Customer Reviews

Mrs. Lieutenant: A Sharon Gold Novel

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Phyllis Miller sent me this book after seeing my name on an Internet forum. I was a little concerned because many first novels are really amateurish, almost embarrassing to read.

But I really liked Mrs. Lieutenant. Miller is a writer. She knows how to set up her story and make the characters seem real. Her pacing was good: I didn't want to stop reading. The story arc was strong.

As I read, I was reminded of Rona Jaffe's classic, The best of everything, made into a movie that captured the 50s era career woman.

What Jaffe did for the college graduate in publishing, Miller does for the Vietnam era junior officer's wife.

Those women reminded me of my college classmates who married right out of college (even though they weren't all college grads). Women were expected to marry. They had uneasy relationships with their husbands. They worried about what to wear and what to cook. And they lived in those awful apartments! I visited friends with husbands in grad school, living in student housing and eating budget meals...very similar.

Miller captures the freshness and naiveté of those women, all transplanted to an environment that forced them to deal with new challenges. They met people who were really different from themselves in religion, values, child rearing styles and of course accents. They're so nervous when summoned to tea with the commanding officer and they wear gloves...gloves!

We didn't get too much insight into the men's days at Armor School in Fort Knox. They didn't seem to have homework and they didn't talk about getting uniforms ready and other details of their world.

As a survivor of that era, not married myself, I watched my friends grow into the Women's Movement just five years later. They went back to school, finished graduate degrees and told their husbands, "It's my turn now." Some got divorced. Some just went through a rocky patch.

I just watched the PBS series, Carrier. Commentaries noted that officers' wives have their own careers now. They're doctors, lawyers, psychologists and teachers. Watching families join sailors at the end of the cruise, you could see how much the military has changed. For one thing, women are flying planes off carrier decks and running traffic control rooms.

So what I take away from Mrs. Lieutenant is a trip down memory lane. I can remember not just the hairstyles but also the tight social fabric, the awkward social situations when you had to do the right thing, the young women rushing into marriages instead of taking time to have their own lives.

Miller subtitles the book "A Sharon Gold Novel," suggesting she will write more. I hope she does.

This is a very delightful reading about four women whose husbands are in officer training class down in Kentucky. The women themselves are four different individuals from different parts of the country. There's Sharon, the main character, from Chicago and Jewish and against the Vietnam war, but she supports her husband's decision to be enlisted as an officer. There is Kim, an orphan from the south, married to a votalile man and she has endured more life tragedies than a person should bear in one lifetime. There is Donna, a Puerto Rican who is an army brat and has seen the world through her father's deployment to different bases. She is happily married to her husband, even if he is a white man. Then there's Wendy, a Southern Black woman, faced the prejudices of being a black woman in the midst of the deep South.

Together these women became friends and bonded together during the six-week officer training course. Together, these women learned what it means to be an officer's wife in the midst of a traumatic turmoil that is racking the United States. Together, they faced personal trials and came through it knowing that friendships will endure.

This is a delightful reading from an author who is making her fictional novel debut. It is a quick read and an intense one. The characters' voices will linger long after the last page has been turned.

5/27/08

I first became aware of "Mrs. Lieutenant" when it was an Amazon fiction finalist several years ago. However, I didn't read it (on Kindle) until this year. I was an Air Force lieutenant's wife during the same era in which "Mrs. Lieutenant" is set. I so related to many of the social--and emotional--situations Phyllis Zimbler Miller includes in her debut novel.

As a new Air Force wife, just out of college, I felt brain-dead when thrown into squadron baby showers and non-stop talk about diapers and formula. The fear of a husband's assignment to Vietnam loomed as large in real life as it does in this novel. A few years later, my husband was assigned to a base in California. Women were not allowed to wear pants to the officer's club, but the all-male O' Club 'casual bar' had strippers every Friday night! The military, especially in those days, could be a contradiction in terms...THIS is one of the things this author just flat-out nailed.

