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Wax
Young women come of age in the shipyards during WWII, only to lose the best jobs they've ever had to returning soldiers after victory. When, post-war, Tilly builds a business making candles, and an arsonist destroys it, she is forced to face the truth about her life. Wax is set in the 1940s, as the seeds of the civil rights and feminist movements are sown - along with victory gardens.
323 pages, Paperback
First published July 9, 2011
15 people want to read
About the author
Therese Ambrosi Smith
2 books2 followersTherese Ambrosi Smith wrote of young women choosing lives different from their mothers' as a UCLA Writers' Program student. Her personal tales of work and travel - climbing mountains, surveying logging roads, designing parks and playgrounds, tending bar and selling fish - were the subjects of her short fiction.
In 2006, she visited the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historic Park and was offered a remarkable collection of oral histories by Park Ranger Elizabeth Tucker. Since then, stories of real-life "Rosies" have informed her work. Wax is her first novel.
In 2006, she visited the Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historic Park and was offered a remarkable collection of oral histories by Park Ranger Elizabeth Tucker. Since then, stories of real-life "Rosies" have informed her work. Wax is her first novel.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 25, 2015
I spent more than half a year studying this time period for my senior thesis in history, and I now consider myself a bit of an expert on American women workers during World War II. I came across this fiction title during my research. I was excited to read this book after finishing my thesis. However, it sucked.
Some reasons it sucked:
-There were strange time-jumping moments. The book opened after World War II ended, then skipped back to before the war, then there we were in the midst of war. Then it kept a steady pace until we got the end of the war (again), then did a little jump-back shimmy. The story didn't start in the right place and was paced horribly.
-This book was actually not about women workers during WWII. Yes, it had a bit of that. But only the first third was about that. Then the war ends, and we follow one of the women more closely as a she goes back to her regular life as a waitress. Exciting stuff. Oh, and she goes into business with her friend and has a candle factory. Which is, I assumed, where the title "Wax" comes from.
-Oh yeah, the candle factory thing sort of comes out of nowhere, even though there's this strange/supposedly mysterious build-up about a character's uncle who died and left her half of the property that the factory sits on. Lots of supporting characters pop in and out about saying confusing and mysterious things about said deceased uncle and/or property, making you think there's something more about it than just a bit of land and a dead uncle.
-The simple dialogue interspersed with action was very poorly done. A lot of dialogue happened during preparing meals or performing household tasks. So we get a lot of things like this:
"Where are you going?" X asked, as she filled the teapot with water.
"I've got to get to work," Y answered. X put the teapot on the stove.
"Oh, bother. Why do women have to work anyway?" X asked, as she retrieved teacups and saucers from the cupboard.
"I'm running late," Y answered. The teapot began to boil.
"That's a shame. This tea is going to be awesome," X said. The teapot whistled. X found the sugar bowl and some spoons. "Something fabulous might happen today. Have you thought about that?"
"Why, no, I haven't," Y nodded. X took the teapot off the stove and poured the piping hot water into the cups which she had retrieved from the cupboard and that were sitting on saucers next to the spoons and also the sugar. "Funny you should say that," Y continued. X took a sip of the freshly brewed tea that she had just poured into a tea cup and stirred sugar into. "Well, ta ta now!"
[Note: not actual dialogue from the book.]
This would have made a good play, since there was a LOT of (unnecessary) stage direction along with the dialogue. The dialogue was (sadly) the strongest part. The time-jumping, the exposition, the useless background info, the character-building was all pretty awful. I don't get what the point of any of this was. I would have loved it if the book had really focused on the women's time in the factory during war-time (because that's where my specialty lies, AND because it's fascinating and there's so much to explore there.) The writer clearly did her research, because the 1940s really felt true to me. But that's it. Flat characters, ridiculous and over-dramatic plot, and clunky-dunk writing.
If you want to read a wonderful, entertaining, and well-written book about women working in a factory during World War II, read the memoir Slacks and Calluses: Our Summer in a Bomber Factory, written and illustrated by two teachers who spent a summer building airplanes for the war effort. It's a quick read, laugh-out-loud funny, and unflinchingly honest when it comes to gender issues during this very fascinating era.
Some reasons it sucked:
-There were strange time-jumping moments. The book opened after World War II ended, then skipped back to before the war, then there we were in the midst of war. Then it kept a steady pace until we got the end of the war (again), then did a little jump-back shimmy. The story didn't start in the right place and was paced horribly.
-This book was actually not about women workers during WWII. Yes, it had a bit of that. But only the first third was about that. Then the war ends, and we follow one of the women more closely as a she goes back to her regular life as a waitress. Exciting stuff. Oh, and she goes into business with her friend and has a candle factory. Which is, I assumed, where the title "Wax" comes from.
