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MWSA Review
Ninety Day Wonder by Lynn Ellen Doxon is a look at the trajectory of one man’s life changed by an outbreak of war. High school chemistry teacher Gene Sinclair’s carefully laid out plans to get into medical school are thwarted the day he receives his draft notice from the U.S. Army. He reconciles that serving his country is a temporary diversion and that he’ll serve his year and re-apply to medical school.
After basic training, Sinclair is sent to train on coastal artillery but he yearns to get into sone area of the medical corps. Eventually, he’s assigned to the pharmacy training program. but the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor necessitates him returning to artillery. From there, Gene is chosen to attend the ninety-day Officer’s Training School.
During his officer training, Sinclair meets southern belle Sarah Gale, eventually falling head over heels in love before he’s commissioned as an antiaircraft artillery officer. Gene struggles with conflicting feelings as an officer when it comes to leading his men. When Sarah joins the WAACs they are unable to see each other because she is an enlisted servicewoman and he is an officer. Somehow, they manage to overcome that obstacle. Separated by continents, Sarah and Gene stay in touch by letters. After a Japanese air raid in Darwin, Australia, Gene is assigned to deploy to parts unknown, leaving us to wait until the next book comes out to resolve my unanswered questions.
Review by Nancy Panko (March 2023)
Author's Synopsis
On the eve of World War II Gene Sinclair is drafted, ruining his plans to become a doctor. Gene adapts to army life, but still dreams of being a doctor, until the attack on Pearl Harbor. He is sent to Officer's Training School to become a "Ninety Day Wonder" junior officer for coastal artillery. Gene struggles to understand his place in the army, which becomes more complicated when he falls in love with Sarah Gale while at OTS.
Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 368
Word Count: 120244