This book also reminded me of the active-duty husbands who didn't want their wives involved in any squadron activity with other women--because they were afraid it would cost them money. As the wife of a squadron, and later, a group commander, I came to view that mind-set as more than selfish, I clearly viewed it as emotional abuse, especially overseas. Other wives (and to be PC TODAY) other SPOUSES need that informal support group of friends. In the military, one's friends ARE their family away from home--and sometimes 'home' is a continent or more away. Those vital friends are the ones who will 'be there' in a pinch--especially when husbands are deployed. In the military, friends are as much life-lines as are blood relatives. Women/spouses who haven't had an opportunity or taken the initiative to nourish those friendships can find themselves in precarious situations, not to mention trapped in unspeakable loneliness and even fear.

Phyllis Zimbler Miller beautifully portrays the importance of those military friendships. Her story also illustrates how military personnel and their families are thrown together with people from all walks of life, all socio-economic levels, and all faiths.

The author of "Mrs .Lieutenant" is not only a fine writer, her psychological reasoning is evident. Her book was obviously written with psychological wisdom that only comes with time and maturity. The jealous husband isn't jealous because his wife has cheated in the past--he's jealous because HE has cheated. It is guilt that drives his jealous rage.

This book should be required reading for every contemporary military spouse, the families of our servicemen and women, and civilians who want to understand the lifestyle of our men and women in uniform. The military isn't just a job or career, it is a WAY OF LIFE that can't be fully understood by those who haven't lived it. Phyllis Zimbler Miller's "Mrs. Lieutenant" makes it clear--this is a life she understands at the deepest level.

~Bonnie Bartel Latino

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is an author with guts. She tackles the tough topics of race, religion and rank in her novel about four young rookie officers' wives in 1970 while the Vietnam War rages on. And don't forget about the "Rules." While men are dying in an unpopular war overseas, these four young women with very different backgrounds are thrown together into a world where white gloves and the right outfit are expected attire for the proper officer's wife. If only white gloves could protect Sharon, Kim, Wendy and Donna from the harsh realities of military life and the cruel dark places that sometimes exist in the human heart.

Although this story takes place almost 40 years ago, it is so relevant today. Rank still has its privileges, soldiers still die in battle, and some people still cling to outdated rules and old prejudices. Despite some of the unsavory aspects of military life, this novel captures how quickly friendships are made and how most military spouses learn the ropes quickly and are stronger women for it. "Mrs. Lieutenant" is well written and these four main characters will grab your heart and you will come to think of them as friends. You will care about them long after you've finished the last page and closed the book.

Kathleen M. Rodgers ~ author of the award-winning novel "The Final Salute: Together We Live On"

Phyllis Zimbler Miller's novel, Mrs. Lieutenant: A Sharon Gold Novel, takes a unique look at how young men seeking alternatives to the draft opted for Armor Officer's Basic (AOB) training, while their wives tagged along to Ft. Knox, Kentucky, where the training was held.

Unlike many of the other novels and non-fiction books I have read about the Vietnam War, including those examining the politics of the war, this novel sheds light on how wives, especially new wives, deal with the commitments of their husbands to the military. The novel provides a varied examination of how these women--one Jew (Sharon Gold), one Puerto Rican (Donna Lautenberg), one African-American (Wendy Johnson), and one Southern White Woman (Kim Benton)--struggle with their own convictions regarding the war, their husbands' decisions about their role as soldiers, and how their ethnicity impacts their actions and decisions.

From Sharon's feelings against the war to Donna's experiences as an "army brat" turned officer's wife, this novel takes the reader inside these women's lives and the emotional roller coaster they experience beginning with Day 1 at Ft. Knox. Whether it is dealing with racial discrimination or anti-semitism or just the basic human need to belong, these women struggle against their own biases to find friendship with one another.

The bond these women create at a turbulent time in history is admirable not only because the bond crosses racial lines, but also because it transcends their own fears about their roles as Mrs. Lieutenants and wives.

The novel also sheds light on the thought processes of army officers' decisions to either extend their obligations with the army as part of involuntary definite or the regular army.

