Lonely Girls with Burning Eyes [Mass Market Paperback]

Marian Faye Novak (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 22, 1992

The wife of a Marine during the Vietnam War discusses her agonizing thirteen-month ordeal while her husband was in Southeast Asia, his return and her subsequent attempts to rebuild their family, and her years of denial. Reprint. NYT.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After a slow start, Novak's memoir provides poignant reminiscences of life on the home front for a wife of a Marine during the Vietnam War, and a moving account of her husband's eventual triumph over his traumatic wartime memories.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The memoirs of the wife of a Marine infantry officer in Vietnam during the late 1960s describe her experiences at home in the United States--the effect of the war on her, her friends with Marine husbands, and her generation. During an orientation for Marine wives she sees the words "wounded or killed" and "the war came to me like a seed on the wind, settling in the rich, newly turned soil of my fear." This is a side to war that vanishes with talk of arms and men, but she shows us that those who wait without news endure hardship, too. Also recounted is the reaction of the public against the war, as early as 1969, which further isolated wives of soldiers. This is a portrait of those times, with their uncertainties, defeats, and triumphs, recalled in remarkable words. This memoir is involving social history. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 12/90.
- Mel D. Lane, Sacramento, Cal.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Fawcett (June 22, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449220974
• ISBN-13: 978-0449220979
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,851,511 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Military loved ones everywhere must read this book, May 26, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (N.Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lonely Girls With Burning Eyes: A Wife Recalls Her Husband's Journey Home from Vietnam (Hardcover)

I will be a USMC wife on July 4th, 1999 and so much of what Mrs. Novak writes about is so similar to my own encounters with the USMC. Anyone who has a loved one in the military should read this book. It's time our story was told.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very informative, interesting, sad and yet inspiring book, March 18, 1998

By 

David Skinner (Michigan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lonely Girls with Burning Eyes (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a book I have read many times and each time I am touched and reminded of all the men and families who went through so much for the war. I am glad that Mrs. Novak wrote a story from the perspective of someone who suffered at home. I could relate to her and her experiences.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Call Of Duty, August 12, 2009

By 

Edward Rasen Jr. "ExecEditor" (Maui) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lonely Girls with Burning Eyes (Mass Market Paperback)

Read this book and thank Marian Faye Novak for writing such a difficult story. A compelling autobiography from the wife of a U.S. Marine who served in Viet-Nam during 1967 - 1968. Not the usual hero worship story glorifying war but rather a sobering account of life in the military and the demoralizing effects of an ignoble and senseless war.

Extraordinary memoir recounts the emotional and mental devestation being a military wife without a support system. But, it is much more than just her story but rather the story of all the isolated women and families who waited for their men and then had to deal with the ugly after-effects.

This is a story that needed telling and certainly needs to read by all the psuedo patriots anxious to send young men to fight bogus wars. Shame on Lyndon Johnson. Shame on Richard Nixon. Shame on George Bush, Jr. Shame on them, their wifes, parents and children for not opposing such heinous actions which destroyed so many lives. Thank you Marian for revealing the other side of war.