During this series I will be sharing my reviews for books I posted during 2022
Good books deserve to be showcased on a regular basis and I hope that it might entice you to either move the books up your groaning TBR’s or add the books to its burden!
Delighted to reshare my review from August 2022 for the poignant family story Leora’s Letters by Joy Neal Kidney.
About the book
The day the second atomic bomb was dropped, Clabe and Leora Wilson’s postman brought a telegram to their acreage near Perry, Iowa. One son was already in the U.S. Navy before Pearl Harbor had been attacked. Four more sons worked with their father, tenant farmers near Minburn until, one by one, all five sons were serving their country in the military. The oldest son re-enlisted in the Navy. The younger three became U.S. Army Air Force pilots.
As the family optimist, Leora wrote hundreds of letters, among all her regular chores, dispensing news and keeping up the morale of the whole family, which included the brothers’ two sisters. Her fondest wishes were to have a home of her own and family nearby. Leora’s Letters is the compelling true account of a woman whose most tender hopes were disrupted by great losses. Yet she lived out four more decades with hope and resilience.
“Joy lets us see her grandmother’s personal family correspondence through letters. It is heart-tugging. Be ready to be moved by this true story.” –Van Harden, WHO-Radio Personality
Joy Neal Kidney, the oldest granddaughter of the book’s heroine, is the keeper of family stories, letters, photos, combat records, casualty reports, and telegrams. Active on her own website, she is also a writer and local historian. Married to a Vietnam Air Force veteran, Joy lives in central Iowa. Her nonfiction has been published in The Des Moines Register, other media, and broadcast over “Our American Stories.” She’s a graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, and her essays have been collected by the Iowa Women’s Archives at the University of Iowa.
My review for the book
This book is an intimate inclusion in one family’s life and loss during the Second World War. Clabe and Leora work tirelessly on the farm they manage to raise their children and put something by for their dream of owning their own farm. In this rural environment it is natural for young men and women to perhap have their own dreams and even before Pearl Harbour one son has signed up with the Navy. Over the course of the war five sons would enlist to serve their country.
Through the letters written by Leora to her sons, and their often censored letters in return we share life on the home front and also their challenges as they go through training and then deployment. Their only link to home is these letters and others between each other and their sisters, and it is clear that this is a close knit and loving family doing their best through a very difficult time.
One can only imagine the constant worry any parent would have with a child serving on the front line, particularly with incomplete news reports in the media, long after major battles at sea and in the air. But to have five sons in the line of fire in the Pacific and in Europe must have been unbearable.
The letters are beautiful in their simplicity and informality as they would have been between a loving family. There is also some wry humour as the boys encounter the world outside their rural upbringing and undergo their training, as well as a deep love of their parents as they send money home toward their dream of owning their own land.
From the first page we are drawn into this family and feel the hope, love and loss they suffer over the course of the war. Whilst there is sadness, there is also admiration for a brave mother and her sons who believed in doing their duty, and respect for the sacrifice this family made. War should never be glorified, but those who lay their lives on the line for their country should be, especially when young with their whole lives ahead of them.
This period for all of us is now moving from living history as the last of those who can share their stories pass away. It is so important that major events such as major conflicts are fought by ordinary men and women and their stories deserve to be told and remembered.
The author has done a wonderful job in collating these letters that recreate so vividly this time in world histry. By doing so she honours the members of her family, including her own parents who lived, loved and lost so much.
Read the reviews and buy the book: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK
Also by Joy Neal Kidney
Read the reviews and buy the books: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK – More reviews: Goodreads – Website: Joy Neal Kidney – Facebook: Joy Neal Kidney Author – Twitter: @JoyNealKidney – Instagram: Joy Neal Kidney
About Joy Neal Kidney
Joy was born two days before D-Day to an Iowa farmer who became an Army Air Corps pilot, then an instructor–with orders for combat when the war ended–and an Iowa waitress who lost three of her five brothers during that war. She spent her childhood in an Iowa farmhouse with a front porch. Now I live with my husband, a Vietnam veteran, in a suburban house with a front porch.
She’s published two books (“Leora’s Letters: The Story of Love and Loss for an Iowa Family During World War II” and “Leora’s Dexter Stories: The Scarcity Years of the Great Depression.”) Joy is a regular contributor to Our American Stories.
Awards: 2021 Great American Storyteller Award by Our American Stories and WHO NEWSRADIO 1040
2021 – First place Our Iowa Stories award named for Joy Neal Kidney
Joy posts regularly on her website, administers several Facebook history pages, and contributes to more.