-Oh yeah, the candle factory thing sort of comes out of nowhere, even though there's this strange/supposedly mysterious build-up about a character's uncle who died and left her half of the property that the factory sits on. Lots of supporting characters pop in and out about saying confusing and mysterious things about said deceased uncle and/or property, making you think there's something more about it than just a bit of land and a dead uncle.
-The simple dialogue interspersed with action was very poorly done. A lot of dialogue happened during preparing meals or performing household tasks. So we get a lot of things like this:
"Where are you going?" X asked, as she filled the teapot with water.
"I've got to get to work," Y answered. X put the teapot on the stove.
"Oh, bother. Why do women have to work anyway?" X asked, as she retrieved teacups and saucers from the cupboard.
"I'm running late," Y answered. The teapot began to boil.
"That's a shame. This tea is going to be awesome," X said. The teapot whistled. X found the sugar bowl and some spoons. "Something fabulous might happen today. Have you thought about that?"
"Why, no, I haven't," Y nodded. X took the teapot off the stove and poured the piping hot water into the cups which she had retrieved from the cupboard and that were sitting on saucers next to the spoons and also the sugar. "Funny you should say that," Y continued. X took a sip of the freshly brewed tea that she had just poured into a tea cup and stirred sugar into. "Well, ta ta now!"
[Note: not actual dialogue from the book.]
This would have made a good play, since there was a LOT of (unnecessary) stage direction along with the dialogue. The dialogue was (sadly) the strongest part. The time-jumping, the exposition, the useless background info, the character-building was all pretty awful. I don't get what the point of any of this was. I would have loved it if the book had really focused on the women's time in the factory during war-time (because that's where my specialty lies, AND because it's fascinating and there's so much to explore there.) The writer clearly did her research, because the 1940s really felt true to me. But that's it. Flat characters, ridiculous and over-dramatic plot, and clunky-dunk writing.
If you want to read a wonderful, entertaining, and well-written book about women working in a factory during World War II, read the memoir Slacks and Calluses: Our Summer in a Bomber Factory, written and illustrated by two teachers who spent a summer building airplanes for the war effort. It's a quick read, laugh-out-loud funny, and unflinchingly honest when it comes to gender issues during this very fascinating era.
July 26, 2018
I really enjoyed this story. I picked up the book at the National Historical Park “Rosie the Riveter”, in Richmond, CA. Btw, I loved this park...I at first thought it would be dull history, but found myself spending a whole day there, and learned so much ! This book is fiction, but it gives you a feeling of the times, the culture, the people, the war effort by women during WWII . It’s an easy read and keeps you very interested throughout the book. I definitely recommend it, and so does Kris Neri, a friend, author, and former owner of the Well Red Coyote bookstore in Sedona where I live.
June 14, 2024
I received this book as a prize for finishing second in a Rosie the Riveter look alike contest...and I really liked it! It is set in San Mateo County from 1917-1947, and while some of the plot line is a little convoluted, the characters are sympathetic and the action is brisk. I finished it in 2 days though I have other books going... a testament to how engaging it was.
July 29, 2022
This was two stories. One about the women (3) who became workers in the shipyards. The other half is about an extended family story of what the (3) Rosie’s did after the war.
Wish I know it was based on real people.
Wish I know it was based on real people.
January 13, 2019
Meh. I was hoping for a real story about the women who built the ships during WWII but the war ended on page 95 and I just couldn't build up an interest in the next 200+ pages
November 13, 2023
amazing! i loved reading about my hometown. the characters & story are so captivating. i recommend everyone read this one
September 5, 2012
2.5. While the synopsis of this book makes the book sound like it's the story of some Rosie the Riveter type women during World War II and it's also about what happens after the war. This is what initially got me interested in the book as I had never read a historical fiction about this group of women. WWII opened so many doors for so many women. Jobs that men traditionally had like some of the ones that the women had in the book were finally open to women. It's amazing how much changed during this time period! After the war ended, women were pushed out of some of the positions that they held during the war as the men came back home.
I found myself wishing that the book had focused a little more on the main characters, Tilly, Doris, and Sylvia during the war. Only the very beginning chapters of the book focus on what happened during the war. The majority of the story takes place after the war ends. Since the friendships and relationships between all three of the women are pretty much established when the war ends as they've worked together for several years at that point, I didn't really feel that I got a good sense of who the women were and why they connect with each other. It felt a little bit disjointed to me.
