海角大神

In聽鈥淕ood Night, Irene,鈥� prize-winning author Luis Alberto Urrea breaks from his usual focus on Mexico-U.S. border stories. Inspired by his Staten Island-born mother Phyllis McLaughlin鈥檚 experiences in the American Red Cross鈥� Clubmobile Corps, familiarly known as the Donut Dollies, Urrea has produced an eye-opening tale about these overlooked war heroes.聽

On its face, the women鈥檚 assignment was simple: to provide a聽morale-boosting taste of home to American troops in the form of donuts, hot coffee, music, and sympathetic ears. Their job was to deliver hope to soldiers caught in a global war. (The program was later expanded to Vietnam.)聽

In a recent New York Times essay, Urrea writes that after D-Day, his mother was among the Donut Dollies who, assigned to Gen. George Patton鈥檚 Third Army, accompanied the push through France, Belgium, and Germany. Trailing the soldiers in trucks outfitted with electric coffee urns, doughnut machines, and record players, the women set up mobile battlefront social clubs. 聽

Urrea notes: 鈥淭hese women were not recognized as veterans. But make no mistake, they were unarmed witnesses to every bit of horror in the battle zone鈥� 鈥� including, in his mother鈥檚 case, the Battle of the Bulge and the liberation of the concentration camp Buchenwald. Her war experiences haunted her for the rest of her life.

More than 30 years after her death, Urrea gives his mother and the Donut Dollies their due in this stirring novel. To tell their story, he has created two wonderfully appealing women who join the Red Cross in 1943 to escape unhappiness at home. 聽

Petite, 25-year-old Irene Woodward flees from her privileged New York City background and an abusive fianc茅 without telling a soul. Dorothy Dunford, a farmer鈥檚聽daughter, is seeking 鈥渁 valve to release her helpless anger鈥� after losing her parents, her brother 鈥� a midshipman killed at Pearl聽Harbor 鈥� and the family鈥檚 Indiana farm.聽 聽

The two women, who meet during training in Washington, couldn鈥檛 be more different. Dorothy grew up in boots, Irene in heels. Dorothy drove trucks, Irene rode in taxis. Dorothy is no-nonsense, Irene is 鈥渁 glorious flirt.鈥� Yet both are determined to contribute to the war effort and start their lives afresh.

They have no idea what they鈥檙e in for.

To say that 鈥淕ood Night, Irene鈥� is action-packed is putting it mildly. The women are endangered from the get-go. But their resilience is extraordinary. During their crossing to Liverpool, a nearby ship is torpedoed, and they are traumatized by the sight of sailors left to drown as their own ship speeds ahead, under orders not to stop and risk being hit. Weeks later, their train to London is dive-bombed by the Luftwaffe.聽

Urrea conveys his characters鈥� long, exhausting days 鈥� and deepening friendship and budding romances 鈥� with pounding intensity. He writes, 鈥淭hey went wherever they were ordered ... rushing from duty to duty,鈥� feeling 鈥渓ike war brides to a few thousand husbands.鈥澛�

Despite the hardships, they enjoyed their instant popularity. He adds: 鈥淭hey did their duty while maintaining strict hilarity.鈥澛�

The first section of 鈥淕ood Night, Irene,鈥� which covers the months before the women are sent to Normandy, is evocative of old war movies. In Washington, 鈥淚rene felt like she鈥檇 escaped into a Jean Harlow movie.鈥� Overseas, the 鈥渞uins and constant reconstruction of London鈥� are likened to movie sets, 鈥淣ot entirely real. Incomprehensible, really.鈥� Snappy repartee and a diverse cast of characters 鈥� including Irene鈥檚 eventual great love, a cowboy fighter pilot from Oregon who looks like Gary Cooper 鈥� heighten the cinematic associations.聽

But the harsh realities of combat darken the picture, and Urrea鈥檚 prose rises to the occasion. Somehow, he manages to find uplifting glimmers of beauty and valor even amid the ugliness. When the women miraculously emerge, battered and blinking, into a flattened, smoking French village after a horrific night trapped in the cellar of a collapsed building, they find the silence 鈥渟trangely meditative鈥� and observe: 鈥淭he great artists of chaos had left them masterpieces.鈥� After reaching Germany, they comment, 鈥淵ou look out at this beautiful land and wonder where the evil came from.鈥�

As in his earlier books, including 鈥淭he Devil鈥檚 Highway: A True Story鈥� and 鈥淭he House of Broken Angels,鈥� Urrea demonstrates his ability to locate the heartening in the harrowing and heartbreaking. 鈥淕ood Night, Irene鈥� hails the camaraderie and deep bonds formed between people thrown together in dire circumstances 鈥� though it certainly does not sugarcoat war. What it does do is join a welcome flurry of new books that expand our understanding of women鈥檚 important roles in World War II.