Book Review: Band of Sisters by Annette Lyon

****--4 stars.  

When the war on terror calls their husbands to duty, five LDS women are left behind to fight battles of their own: Kim, newlywed and pregnant, frightened of what the future might bring; Brenda, struggling to manage three unruly boys and a crippling bout of depression; Jessie, secretly grappling with mixed feelings about her emotionally abusive husband; Marianne, wrestling with a rebellious teenage daughter; And Nora, the seasoned Army wife with perfect hair, an immaculate home — and an ill-tempered mother dying of cancer.
Knowing the separation of deployment is extremely difficult, Nora gathers the wives every week to share lunches and burdens. In good company, they worry over safety in the field and stability at home and offer one another counsel and comfort. But as their personal crises build, each woman faces the risks of forming deep bonds of trust. And when tragedy strikes, they must confront the painful realities of war that pull families apart and bring friends together as sisters.

My Review: I really enjoyed this story. I never really realized how hard things must be for women who are left behind to deal with kids and other issues while their husbands are deployed. I know it may not be the exact circumstances that these women deal with, but this story really gave me a better understanding.

Band of Sisters follows the story of 6 women and their lives during their husbands year-long deployment to Afghanistan. They get together for lunch every week to support one another and build up new friendships. Although they are at different stages in life and have different situations, they become like sisters.

My only complaint: it followed their lives through all sorts of things, but when the book ended, the deployment was only half over. I would have liked to see it through that year and have all the men come home. :) ***NOTE*** There is a book 2, so things did get wrapped up. Good thing!!

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