Miller's writing technique draws the reader into each character's plight easily, and it is hard not to be pulled into their triumphs, sorrows, and fears. As a former Mrs. Lieutenant herself, it is not surprising that this novel is emotional. The way in which Miller incorporates elements of actual events into her fictional novel is admirable, and it is wonderful to see excerpts from the manual provided to AOB wives, also called Mrs. Lieutenant by Mary Preston Gross.

This novel is about four young army officers wives who meet when their husbands are all assigned training at Ft. Knox, Kentucky in the summer of 1970. They are very different women from very different backgrounds but the circumstances they find themselves in help them to draw together and form unique friendships that they would not have dreamed of in their pre-army life.

Sharon Gold is a Jewish girl from Illinois with a journalism background. She is an anti-war protester but couldn't resist falling in love with an ROTC cadet while she was at Michigan State.

Kim Benton is an orphan from North Carolina who, with her younger sister, was raised in foster care. She has no self-confidence and is married to a controlling, jealous young man.

Wendy Johnson is an African American from South Carolina whose father is a physician. She has been sheltered by her parents her whole life and has little idea of the amount of prejudice in the world.

Donna Lautenberg is Puerto Rican but has lived all over the world because her father is enlisted in the army. She is having trouble adjusting from enlisted life to different social strata of an officer.

These women are only together for nine weeks but in that time they experience situations and deal with issues that break down the barriers of race, religion and class to allow them to form bonds of friendship and trust. In that short time they all grow, change and learn important lessons.

It's a compelling story that seems so real it made me wonder how much is based on actual experiences. I'm looking forward to reading the next Sharon Gold novel!

Mrs. Lieutenant: A Sharon Gold Novel follows four women who spend nine weeks in Fort Knox, Kentucky, as their husbands complete Armor Officers Basic (AOB) training. The book takes place in early 1970, just after the Ohio National Guard kills several Kent State University students during the volatile times of the Vietnam War.

As a former Mrs. Lieutenant herself, Phyllis Zimbler Miller writes from experience, and that experience shines through in a moving novel that showcases the struggles of officers' wives during the Vietnam War. Zimbler Miller does a great job showing the fears of these women as they contend with the fact that their husbands likely will go to war.

I've read novels about serving in the war and the psychological impact of the war on returning soldiers, but until Mrs. Lieutenant, I never read a book about the wives of those men who served. Zimbler Miller's novel is important because it preserves a part of our history, a part that often is overlooked. She also does a marvelous job detailing the anti-war sentiment, racial and religious discrimination, and social divisions within military ranks. Not only did I enjoy reading each woman's story, but I also learned a lot about the military and the expectations of officers' wives.

Read my full review at Diary of an Eccentric.

When I was a girl in middle school, my homework assignment for one winter evening was to write a Christmas letter to an unknown soldier serving in the jungles of Vietnam.

Vietnam.

At that time, just the word conjured up all sorts of morbid illustrations projected onto the big screen inside my head. I could imagine the intense heat, men, no--mere boys, dressed in fatigues carrying canteens slick with condensation, dog tags dangling from silver chains that jingled perilously as they walked stealthily through foliage that grew thick and frighteningly multitudinous like some big banana leafed forest in a Rousseau painting. The teacher at the time, forbidden to express her views about a war that perplexed the American public urged her class to be kind--these boys were far from home, from the pleasures we took for granted--rides in red convertibles with the tops down, the smell of crispy fries from the new hot burger stand--McDonald's, the look and fresh scent of a pretty girl swinging her newly straightened hair as she glanced behind her to see just who was watching her in her plaid miniskirt and dark tights. . . These random mental snapshots typified the American way of life and justified detouring countless American boys from dreams they had dreamed from the time they were old enough to dream.

I wrote my letter; I don't remember the soldier's name. I knew he was nineteen and probably didn't care about what some sixth grader had to say. While I organized my litany of seasonal trivial events in a neat little handwritten format, I could hear the news--the somber voices of Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather recounting the number of American deaths amidst the cacophony of gunfire and chopper blades.

