What is it about Kate’s War by Linda Stewart Henley that stayed with me long after I turned the last page and shut off my bedroom light? Is it the story of Kate who, during World War II, wrestles with her own internal battle in search of her dream of a singing career? Or is it about her complex relationship with her family as they prepare for the encroachment of the war near their home in London? Maybe it was watching Kate mature and shift her priorities when she takes on the responsibility of caring for the well-being of a young Jewish girl? Perhaps it’s when she examines the possibility of a future with the men who enter her life?

Certainly, it was all of those things that kept me on the edge of my seat, so captured by Kate that I anxiously turned the page in anticipation of what would happen next. While war is turbulent by its nature, Ms. Henley’s well-rounded and likable Kate infuses optimism into this story. I rooted for her to win her war.

What I appreciated most, though, was how Ms. Henley schooled me, in a positive way, on aspects of World War II that I’d neither learned by reading other books on the era or by watching movies depicting that time in our history. As a result, I highly recommend Kate’s War to everyone who wakes up the morning after staying up late reading, realizes it was time well spent, and jumps at the chance to recommend their latest read. Which should be Kate’s War, Ms. Henley’s latest achievement.

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