Emma's World: A World War II Memoir

by Ilene W. Devlin

Emma’s A World War II Memoir is a narrative nonfiction book by Ilene W. Devlin released in November 2020. The work is based on published research, family oral history and personal diaries and letters from World War II. This inspiring story shows one young American woman’s resilience in achieving her dreams by overcoming life’s obstacles. The book traces Emma’s life in Missouri in the 1930s through the end of World War II. Emma dreams of becoming a teacher. She would be the first in her family to finish high school but needs a college degree to receive her teaching certificate. She makes many sacrifices to succeed. Emma also dreams of becoming a wife and mother, but her boyfriend enlists in the Army during World War II. She faces the decision of whether they should marry before he leaves or after he returns, if he does so. Emma’s and Peter’s daily letters to each other are the heart of the second half of the book. Daily reality on the Midwestern home front continues, but stress, rationing and media war reports adversely affect all community members. From enduring muddy roads to learning about modern warfare, they find that their perspective constantly shifts from mundane life to world-altering events. Emma’s A World War II Memoir is the author’s second published nonfiction book. Her first was Cherry Tree Essays on Childhood, also released in November 2020. The author can be contacted at www.IleneWDevlin.com and on Facebook and LinkedIn.

326 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 23, 2020

Reviews

[Joy Kidney · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first nine chapters are Emma's growing up years, the 1920s and and 1930s. Emma is the author's mother. Her diaries begin in 1938. War news begins in March 1939. By then, Emma was the first in her family to finish high school, and had definite aspirations of becoming a teacher. At first she teaches at a rural school, which she walks to every day.

The book is mainly sketches from her diaries about relatives, the weather, how much things cost, what movies they went to, meeting the young man she hoped to marry.

News of the war is a drumbeat throughout. After Pearl Harbor was attacked, her boyfriend decides to enlist, but doesn't want to get married first in case it would eventually lead to Emma becoming a widow. Many of his letters are included, from basic training to technical training to work on B-17s and serving in England.

There are no photos of Emma in this narrative nonfiction story, but we learn about her activities from week to week as she teaches school while she pursues her dream of earning a teaching degree.

(I read the paperback edition, but it's not listed on Goodreads.)