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ANGELS OF THE PACIFIC
A special book
I don’t usually write book reviews, but then I haven’t come across many books lately that I just couldn’t put down. I read Angels of the Pacific by Elise Hooper in one day. But then I have always enjoyed historical fiction, especially when written from the point of view of women. There is just not very much of that.
The book covers the time between 1941 and the end of WWII.
I know a lot about WWII. I even taught a class about that for several years, but most research and most books about this time in history focus on Europe. Before I read this book, I did not know how much the war affected people, especially women, in the Philippines.
The book focuses on Tess (Theresa Abbott), a young American nurse, but there is a second female protagonist, Flor Dalisay, a young Filipino college student who becomes involved in the resistance, trying to support imprisoned Filipinos and foreigners with food and money. The book alternates between the experiences of these two women.
Their stories intersect through Iris, Flor’s sister and a nurse who works with Tess.
The story opens with Tess. Tired of living in the rainy Pacific Northwest during the Depression, she jumps at the chance to work in Manila. At first she finds the adventure she is looking for and a glamorous…
