The Call to Serve

“Helen, do you think I’ll ever get married?” Joan asked abruptly.

A very troubling thought in 1943. The Call to Serve celebrates the innocence that transcends the decades, and the beauty of true love in this story of friendship between Annie, Joan, Bernice, Helen and their men.

The story is set in fictitious Abbotsville, New Jersey in the autumn of 1943. Caught between the desire to marry and have families, and the requirement to stay patient, even vigilant, during the grim World War II era, these four Catholic heroines find comfort in the humor and solace of camaraderie.

Annie, Joan, and Bernice, all young ladies in their 20s, set out to find the loves of their lives. Annie is a fast-paced North Jersey gal whose Italian heritage is rich in the love and creation of food, much to the joy of her friends. Joan, comfortably brought up in South Jersey, is a little naïve about the ways of the world, but not in what truly counts. Bernice, the youngest of the group, and the least affluent, is wise-cracking but always the first to tune in to a situation. Beloved and a guiding force to them all is Helen, a 50-something homemaker with her own experiences of war.

When Annie’s fiancé is called up, Joan thinks there is nothing sadder in the world—that is, until she experiences her own love trauma. She falls instantly for a handsome man during a chance meeting. But she then bears the frustration of not knowing which girl he prefers, her or the bubbly redhead that won’t go away. Both girls are distracted by Bernice’s sudden and mysterious behavior, as she begins to disappear regularly into nearby Philadelphia for unknown reasons. Annie’s heart begins to break when her fiancé’s letters stop coming. Although Helen assures her this happens often when soldiers are moved around, her stable support begins to erode when, as the weeks tick by, she hears nothing from her own husband.

Will their shared love of God and family be enough to keep them together and find happy resolution to their struggles?

The Call to Serve is Book I of the Serve Series about Friendship and Love in the World War II, 1940s era.