Week 11: Good Night, Irene
AUG. 23, 2023 • CAMP TOB WEEK 11
Good Night, Irene
first half discussion
Five books down, one to go. And this week we continue our August vibe—“historical women in harsh lands”—as we start our final book of the summer: Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea.
Now let’s welcome our final Activity Leader of the summer, Martha (aka @flamingob in the Commentariat), who’s ready to guide us through Good Night, Irene.
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In 1943, Irene Woodward abandons an abusive fiancé in New York to enlist with the Red Cross and head to Europe. She makes fast friends in training with Dorothy Dunford, a towering Midwesterner with a ferocious wit. Together they are part of an elite group of women, nicknamed Donut Dollies, who command military vehicles called Clubmobiles at the front line, providing camaraderie and a taste of home that may be the only solace before troops head into battle. After D-Day, these two intrepid friends join the Allied soldiers streaming into France. Their time in Europe will see them embroiled in danger, from the Battle of the Bulge to the liberation of Buchenwald. Through her friendship with Dorothy, and a love affair with a courageous American fighter pilot named Hans, Irene learns to trust again. Her most fervent hope, which becomes more precarious by the day, is for all three of them to survive the war intact.
This has been excerpted from the publisher’s summary and edited for length.
Hello Martha—we’re so glad you could join us at Camp. Please introduce yourself, and the floor is yours!
Martha: Hello! I live in North Carolina. I’ve followed the ToB since 2015—I always eagerly anticipate the long list starting in November :) My favorite things to read are historical fiction and mysteries. Here are questions to start us off:
Irene tells us about the advice given to her by a nun at school to “step outside herself.” Why do you think that she suddenly feels the need to take this advice? Do you think she would have been able to had she not been spurred by her fiancé’s abuse?
What about Dorothy draws Irene in? On the surface they have little in common, but become very close very quickly. Is it just circumstance or is there something particular in Dorothy’s personality that Irene values? Why is Dorothy drawn to Irene?
This book appealed to me in part because my great-grandmother had a similar journey from small-town North Carolina to the battlefields of France as a nurse in WWI. What is the value of writing a book based (however loosely) on family history? Are there drawbacks?
What do you think the Irene at the end of Part One would say to the soldier she met on the train at the beginning? Do you think she is beginning to understand his advice?
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