bloody, dirty, with the earth, mud, and grime, and most of them so tired. Somebody's brother, somebody's father, and somebody's son." The day after it was printed, she died when the Germans shelled the Forty-Fifth Field Hospital Unit. She never knew that she had stirred the hearts of thousands of soldiers and their families. Welch searched for the woman who had written that letter, helped by one of the few surviving nurses of the unit. In writing her story, he has also given us a picture of the Jewish neighborhoods of Boston in the 1920s and 1930s, nursing school and hospital work in the 1930s, and the training and responsibilities of army nurses at the front. This is not only a heartwarming story for all ages, but it is also especially recommended for young people. Frieda Murray
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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The bow of the William N. Pendleton, a U.S. Merchant Marine freighter, sliced through the chop of the English Channel, cutting a wake soon lost in the trails of a hundred other ships. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The bow of the William N. Pendleton, a U.S. Merchant Marine freighter, sliced through the chop of the English Channel, cutting a wake soon lost in the trails of a hundred other ships. Read the first page
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
American Nightingale,
By
This review is from: American Nightingale: The Story of Frances Slanger, Forgotten Heroine of Normandy (Hardcover)
Just as World War II army nurse Frances Slanger compared human life to a fire-that is, if there is a spark of flame left in the embers, the fire can be nursed back to health-Bob Welch has blown on the embers of her touching and inspirational story to bring it back to life sixty years after her death.What a story of sacrifice, honor, and courage in the midst of horrific battlefield conditions! Frances Slanger, who, in some ways, felt she was destined to help her adopted country throw off the yoke of Nazi domination in the European war theatre, was an uncommon woman of valor who deserves our highest accolades. Her heroic sacrifice-she was the first woman killed in the line of duty following the D-Day invasion-was largely forgotten following the fall of Berlin. But thanks to Bob Welch, who poured thousands of dollars of his own money and three years into researching this thoughtful, well-written book, we have Frances Langer's legacy available at our fingertips. I highly recommend American Nightingale, the story of a Jewish heroine that time nearly forgot. Mike Yorkey
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Heart-Wrenching, Unforgettable Story,
By "authorlink" (Irving, TX USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: American Nightingale: The Story of Frances Slanger, Forgotten Heroine of Normandy (Hardcover)
AMERICAN NIGHTINGALE is the breathtaking tale of an obscure Army nurse named Frances Slanger, the first woman soldier to die in World War II. Were it not for its author Bob Welch, and discerning editor Brenda Copeland at Atria, this poginant story may have succumbed to obscurity. It is the tale of a young woman who was a nobody, the daughter of a Jewish fruit peddler. Yet, in her simple duties she exemplified the American spirit. Here is a book that truly does live in one's memory long after being read. The work will hold the reader in its grip from rain-drenched beginnings in a field hospital tent on Normandy Beach, to the last page, as a ship named for the book's heroine moves out to sea--leaving in its gentle wake a reminder that no matter what small lives we may live, each of us can make a difference. Bravo Bob Welch from an avid reader and the editor-in-chief of Authorlink.com.
5.0 out of 5 stars
New World War II Classic,
By Faris Cassell (Eugene, OR United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: American Nightingale: The Story of Frances Slanger, Forgotten Heroine of Normandy (Hardcover)
Award-winning journalist and author Welch has rediscovered World War II heroine, Frances Slanger, a Jewish Polish immigrant whose story has never been fully told. Slanger overcame poverty and discrimination to become a nurse, then courageously and selflessly served her adopted country in an Army medical unit. Welch takes us with Slanger's unit from its landing with D-Day invasion forces on the Normandy beaches Normandy, across France just behind the front lines to the borders of Germany as the team provides medical care to thousands of wounded soldiers. On the night before her unit was attacked, Slanger wrote a letter to the military newspaper "Stars and Stripe", affirming her dedication to helping the wounded, expressing her admiration for the American soldier and downplaying her own contribution. The letter inspired a country hungry for signs of human goodness and triggered an outpouring of emotion at the news of her death. will bring tears to your eyes. It reminds us the true meaning of courage at a time when, again, inspiration is sorely needed.
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