Gold Star Wife

Widowed by the death of her soldier husband, Jason, in World War II, Janet Lewis is a schoolteacher left to raise three rambunctious children alone, a “gold-star wife.” She takes her first trip back to an army base after her husband’s death with the kids in tow. She seeks comfort with Ron and Katie, a married couple that she and her late husband had befriended. Within a few days of arriving at the base, she is reacquainted with Officer Paul Adams, a friend of her late husband. Although Paul harbored secret feelings for Janet from the first time he met her years before, he never revealed them to her, and instead she married Jason.

Gold Star Wife is a sweet, romantic story that hinges on character development and the historical World War II backdrop. The leisurely pace draws you into Janet and Paul’s world, and the honesty and quiet passion of their courtship is described in a forthright and refreshing manner. L.K. Campbell also fleshes out ancillary characters like Ron and Katie and Janet’s children with minimum words for maximum effect. (Janet’s daughter Mary has a few particularly cute lines, including her seemingly non-sequitur response to her mother’s announcement that she has a new boyfriend. ) This romance explores how love can grow unexpectedly and heal the pain of a great loss. Gold Star Wife omits bombastic plot elements and concentrates on characters, and that is the key to its charm.

Reviewed by: Jade