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32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A step back into the era that helped define American values!, March 12, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Stage Door Canteen (Paperback)
Stage Door Canteen is a work of epic proportions. A bit of a departure for Maggie Davis, who is a well-known romance novelist, this meticulously researched, mainstream novel is infused with the spirit of a wartime America. The story, framed by WW2, takes place between 1942-43, and introduces us to a select group of individuals, including theatre people, young women volunteers, and a cross section of America's fighting men and women. All are patrons of The Stage Door Canteen - a former off-Broadway nightclub-turned-USO - funded and staffed through the generosity of the New York City show community. The settings - for this study in contrasts - are New York City and Washington, DC, where the Pentagon is still emerging from a disarray of concrete block and mortar. The reader shares the lives of a complex set of characters, including Jenny, a singer/actor in a Broadway show, whose husband - a well known writer - is drafted and sent to work on top secret documents that will help solidify US policy in the international arena. GI Gene, a decorated gunner, who pursues and pledges his love to Dina, a Stage Door Canteen volunteer hostess, so focused on her dream of becoming a Broadway star, that she refuses to consider marriage. Elise, another volunteer, who is a Jewish refugee and college student, wrestles with her fears, as she tries to bring the atrocities of Hitler's death camps to the attention of the American media. These characters, interacting with a host of other fascinating personas, are brought back through the doors of the canteen, for the reader's review, again and again. What we see are persons coping with the supreme sacrifices demanded of a citizenry burdened with the uncertainties of wartime living. A people trying to hang onto their dreams, love (Yes, there are a few steamy romantic interludes), and life - as the action exposes the anatomy of a war. Emerging, along with the intricacies of World War II - and a lot of facts that you probably forgot since you last studied American history - are the names, faces, and personality types that impacted American life during the early 1940s. GIs and foreign correspondents recall their battles, and share their experiences. Discrimination, segregation, and other social issues are exposed. Values and faith are examined, questioned and challenged. Celebrities, such as Katherine Hepburn, Ray Bolger, the Andrews Sisters, and many more, impress us with their humanity, or entertain their way, through chapter after chapter. Show people, including big name talents, and the composers/creators of the musicals that rocked Broadway during this period, parade across the pages, as they contend with the `Sturm und Drang' of the creative processes, to produce one of the most important musicals of the day - OKLAHOMA! Nowhere, will you find a finer history of Broadway. It's all here - names, dates, arguments, snubbings, hirings, firings, the intricate partnering dances - everything! What a resource for the show biz aficionado! As for the outstanding treatment of the World War 2 story - infused with new vitality, as it flows from Maggie Davis' creative pen - it is unparalleled. Stage Door Canteen is much more than just another war novel - though it has unquestionable appeal for the avid WW2 buff. It's more than a book that should be on every college-level American history teacher's required reading list. This is a historical novel - with a global perspective - that everyone is going to want on his or her personal bookshelf. I highly recommend it!
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30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a master stroke of writing, March 4, 2004
This review is from: Stage Door Canteen (Paperback)
I am not a reviewer, so don't have the skill to say how good this book is. It has a marvellous sea battle, it has characters that was well drawn, images that evoke the emotions. Somethings for the ladies, something for the gents. It's a book about war, but is more about the people and how war shapes their lives. Damn fine piece of quality writing. Thank you to my granddaughter for sending me the copy and insisting I read it.
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29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
this needs to be a movie!, March 8, 2004
This review is from: Stage Door Canteen (Paperback)
Well, I'm a romance reader or fantasy reader. But since I know Maggie Davis aka Katherine Deauxville from her romance books - Crystal Heart, Red Red Roses,and Enraptured, The Last Male Virgin - I was willing to give this a go. Literature, generally, is not my cup of tea and I am not a big fan of WWII drama. Contrary to all that going in, I found myself caught up in the sheer drama of this book. My attention was fixed by scene after scene of various people, living in New York during the war. How they coped, their individual personal stories. I guess, we all see movies about Pearl Harbor and such, that is never crossed my mind that New York actually was so touched by the "closeness" of war. I especially loved the peek behind the curtains of the production of the musical Oklahoma. That was a book into itself. Yet, around that, Ms Davis cleverly weaves the menacing threads of war. Such a brilliant contrast - the whimsy of the musical against submarines lurking off the coast like wolves, waiting to attack ships leaving the harbor; that the lights of Broadways had to be dimmed so they would not silhouette the departing ships. It sent shivers up my spine. It's such a visual book; it demands to be made into a movie, with so many great parts for women. I always see interviews with Penny Marshall, Sandra Bullock, Madonna, the actresses who have gone into production as well as acting, saying there are no good parts for woman they can adapt for film. Well, this is crying for that with several great roles for women; several for me. David is so dashing! So thanks to the "elf" who sent me the book and said "read or I shall come after you with my claymore". I might not have picked it up on my own otherwise. Considering this is one of the best books I have read in ages, I am so glad I got it as a gift. Don't wait. Buy it yourself.
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