Thanks very much for dropping in today and I do hope you will be leaving with a book or two… Sally.
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Wonderful archive post and review. Congratulations to Joy. Thanks for sharing, Sally. Hugs 🤗💕😊
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Thank you, Harmony, for your comment. I wanted to make sure the family wasn’t forgotten. The next “Leora book” tells the compelling stories about what happened to the brothers who were lost.
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What a lovely review, Sally – this sounds incredibly moving.
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It is Toni.. and inspiring. ♥
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Bless you, Toni, for your comment. Grandma Leora certainly was courageous, and such a delight.
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What a great documentary about a woman with courage, hope and deep faith. Great to tell this by her own letters, which also show a lot of care and empathy. Thanks for the reminder, Sally! xx Michael
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Thank you, Michael! There are letters from everyone in the family, even ones from their sons in combat.
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Thanks very much Michael.. a very moving story.. hugsx
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I’m looking forward to Leora book #4!
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I am sure it will be fantastic Liz. xx
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I’m sure it will!
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Thank you, Liz! Sometime this fall!
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Fantastic! That’s coming right up. 🙂
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Fab review Sal. It’s on my TBR! Congrats again to Joy. ❤
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Thanks Debby.. a book about family and a very strong woman. ♥
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My kind of read! ❤
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Thank you, Debby, also for sharing this!
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Most welcome Joy ❤
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Super review, Sally. Congratulations to Joy.
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Thank you, John. I’m finishing up “What Leora Never Knew: A Granddaughter’s Quest for Answers.” I had to know what happened to the three brothers who were lost.
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Best wishes.
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Sounds great Joy and don’t forget to let me know when the new books is available so we can do a promo.. ♥
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Thanks very much John..hugsx
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Great review, Sally 🙂 Sounds like a great piece of history.
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It is an inspiring read Denise and captures the time and the events very movingly. hugsx
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Thank you, Denise. I had to make sure they weren’t forgotten.
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this book, Sally. I love the deeply personal look into one family’s life during such a dark time. Congratulations to Joy for this wonderful piece of history preserved.
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Thanks very much Jan ♥
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Thank you, Jan. I’m wrapping up the next book: “What Leora Never Knew: A Granddaughter’s Quest for Answers.” I just had to know what happened to the three brothers.
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Thanks for the post from the archives, Sally. Joy’s book sounds moving, and it seems like an important reminder of the war’s cost to families. Great review. Congrats to Joy.
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Thanks Diana.. and a testimony to the strength of mothers.. ♥
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Thank you, Diana. I’ve been thinking about how war’s cost reaches into even more generations.
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It becomes a family legacy, I think. Both the heroism and the trauma, and they can get passed down through generations.
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A lovely review, Sally
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Thanks Robbie ♥
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Thank you, Robbie. Sally is so generous and such an encourager!
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♥
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🌹💞
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Can I read this book without my heart breaking, Sally? Five boys…
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There are some many uplifting moments Jacqui and so inspiring.. what an amazing woman and mother.. ♥
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Two of the brothers survive, along with the two sisters. My mother was one of the sisters. bless you for your comment, Jacqui.
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I am thankful. God bless this family.
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I loved Leora’s Dexter Stories and thought I’d already bought this one. I hadn’t, but this wonderful review sent me straight to Amazon and I hope to get back to Leora’s family soon. ❤
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Fantastic Alex.. thank you and I am sure you will enjoy ♥
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Bless you, Alex! And thanks to Sally for such a wonderful review!
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What a great review and so thoughtful.
It is indeed important to remember how many families were affected by such a time.
Letter writing is definitely an art in communication.
(I wonder if emails will ever have the same impact.)
A letter is from the heart ❤️
This does sound like a great insight into the affects of war on a family
Thanks for sharing
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Thanks Sue and I agree about letter writing and sad that it is in decline.. ♥
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Indeed, my mum loves her letters and both she and Rose had so many… that have been kept.
You rarely start an email with Dear or even add the address at the top.
But i suppose there is a place for both
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In our world now there is and at least emails have made is a great deal easier … and cheaper to keep in touch with friends and family around the world. ♥
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Thank you, Sue. I also have letters from my husband when he served in Vietnam! My mother was one of the sisters. She never got over losing those younger brother, all the way to age 97.
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What a treasured memory those letters must be.
A definite piece of precious history.
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