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Good night, Irene
Book
2023
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Summary

This New York Times bestselling novel tells an exhilarating World War II epic that chronicles an extraordinary young woman's heroic frontline service in the Red Cross.

"Urrea's touch is sure, his exuberance carries you through . . . He is a generous writer, not just in his approach to his craft but in the broader sense of what he feels necessary to capture about life itself." -- Financial Times

In 1943, Irene Woodward abandons an abusive fiancé in New York to enlist with the Red Cross and head to Europe. She makes fast friends in training with Dorothy Dunford, a towering Midwesterner with a ferocious wit. Together they are part of an elite group of women, nicknamed Donut Dollies, who command military vehicles called Clubmobiles at the front line, providing camaraderie and a taste of home that may be the only solace before troops head into battle.



After D-Day, these two intrepid friends join the Allied soldiers streaming into France. Their time in Europe will see them embroiled in danger, from the Battle of the Bulge to the liberation of Buchenwald. Through her friendship with Dorothy, and a love affair with a courageous American fighter pilot named Hans, Irene learns to trust again. Her most fervent hope, which becomes more precarious by the day, is for all three of them to survive the war intact.



Taking as inspiration his mother's own Red Cross service, Luis Alberto Urrea has delivered an overlooked story of women's heroism in World War II. With its affecting and uplifting portrait of friendship and valor in harrowing circumstances, Good Night, Irene powerfully demonstrates yet again that Urrea's "gifts as a storyteller are prodigious" (NPR).
Fiction/Biography Profile
Characters
Irene Woodward (Female), American, Leaves an abusive fiancé; joins the Red Cross; goes to Europe; goes through training with Dorothy; works at the front lines in Clubmobiles
Dorothy Dunford (Female), American, Midwesterner, Witty, Joins the Red Cross; goes through training with Irene; works at the front lines in Clubmobiles
Genre
Fiction
Historical
War
Epic
Topics
Women in war
Friendship
Female friendship
World War II
Setting
- Europe
Time Period
1943 -- 20th century
Trade Reviews
Library Journal Review
Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award finalist Urrea (The House of Broken Angels) illuminates the lives of the spirited Red Cross workers charged with serving coffee, doughnuts, and smiles to soldiers on the front lines of WWII. Fleeing an abusive fiancé, New Yorker Irene Woodward turns her back on familial expectations and joins the Red Cross Clubmobile Service. There she's paired with Dorothy Dunford, who has packed up her family's Indiana farm and is looking for a life of her own. The two head overseas and support troops across Europe with Red Cross-approved snacks and mandated good cheer. Barrie Kreinik narrates the story, providing a cultured, composed voice for Irene and a brisk, no-nonsense tone for Dorothy. Kreinik is less successful with British accents, but listeners will probably be too invested in the story to notice. Kreinik ably communicates the women's fear when faced with bullets and bombings, their sadness at seeing the soldiers wounded and killed in battle, and their bone-deep exhaustion at the end of each day. These women may not have wielded weapons, but they made a difference with their unflagging energy and heart. VERDICT A deftly narrated account from an exquisitely talented writer. Highly recommended for all historical fiction collections.--Sarah Hashimoto
Publishers Weekly Review
Urrea (The House of Broken Angels) transports readers to the Western Front of WWII in his stunning latest. Irene Woodward, a tough New Yorker, covers up the bruises received from her abusive fiancé with concealer and sweaters, throws her engagement ring down the drain, and joins America's war effort as a member of the Red Cross Clubmobile. Tasked with high expectations--keep driving and keep smiling--Irene is sent to England alongside Dorothy Dunford, who, much like Irene, is looking for an escape from her life. The two become fast friends while serving coffee and doughnuts and trying to comfort the soldiers, a nebulous task defined in the chaste terms of the day (they should act like a "big sister, girl next door, mom or sweetheart"). As the U.S. efforts advance, Irene fears she has lost Dorothy, who's become like a sister, after they are separated in an accident; eventually, she goes home to New York to rebuild a life marred with survivor's guilt and shell shock. In a move that could feel contrived but only further elevates the work, Urrea bookends the wrenching narrative with a surprising discovery 50 years later. It's a moving and graceful tribute to friendship and to heroic women who have shouldered the burdens of war. Agent: Julie Barer, Book Group. (May)
Booklist Review
With cinematic verisimilitude and deep emotional understanding, Urrea (The House of Broken Angels, 2018) opens readers' eyes to the female Red Cross volunteers who served overseas during WWII, delivering donuts, coffee, and homestyle friendliness to U.S. troops. The author's mother, herself a minor character, was one of these women, who were nicknamed Donut Dollies. Fleeing a violent relationship, gregarious Irene Woodward gets partnered with tall Indiana farmer Dorothy Dunford, cementing a tight bond of sisterhood. Their personalities and the writing itself crackle with energy as Dorothy drives their truck across England and the continent, following orders to go where they're needed most. The servicemen greatly appreciate their work on the front lines, and the novel's sense of realism grabs hold as the women become trapped in a French town crawling with Nazis. War engulfs everyone in its path, as does the mental strain of constant danger, though Irene's romance with a fighter pilot boosts her inner strength. WWII fiction fans, who have an abundance of options, should embrace Urrea's vivid, hard-hitting novel about the valiant achievements of these unsung wartime heroines.
Kirkus Review
Two women witness the horrors of World War II via a snack truck. Pulitzer Prize and NBCC Award finalist Urrea's remarkable, elegantly written novel focuses on the Red Cross' little-known Clubmobile Corps, which during World War II was charged with bringing coffee, doughnuts, and good company to weary GIs. The women had no medical training and were often condescended to as "Donut Dollies," but because they were stationed in the heart of battle, they played no small part in improving morale and required a steely resolve of their own. Irene Woodward, who's escaped New York and an abusive fiance, and Dorothy Dunford, who's left her family and failing farm in Indiana, are paired together in a massive truck that, across the novel, heads from England to France and Germany in 1944 and 1945. En route, they witness some of the worst the post--D-Day European theater has to offer, from bombs to snipers to death camps; during lulls, the two fend off their share of harassment as well. (It's all a recipe for PTSD and overwhelming for many; the Clubmobile was designed to be operated by three women, but so many drop out there's a running gag about an unnamed "Third Girl in the Truck.") Irene, artsy and romantic, has an opposites-attract rapport with the no-nonsense Dorothy, which Urrea plays for both humor and pathos, but he stresses how unified they are in absorbing the constant surprises and tragedies of warfare; a sunny retreat to Cannes is followed by a trek to Buchenwald. This material is personal for Urrea, whose mother served in the Clubmobile Corps, and a few sentimental notes slip into the story. But there's plenty of grit, detail, and twists that make for both a fine page-turner and an evocation of war's often cruel randomness. Top-shelf historical fiction delivered with wit and compassion. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
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