A Woman's Place
Lynn Austin, 2006
Bethany House
448 pp.
ISBN-13: 9780764228902
Summary
They watched their sons, their brothers, and their husbands enlist to fight a growing menace across the seas. And when their nation asked, they answered the call as well. Virginia longs to find a purpose beyond others' expectations. Helen is driven by a loneliness money can't fulfill. Rosa is desperate to flee her in-laws' rules. Jean hopes to prove herself in a man's world.
Under the storm clouds of destruction that threaten America during the early 1940s, this unlikely gathering of women will experience life in sometimes starling new ways as their beliefs are challenged and they struggle toward a new understanding of what love and sacrifice truly mean. (From the publisher.)
Author Bio
• Birth—N/A
• Where—N/A
• Education—B.A., Southern State Connecticut University;
Southwestern Theological Seminary (graduate work)
• Awards—5 Christie Awards (see below)
• Currently—lives near outside Chicago, Illinois
For many years, Lynn Austin nurtured a desire to write but frequent travels and the demands of her growing family postponed her career. When her husband's work took Lynn to Bogota, Colombia, for two years, she used the B.A. she'd earned at Southern Connecticut State University to become a teacher. After returning to the U.S., the Austins moved to Anderson, Indiana, Thunder Bay, Ontario, and later to Winnipeg, Manitoba.
It was during the long Canadian winters at home with her children that Lynn made progress on her dream to write, carving out a few hours of writing time each day while her children napped. Lynn credits her early experience of learning to write amid the chaos of family life for her ability to be a productive writer while making sure her family remains her top priority.
Extended family is also very important to Austin, and it was a lively discussion between Lynn, her mother, grandmother (age 98), and daughter concerning the change in women's roles through the generations that sparked the inspiration for her novel Eve's Daughters.
Along with reading, two of Lynn's lifelong passions are history and archaeology. While researching her Biblical fiction series, Chronicles of the Kings, these two interests led her to pursue graduate studies in Biblical Backgrounds and Archaeology through Southwestern Theological Seminary. She and her son traveled to Israel during the summer of 1989 to take part in an archaeological dig at the ancient city of Timnah. This experience contributed to the inspiration for her novel Wings of Refuge.
Lynn resigned from teaching to write full-time in 1992. Since then she has published twelve novels. Five of her historical novels, Hidden Places, Candle in the Darkness, Fire by Night, A Proper Pursuit, and Until We Reach Home have won Christy Awards in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, and 2009 for excellence in Christian Fiction.
Fire by Night was also one of only five inspirational fiction books chosen by Library Journal for their top picks of 2003, and All She Ever Wanted was chosen as one of the five inspirational top picks of 2005. Lynn's novel Hidden Places has been made into a movie for the Hallmark Channel, starring actress Shirley Jones. Ms Jones received a 2006 Emmy Award nomination for her portrayal of Aunt Batty in the film. (From the author's website.)
Book Reviews
A Woman's Place is not to be confused with a simple read, heartwarming though it is. Readers will be drawn immediately into the setting by Austin's keep ability to weave story with fact, but it is the deep questions each woman must ask that will keep the pages turning.
Christian Retailing
A nice book club read with its conversation starters about racism, gender roles, overcoming a difficult past, and forgiveness.
Cindy Crosby - Faithful Reader.com
A very compelling story, A Woman's Place has found a place on my 'keeper' shelves.
Romance Designs.com
In an engrossing read, three-time Christy Award-winner Austin (All She Ever Wanted; Hidden Places) explores the lives of four women in smalltown Michigan during WWII. The unlikely quartet of heroines a mouthy Italian, a farm girl desperate to go to college, a spinster schoolteacher who's inherited a fortune, and a bored housewife meet and become fast friends when they take Rosie the Riveter jobs at a local factory. On one level, the novel is simply about the bonds that form among the principals, recalling Whitney Otto's How to Make an American Quilt and Lynne Hinton's Friendship Cake. But the subtext, as the title suggests, is about gender roles. Can and should women defy their husbands? What does the Bible say about wifely obedience? Such questions present themselves urgently to each of the four protagonists (and, one imagines, to many of Austin's female evangelical readers). Austin sprinkles some lovely images throughout a newborn's fingernails "like drops of candle wax" and a humorous depiction of inadvertently tipsy church ladies will have readers in stitches. All in all, Austin offers a very enjoyable journey to an earlier wartime America..
Publishers Weekly
Book Club Discussion Questions
1. Which character did you identify with the most: Virginia, Helen, Jean, or Rosa? What about her personality or her life did you relate to?
2. Which character underwent the greatest transformation over the course of the book? What events contributed to that change?
3. How did the historical events in the story act as catalysts for change in these women's lives? Can you recall any historical events in your lifetime that affected your beliefs or your outlook on life? Have events such as 9/11 brought about changes in your life?
4. How have women's roles changed in the past 25 years? The past 50 years? The past 100? Do you see World War II as a defining moment for women? Why or why not?
5. The four women's personalities were all very different. What word would you use to describe each one? Which women grew the closest to each other? Why was that? Do you believe the four will remain friends after the war?
6. How did each woman's faith change in the course of the novel? What events influenced her beliefs? How did they change? Which woman's faith underwent the greatest change?
7. Each of the four women had a man (or men) in her life. Which man (Harold Mitchell, Jimmy Bernard, Meinhard Kesler, Dirk Voorhees, Wolter Voorhees, Russell Benson and Earl Seaborn) did you like the best? Why? Which one did you like the least? Did you change your mind about any of them as the story progressed?
8. Do you think that attitudes toward women have changed since the time when this story took place? In what ways? Have all of these changes been for the better?
9. One of the themes that emerged in the story was the destructive nature of racism. Which characters' lives were impacted by prejudice? How? Did anyone's biases change because of the events of the story?
10. Choose one character and tell what you think will become of her after the war.
(Questions from the author's website.)