Uncertainty became something familiar--an old friend like the grim reaper--the shadow of his sickle hovering over all our heads like the darkest rain clouds. The persistent feeling of dread penetrated the sanctity of one's inner spirit like the tattoo of the television's images of helicopters, fire and screaming children.

I thought of my cousin, just ten years older than I was--would he be sent away from the huge family dinners of lasagna and laughter? Would men I knew be receiving letters from young adolescents that they didn't even know? And then on a larger level I wondered if I would be able to sleep at night as the world as I thought it should be would never be the same after all the controversy--the peace marches--draft dodgers running to Canada--the anger over Jane Fonda posing with the Viet Cong--Civil Rights protestors raging in faraway places like Alabama. How would all this effect the dawning of the new era--what the flower children called the `Age of Aquarius?'

Would my soldier ever get my letter? I never received a response, yet somehow that event--that writing of the letter--etched in my memory for all time the sensation of losing control. The boys with low draft numbers were devoid of that sense of managing their lives. ROTC became an option, as being an officer was far better than being an enlisted man. I hadn't thought about my personal origin for that dark feeling of `dread' in a long time--that is until I picked up Phyllis Zimbler Miller's novel, `Mrs. Lieutenant.'

In this, her first Sharon Gold novel, Miller addresses the concerns of this era in American history. Written perhaps as a part memoir--Miller was herself a `Mrs. Lieutenant'--the story is cleverly crafted from the viewpoints of four very different young officers' wives whose lives intersect at Fort Knox in Kentucky during their husbands' AOB training. Choosing from America's vast melting pot of ethnicities and cultural backgrounds, Miller selects wisely, yet not stereotypically, succeeding in exemplifying that no matter how diverse or varied all women carry similar burdens that formulate their personal definition of `dread.'

As the northern Jewish girl, Sharon comes close to that which I am most familiar. Sharon has guts; she questions; she holds firm to her belief system yet remains fiercely loyal to family and friends even though their sensibilities may vary from hers. Her strength is tangible and it changes those around her. Pretty head-turning blonde Kim hails from the South--orphaned as a child and broken by the indifference of a series of foster parents, she clings to the security given to her by her jealous husband who cannot stand the thought of any other man looking at her. Wendy, a black girl from South Carolina, sheltered by her parents, knows nothing of the rampant prejudice encapsulated within the societal microcosm of Fort Knox. Seeking nothing but acceptance, she cringes when her husband decides to go regular Army instead of `indef vol' like most of his classmates. Attractive Latino Donna loves her blonde haired blue-eyed husband dearly, but for her, too, the very word `Vietnam' wreaks havoc in her soul, connoting nothing but death, destruction and possible widowhood. The hopes and aspirations of all four women create a semblance of the `every-woman' of that time. For each of them, the idea of Hell and Vietnam becomes synonymous.
Miller uses an alternating third person voice to delineate her chapters and to flesh out each of the women and their motivations. As each of the women enters `her own private Vietnam', the reader journeys back to that time period, empathizing with the plight of these couples while experiencing a more comprehensive slice of American life from the varying perspectives. Miller's use of popular songs and clothing labels from the early 70s titillated this reader--again I haven't thought about many of these iconic items for years. Ms. Miller, I thank you not only for the compelling story, but also for refreshing my memory.

Bottom line? Phyllis Zimbler Miller has fashioned her own remembrance of things past in her novel, "Mrs. Lieutenant." Her main characters sing out against the things that disturb them most about life in the early 70s while trying to adjust to being the wives of new second lieutenants and come to terms with their individual desires. As a one time `Mrs. Lieutenant,' Miller's voice rings true in each of her incarnations. The pages fly by in this introspective novel of friendship told beneath the cloud of Vietnam. Recommended, especially to those children of the 60s and early 70s. For me, this author made this era shake off the dust of the past and again become a viable entity--one that rumbled with turbulence and defined those dark specters of dread that remain with us till this day.
Diana Faillace Von Behren
"reneofc"

Phyllis Zimbler Miller's "Mrs. Lieutenant" is one of those stellar reads that keep you engaged from the first word to the last, and how long or how short the book is doesn't concern you at all. Keep a box of tissues handy, because you'll need it; I certainly did, and more than once.

