Rating: 
Summary: A Delightful Piece of WWII History
Review:
When It Was Our War is so informative. It describes many aspects of WWII and the American culture at that time. It is extremely enjoyable because the author adds a humanistic aspect by telling her own story of following her husband around the country as he trains to become a bombardier, and by describing the people she meets along the way.
People come in and out of Stella's life, and some make a great impact on her. Truths are revealed and her eyes are opened. Suberman's whole perception of the world changes.
War has a way of making people come face to face with reality. Suberman's writing is a window into the realities of WWII, and what was happening at the home front. She draws vivid pictures of the time period.
I was captivated by how touchingly personal she got when she described the persevering love her and her husband had for each other. It didn't matter that they were far apart. It didn't matter what was happening in their lives. Their love never faltered.
Rating:
Summary: gifted writer
Review: "When it was our War" is the second book by Stella Suberman, a former editor who writes delightfully well. Like her first book, "The Jew Store", this one is a joy to read, as Suberman is especially gifted at presenting a balanced account of the inner and outer lives of her characters. Suberman is a young bride, still in her teens, as the United States enters World War II, and her husband is an Air Force pilot. Leaving her Florida home, she follows Jack to his postings around the country. Her carefree days of sun and fun at Miami Beach are over, but she brings her high spirited resilience to the worries and deprivations of wartime life. The chapters are filled with adventures, friendships, encountering prejudice, the birth of the couple's first child, a son they name Rick for the Humphrey Bogart character in "Casa Blanca". The reader's interest will be maintained from first page to last, in this warm-hearted memoir. Highly recommended, especially for the fine quality of Suberman's writing.
Rating:
Summary: gifted writer
Review: "When it was our War" is the second book by Stella Suberman, a former editor who writes delightfully well. Like her first book, "The Jew Store", this one is a joy to read, as Suberman is especially gifted at presenting a balanced account of the inner and outer lives of her characters. Suberman is a young bride, still in her teens, as the United States enters World War II, and her husband is an Air Force pilot. Leaving her Florida home, she follows Jack to his postings around the country. Her carefree days of sun and fun at Miami Beach are over, but she brings her high spirited resilience to the worries and deprivations of wartime life. The chapters are filled with adventures, friendships, encountering prejudice, the birth of the couple's first child, a son they name Rick for the Humphrey Bogart character in "Casa Blanca". The reader's interest will be maintained from first page to last, in this warm-hearted memoir. Highly recommended, especially for the fine quality of Suberman's writing.
Rating:
Summary: gifted writer
Review: "When it was our War" is the second book by Stella Suberman, a former editor who writes delightfully well. Like her first book, "The Jew Store", this one is a joy to read, as Suberman is especially gifted at presenting a balanced account of the inner and outer lives of her characters. Suberman is a young bride, still in her teens, as the United States enters World War II, and her husband is an Air Force pilot. Leaving her Florida home, she follows Jack to his postings around the country. Her carefree days of sun and fun at Miami Beach are over, but she brings her high spirited resilience to the worries and deprivations of wartime life. The chapters are filled with adventures, friendships, encountering prejudice, the birth of the couple's first child, a son they name Rick for the Humphrey Bogart character in "Casa Blanca". The reader's interest will be maintained from first page to last, in this warm-hearted memoir. Highly recommended, especially for the fine quality of Suberman's writing.
Rating:
Summary: Hubba Hubba!!!
Review: Earlier reviews are all excellent! Stella Suberman and her family were prolific letter-writers; their contemporary correspondence obviously provided vivid details linking her journey into marriage and her growing insights into the social patterns existing in our country to her account. Suberman's book provides a vivid historic backdrop of American lives and attitudes during the war. She is unflinching in her honesty! I recommend this book for anyone interested in the home front, women's history, or vivid pictures of how Americans viewed the war, including reactions to the Doolittle raids, the songs sung, the experience of traveling by train and car. It is an incredible social history. And, as the guys said when a pretty girl walked by,''HUBBA HUBBA!"
Rating:
Summary: I entered the world of World War II
Review: For all of us who have wondered how Americans dealt with World War II, this is a book that tells all. It is an unusual book in that nothing is sacred. It is not just a feel-good Greatest Generation book (even though it is written by someone from that generation), but one that recounts with penetrating clarity the the good things and the bad. There is a surprising amount of actual war activity information included along with a timeline that is fascinating. There is also much that is light-hearted - the songs, the reunitings, and so forth -that make the book warm and inviting. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: I entered the world of World War II
Review: For all of us who have wondered how Americans dealt with World War II, this is a book that tells all. It is an unusual book in that nothing is sacred. It is not just a feel-good Greatest Generation book (even though it is written by someone from that generation), but one that recounts with penetrating clarity the the good things and the bad. There is a surprising amount of actual war activity information included along with a timeline that is fascinating. There is also much that is light-hearted - the songs, the reunitings, and so forth -that make the book warm and inviting. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: What life was really like at home during the war
Review: I loved this book. I think the writing style is fresh and crisp. It's so easy to read; it's humorous and, at the same time, very serious. From an historical perspective, it was very descriptive of life in this country at the time. I could really picture the characters, especially the writer. I especially think she captured the enigma that was her father. Although I was born during the war, I've never really focused on what daily life would have been like then, but this book certainly reflected the moment vividly. Again I really enjoyed it; so much so, that I'll reread it in a few months and I never do that. It's a great follow up to her first novel.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling Wartime Love Story
Review: Stella Suberman's second memoir, "When It Was Our War," will appeal to readers for many different reasons. It is a compelling wartime love story that I couldn't lay down. I finished it in two evenings! Her memories totally recapture the mood, the songs, the risks and dangers of living through uncertain times as we all did during World War II. It is a coming-of-age story that anyone of any age can recognize. With absolute candor, Suberman recalls her experience of confronting the conflict between her family's culture and that of the outside world. As a young, Southern Jewish American, she comes to terms with the ugliness of prejudice in all its forms in American life. Her memoir is universal because it portrays the painful process all humans face in moving from youth to adulthood. Readers will come away from her book with a sense of identification with her experiences and a compassion for the naive youths they once were.
Rating:
Summary: A World War II Experience
Review: Suberman has managed to combine a love story, historical account of World War II and a view of bigotry in America into a wonderful book. The history is an unadulterated view of what life was like in those war years. It is a must for those who lived through these years as the book provides an opportunity to rekindle the many memories of that time. For the younger group, it presents a picture not available in the current sanitized high school textbooks. No attempt was made to be historically comprehensive but rather to present the events that effected the lives of Stella, her husband Jack, their family and the other people around them.
The tendency would be to read this book quickly, but one must take the time to relate and savor the memories.
The writing is done with intelligence, emotion and wit. She is a refreshing voice in current literature.
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