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MWSA Review
Author Nancy Stroer’s debut novel portrays the time period of the mid-nineties for women in the military through her main character, Lieutenant Min Mills. Stroer’s own military background led her to develop realistic characters, settings, and situations that place readers right into the story. Female Lieutenant Min’s humor, self-deprecation, and conflicting emotions create an interesting ride for readers, not knowing what turn would come next, nor knowing if Min would race to the finish line or crash along the way.
Each character has his or her own story, and Min’s reactions and dealings with them revealed more about her own character. The following shows an example of who Min was and how the author portrayed her inner dialogue. “I couldn’t comprehend the kind of organization that produced both cowards and heroes, sometimes in the same person, but hell if I wasn’t going to figure it out.” Min grew throughout the book, but the growth was not a straight trajectory, making the read much more satisfying than a predictable outcome.
Stroer’s writing style did not disappoint, including visual and physical descriptions such as, “I slumped into the kitchen, started the coffee, and put my head straight under the tap, drinking like I’d just crossed the Sahara and not the beige carpeted expanse from my bedroom.”
I highly recommend Playing Army to those who would like to know more about those who lived during the Vietnam War era, and to those who are interested in military women’s stories from the not-too-distant past and understand some of their realities.
Review by Valerie Ormond (February 2025)
Author's Synopsis
Can you really fake it till you make it? Lieutenant Minerva Mills is about to find out.
It’s 1995 and the Army units of Fort Stewart, Georgia, are gearing up to deploy to Bosnia. But Min has no intention of going to war-torn Eastern Europe. Her father disappeared in Vietnam and—longing for some connection to him—she’s determined to go on a long-promised tour to Asia. The colonel will only release her on two conditions: she ensures the rag-tag Headquarters Company is ready for the peacekeeping mission and she gets her weight within Army regs.
Min only has one summer to kick everyone’s butts into shape, but the harder she plays Army, the more the soldiers—and her body—rebel. If she can’t even get the other women on her side, much less lose those eight lousy pounds, she’ll never have another chance to stand where her father once stood in Vietnam. The colonel may sweep her along to Bosnia or throw her out of the Army altogether. Or Min may be forced to conclude that no amount of faking it will ever be enough to make it, and as was true for her father, that the Army is an impossible space for her to occupy.
Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction
Number of Pages: 292
Word Count: 92,000