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MWSA Review
A Gathering of Men is a World War Two novel of three young men who leave their rural North Carolina home to become airmen in the “Bloody 100th” Bomb Group, flying against Nazi Germany in the horrific early days of American’s entry in the air war over Europe.
Too often, historical fiction attempts to overlay modern attributes on characters, taking away the authenticity of their speech, emotions, and actions. The author has done a wonderful job of giving her characters in this book an “old” feel, depicting simple brave country boys who grew up in the Great Depression and whose fathers had fought in France in the Great War just a scant twenty years before.
Ms. Simmons has previously written a nonfiction book on World War Two, and her expertise clearly shows through in her descriptions and depictions of the men and machines of the 100th Bomb Group, an actual unit that lost over 730 men and 177 aircraft during the war, many of them during a three-month period in the Fall of 1943. Fans of World War Two and military aviation fiction will find this an outstanding read.
Review by Terry Lloyd (March 2022)
Author's Synopsis
Candor, North Carolina. The town barber brandishes a copy of the May 1927 Charlotte Observer-on the front page, Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis on its cross-country flight. At the outskirts of town, best friends Lake, Roger, and Jim take turns hurling their wingless crate down a hill. Eyes closed, they imagine their future alongside Lindy.Pearl Harbor changes everything. The boys will have their chance to fly-not over North Carolina farm fields, but across Germany on bombing runs, facing a determined Luftwaffe. The odds of completing their tours of duty are slim.A Gathering of Men is the account of the boys who board their aircraft for the first time and the men they become in the blink of an eye. The terrors they witness and the pressure to go up again and again and again brings them to the breaking point. It is a moving tale, based on a true story, about shattered dreams and enduring friendship, duty, and honor.
Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 262