Product Description

Many Americans will never experience the gut-wrenching act of sending a loved one off to war, or the joy and stress of welcoming him or her home. Still less known to most of us are the anxiety-ridden moments between these two scenes, the day-to-day reality of life in a military family when a loved one is deployed in a combat zone. While They're at War takes us inside hearts and homes to illuminate the unseen aspects of this critical American story.

We meet two very different women, Marissa Bootes and Beth Pratt, both newlyweds experiencing life alone at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, while their husbands are fighting in Iraq. Through the extraordinary stories of these and other military spouses, Kristin Henderson reveals the overwhelming effects of separation -- from fears of death to worries about financial stability and marital fidelity. She also explores the official and unofficial support systems that strain to help homefront families endure some of their greatest challenges.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #151832 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. By the time Beth Pratt's husband returned from Iraq, they had been apart longer than they had known each other. Not long after Charlie Bootes's first deployment, his wife, Marissa Bootes, became a leader in one of the army's Family Readiness Groups, heading up phone trees and organizing girls' nights out while also managing a job and motherhood. When three uniformed soldiers came to Michelle Hellerman's door, she thought that they were picking her up for a comfort team; she didn't imagine that the terrible news was for her. "This is the war story you never hear," writes Henderson about what is actually a series of engrossing and often heartbreaking stories built from more than 100 interviews. The Quaker wife of a military chaplain, Henderson is a compassionate expert witness. For military families, her explanations of the official and unofficial support systems that serve (and sometimes fail) Fort Bragg's soldiers amount to a useful handbook. For civilians, the stories provide a revealing look into what it really means when a country goes to war. Though many of the soldiers Henderson writes about are serving in Iraq, she takes neither side in the war debate, and keeps to a style that is both intimate and professional. This is an emotional book that effectively plies the complexities of military life. (Feb)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
An all-volunteer military now means that most Americans don't personally know someone serving in Iraq or Afghanistan or elsewhere, which means we also don't know much about the toll on their families. Henderson, whose husband is a navy chaplain, profiles military families, focusing on two wives coping with life at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Beth Pratt and Marissa Bootes face the challenges of their husbands' first deployment as junior enlisted men, and they are full of anxieties while struggling to maintain emotional and financial stability. Henderson details the support groups developed by military wives to bolster themselves against depression, substance abuse, infidelity, the pressures of single parenthood, suicidal impulses, and husbands who return with emotional problems. One group stays in such compulsive contact that a husband jokingly calls them a cult. This powerful, revealing, and sometimes painful book offers a look behind the scenes of military families most often seen during tearful good-byes, joyful homecomings, and "the occasional yellow-ribbon moment." Vanessa Bush
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"This powerful, revealing, and sometimes painful book offers a look behind the scenes of military families most often seen during tearful good-byes, joyful homecomings, and 'the occasional yellow-ribbon moment." (Booklist, ALA )

"A standout in this season's deluge of war books, bringing a vital, often overlooked perspective on America's ongoing debates about Iraq." (Kirkus Reviews )

"engrossing and often heartbreaking...Henderson is a compassionate expert witness....Though many of the soldiers Henderson writes about are serving in Iraq, she takes neither side in the war debate, and keeps to a style that is both intimate and professional. This is an emotional book that effectively plies the complexities of military life." (Publishers Weekly, Starred )

"Henderson's eye-opening work skillfully carries the reader through her vast subject, bringing up appropriate, well-sourced details at the right time. 'While They're at War' provides a wide-ranging portrait of this war's effects on the day-to-day lives of military wives and a few husbands (honorary members of their sisterhood) in and around Fort Bragg, N.C." -- Book World (The Washington Post )

The book is an unpretentious, down-to-earth look at what spouses and family members of deployed soldiers endure on both the material and mental landscapes. It's the story of how military spouses adapt to deployment or fail to and why...There's so much helpful information scattered throughout that the book could serve as a handbook for military spouses" --Richmond Times Dispatch

"Kristin Henderson...gives us the truth from the home front in While They're at War, a revealing and nonparisan look at the military families behind the headlines. Fair warning: Even the joyful reunions can make you cry." --Parade

"Authentic and from the heart, this is a piece of often untold American history, and a must-read for those both in and out of uniform." --Senator John McCain

"A vivid picture of the families behind America's armed forces." --All Things Considered, National Public Radio

Customer Reviews

A Military Wife
While They're At War was a very good book for someone entering into a deployed lifestyle. It opened my eyes to alot of things I thought I knew about. It tells of three different families trials during their experience of their husbands entering the military and the stages they went through before, during, and after deployment. Very comforting!

Fantastic and helpful read
As an Army wife at Fort Bragg going through my husband's first deployment, and a 15 month deployment at that, this was a wonderful and heartbreaking read. I have read many books on being an Army wife and guides to getting through a deployment but none compared to the insight found here. While the stories and commentaries brought tears to my eyes, it was comforting to know that I am not alone in my feelings, frustrations and fears. Ms. Henderson captures what so many people fail to grasp; that military spouses come from varying backgrounds, educational levels, religions and political beliefs but we all want the same thing - that our loved one is brought back to us safe and sound. I appreciate all of the men and women who told their stories in the book and may God bless you, your families and all those who are serving both in and out of uniform.

army wife in the house!!!!
This book contains the true emotions and behind the scenes that the spouses go through. Everyone faces it differently but reading this book comfirmed that I am not alone in my feelings. I found strength and courage through the stories of my fellow wives. Being a military spouse gets very hard each day for me since my husband is deployed, but i love that man and i would never trade marrying someone else. ~Proud Army Wife