If you are a military wife, have been one, or know one or more, then this will tell a story that you are intimately familiar with. If you're not, it doesn't matter; it's the people and their stories that bring you in, keep you there, then linger in your memory for a long time after.

Four newly-married women from different backgrounds meet at Fort Knox, Kentucky where their husbands are enrolled in nine weeks of Army Officers Basic. Sharon and Robert, Kim and Tim, Wendy and Nelson and Donna and Jerry, each from very different backgrounds, each fearing that they could lose their husband before the year is out, each expected to conform to the strict formal rules of the Mrs. Lieutenant booklet each is given. As it says in the booklet, "when a man acquires a commission, the government has gained not one, but two - the officer and his wife."

The day that Sharon and Robert God leave Chicago to drive south through Indiana to Fort Knox, members of Ohio's National Guard fired sixty-seven rounds in thirteen seconds, killing four students and wounding nine others, one of whom suffered permanent paralysis. And two months earlier, on April 30, 1970, President Richard Nixon announced that he was sending troops into Cambodia.

And in only nine short weeks, each woman's husband could be send to Vietnam, where 2nd lieutenants had the highest death rate of any combat soldier. Remember, these are newly married women on their way to a world that, except for Donna who grew up an "Army brat", is like living in another world. Not only that, the racial and ethnic prejudices of the day were obvious, very uncomfortable and lead to one tragedy.

Though 1970 is forty-one years ago, with two wars going on I imagine the worries today's military wives have are not all that different from the ones these four young women had back then.

Sharon and Rob, Kim and Jim, Wendy and Nelson, Donna and Jerry. Because of the year and their differences, each one stands out. Sharon and Rob are Jewish, Wendy and Nelson blacks from the South, Kim and Jim Southern Baptists, Donna Puerto Rican whose first husband was killed in Vietnam, and Jerry an Anglo. Back in 1970 when, even in central Illinois where I lived, some of the towns (like the one I lived in from 1964-1966) were "sundown towns"; blacks could go fishin' there, but they daren't be in or near the town after sundown. The very thought still makes me cringe, but that was the reality then.

Mrs. Lieutenant is more than a novel about the challenges of being an Army officer's wife in a time of war; it's about friendships that develop when people see each other as people and their differences as minor. And therein lies its appeal. Go to Amazon.com, pick up a copy, and settle in for a special read.

Mrs. Lieutenant is a book that, in my book, has a very wide appeal. I hope the subtitle "A Sharon Gold Novel" means that we can expect more from this remarkable writer.

I usually read action/adventure books that are typically called a "man's genre." So when I picked up Mrs. Lieutenant, it was a change of pace for me. I am a history buff, and I do enjoy reading books (fiction or non-fiction) set during historical times. Mrs. Lieutenant looks at the 1970's, specifically events surrounding the Vietnam War, from a perspective that I have never considered before: Through the eyes of military officers' wives.

The author not only allows the reader to experience this historical event, but by the masterful telling of the story through the eyes of these women, she touches on societal realities that might make some people uncomfortable in reading (i.e., religion, racial issues, etc...) But in doing this, she creates a depth of character that really allows the reader to identify with, celebrate with, and cry with these women.

You can't read long into this book without pausing and contemplating what is going on in the lives of these characters. Often it's wondering what it would be like to live in a culture where some of the things you are reading about really happens; at other times, you find yourself realizing that in many ways we have not changes a whole lot. But you do this, not out of an obligation to undergo literary interpretation per se, but because the book really does pull you into the story.

When you are done reading the book, you realize that not only did you read a good story, but you read one that stays with you on so many levels. And when you learn that the author herself lived as an officer's wife during this time period, it makes the unfolding story of these four women all the more intriguing.