Medical journalist Alice Simmons has one last chance to stay alive in this story of courage, humility, determination, compassion, and hope during the last year of World War One.
Alice’s quest to become a war correspondent careens headlong into a wall of sexism and deceit after her arrival in Paris in 1918. The suave officer in charge of the American Army press office refuses to let Alice leave Paris while her male counterparts scramble to the Front during the German spring offensive. One evening, his misogyny escalates to a drunken assault. Alice manages to fight back, but then her attacker begins a campaign of false accusations to cover his crime.
A nursing position in an American Red Cross military hospital is Alice’s only hope to remain in France. It turns into the best scoop of her career. Wounded marines and soldiers from the Battle of Belleau Wood flood her ward. A tragic death amid the human wreckage of war unlocks Alice’s compassion and her capacity to love, both long-buried after a childhood tragedy. Her patients’ courage inspires Alice’s fight to restore her honor. Their plight and compassion open her heart.
(Photo of the American Red Cross Military Hospital Number One Annex is from the USMC Historical Division collection)
Published on 11/7/23
