A Star for Mrs. Blake, by April
Smith, is a heart-breaking, poignant and hopeful novel of American women traveling
overseas to visit the graves of sons killed in World War I and learning about
themselves and each other in the process. Set during a Gold Star Mothers pilgrimage
in 1931, six women of different social classes and races discover, despite common
loss and a shared goal, much still separates them in President Hoover’s America
and post-war France.
The title character,
Mrs. Cora Blake, is a librarian in coastal Maine who takes the U. S. government-sponsored
and paid trip to the grave of her son Samuel, who died in the final month of
World War I. Smith uses an early episode of mistaken identity to call attention
to the distinctly separate and not-equal treatment of African-American women
whose sons and husbands equally made the supreme sacrifice for a country that wrestles
with racial injustice to this day.
For most of the
book, Mrs. Blake’s primary companions are a wealthy Boston socialite widow, a
Jewish woman making the journey over the objections of her husband, a woman whose
philandering husband has repeatedly institutionalized her, and an Irish
working-class woman who lost two sons in battle. This small band grows as close
together as a unit in combat, led by an idealistic recent West Point graduate and
accompanied by a nurse contemplating her own future.
The horrific
costs of the world’s first industrial-scale exercise in man-made carnage are demonstrated
not only by the anguish of the mothers for their long-dead sons, but also through
Mrs. Blake’s encounter with an expatriate American reporter grievously wounded
during a gas attack years earlier. In enthralling prose and vibrant
description, Smith ably builds sympathy for her characters while also offering
a fitting memorial to all those who suffered during the World War and afterward.
Smith’s book shines
a sweet light on a little-known part of our nation’s history. It also subtly compels
the reader to reflect more soberly on the meaning of country, honor, and
sacrifice. In this anniversary year of
the start of the “War to End All Wars”, this book is sure to enlighten curious
readers while challenging all of us to consider what support the troops means -
before as well as after - the final shot is fired.