I almost thought that the book could have been expanded a little and divided into two books maybe. I thought that what the women did during World War II and the bonds that they formed then could have been a really compelling story. Because you don't really get a lot of the back story in this book, Wax kind of rang hollow for me. If I could have felt for the characters and their relationships a little more, I would have liked this book a little bit better.
That being said, the historical detail in the book was really good and was very vivid. I would love to see what else Smith writes in the future.
I found myself wishing that the book had focused a little more on the main characters, Tilly, Doris, and Sylvia during the war. Only the very beginning chapters of the book focus on what happened during the war. The majority of the story takes place after the war ends. Since the friendships and relationships between all three of the women are pretty much established when the war ends as they've worked together for several years at that point, I didn't really feel that I got a good sense of who the women were and why they connect with each other. It felt a little bit disjointed to me.
I almost thought that the book could have been expanded a little and divided into two books maybe. I thought that what the women did during World War II and the bonds that they formed then could have been a really compelling story. Because you don't really get a lot of the back story in this book, Wax kind of rang hollow for me. If I could have felt for the characters and their relationships a little more, I would have liked this book a little bit better.
That being said, the historical detail in the book was really good and was very vivid. I would love to see what else Smith writes in the future.
July 21, 2012
This was an interesting story about the women who supported the war movement at home while the men went off to fight in World War II. Their lives changed so much. No longer were they working in restaurants and stores with the eventual goal of getting married and having children. They became trained labourers making good money. But then the war was over, the men can home and the women lost their jobs. I imagine for many women, it was a hard transition to go backwards again.
Eager for adventure, strangers Tilly, Doris and Sylvia sign up to build ships near San Fransisco. After three years of hard work, they lose their jobs when the war ends but have saved a substantial amount of money. Tilly heads home and finds it hard to settle back in to her old life. She has her job back at her uncle and aunt's restaurant and her mother can't understand why she has no interest in getting married. Tilly and Doris build a candlemaking business in her hometown, where Doris coincidentally inherits a piece of land from her Uncle Stanley whom she'd never met (finding him was one of the reasons Doris had gone to California). Though Sylvia heads to Reno to work in a bar, they keep in touch.
I figured out the "secret past" as soon as it was introduced but it was interesting to see how it would be revealed and acknowledged.
I wasn't crazy about the resolution of the arson angle and I wasn't buying the person who did it and why.
It's written in third person. The time periods jumped around a bit but are prefaced by the date at the beginning of the chapters. I enjoyed the story and the writing and will keep an eye out for other things by this author.
Blog review: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2012/07...
Eager for adventure, strangers Tilly, Doris and Sylvia sign up to build ships near San Fransisco. After three years of hard work, they lose their jobs when the war ends but have saved a substantial amount of money. Tilly heads home and finds it hard to settle back in to her old life. She has her job back at her uncle and aunt's restaurant and her mother can't understand why she has no interest in getting married. Tilly and Doris build a candlemaking business in her hometown, where Doris coincidentally inherits a piece of land from her Uncle Stanley whom she'd never met (finding him was one of the reasons Doris had gone to California). Though Sylvia heads to Reno to work in a bar, they keep in touch.
I figured out the "secret past" as soon as it was introduced but it was interesting to see how it would be revealed and acknowledged.
I wasn't crazy about the resolution of the arson angle and I wasn't buying the person who did it and why.
It's written in third person. The time periods jumped around a bit but are prefaced by the date at the beginning of the chapters. I enjoyed the story and the writing and will keep an eye out for other things by this author.
Blog review: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2012/07...
February 21, 2012
Just awful. The surprise at the end is a mix of too easy to guess and too confusing to follow. The characters have no personality. The original plot of women working in trades during the war gets dropped to focus on soap opera-level drama involving secret deals among powerful men twenty years earlier. Committing arson is somehow excused because women's lives are unfulfilling (I don't see the link). The drama of one of the characters realizing she is a lesbian is painted in such broad strokes that her feelings never seem real. And although she gets together with her love at the end, we don't get to see their reunion and they never even kiss!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 24, 2013
Story set in World War II. Some parts didn't seem accurately researched (ie. not very many people had home phones), and sometimes the story line jumped from one character or topic without a good transition.
June 19, 2014
I liked the story and the historical accuracy. It took an uncomfortable twist when it started on lesbian relationships. I'm fine with the relationships, I just wasn't expecting this to turn into a love story.
July 15, 2016
Historical detail a five but the story was a little disjointed. It was almost two separate books and the pace varied. I really liked it, it just seemed like it was trying to do a little bit of everything at once.
February 8, 2013
I really liked this book, but would have liked more detail during the war. Also, it felt like some subjects/characters were started but not finished.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews