"Blue Stars", from author Emily Gray Tedrowe, picks the scabs from the ugly wounds of war and its festering, widespread devastation. A compelling storyline combines the horrors of combat for our armed forces with the stateside survivorship of their family and friends. Two very different women find their lives are changed forever when each must face the care and rehabilitation of their gravely wounded returned soldiers. Ellen, a conservative professor, and Lacey, a restless personal trainer, are drawn together by their shared experiences as "those who wait" at the Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, DC. Although the characters are fictionalized, the story is inspired by the real-life 2007 housing scandal at Walter Reed. "Blue Stars" will open your eyes, permanently alter your perceptions of war and its home front consequences, and linger long in your thought processes.

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This is an excellent read about the war in Iraq, the people left behind and the aftermath following. ( )

Reviewed for Shelf Awareness, February 2015

http://www.3rsblog.com/2015/02/book-talk-blue-stars-emily-gray-tedrowe-shelf-awa... ( )

Inspired in part by the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center scandal that exposed a shocking litany of bureaucratic neglect in the care and housing of injured returned soldiers and their families in 2007, Blue Stars, by Emily Gray Tedrowe, is a story about the realities of the modern day home front for two women.

Ellen is a Midwestern literature professor, who is drawn into the war when her legal ward, Michael, enlists as a Marine. She struggles to reconcile her objections, and her fears for Michael’s safety, with her desire to support him.

Lacey is a loyal ‘Army Wife’, enormously proud that her husband, Eddie, serves his country, but she struggles with the realities of marriage to a career Army man, money is tight and she is often lonely.

Though a little slow to start, as Tedrowe establishes the personal histories and circumstances of her lead characters, I quickly found myself absorbed in the lives of Ellen and Lacey. The two women are very different, representing almost opposite lifestyles and viewpoints, who cope with their loved one’s deployment in contrasting ways.

The two women don’t meet until Michael and Eddie, in separate incidents, are badly injured in Iraq and housed at the Walter Reed. As their loved ones battle to recover from their injuries, Ellen and Lacey forge a friendship as they struggle to cope with the responsibilities, stresses, uncertainties and unending bureaucracy of their situation.

A frank and affecting portrayal of the challenges faced by the families of serving soldiers, and the shame of the Walter Reed Hospital scandal, Blue Stars is a moving and thought-provoking novel. ( )

Lately, there has been quite a few books published by those or about those who have served in the armed forces. This book is about those left behind, those who are often the ones to pick up the pieces or have to adjust to the reality of having to worry constantly, or having the one who comes out not the same one that left.

Ellen and Lacey were the unlikeliest two women to ever become friends. Ellen, a professor whose area of expertise is Edith Wharton, lives in the Midwest with her daughter, her sons, and a young man to which she is his guardian. Lacey, spent much of her life from high school on with a creep, the only good thing she had was her son Otto. Wanting a stable life for her and her son, she married Eddie, a career military man. But unusual situations makes strange bedfellows and the military will have big changes in line for these women.

Walter Reed, where our wounded soldiers are sent after combat injuries, proves to be a less than ideal place. Families are put up in places that are quite horrible, there are papers to fill out and papers to chase, requisitions and the constant fight and worry to get the money owed to them. Their lives are put on hold, their jobs at risk, their families apart and suffering.

Very eye opening, I really became immersed in these two woman's lives, there friendship, their hardships, the way they are treated and the circumstances in which they find themselves. How their lives are altered, living the hospital life for months a time and wondering what happens when they return to their former lives. This of course was modeled after the Walter Reed scandal in 2007, in which all these abuses and the horrible living conditions the outpatient soldiers and their families had to endure. Congressional testimony and some things changed but due to last years VA scandal much more needs to change.

Yes, I am sure the author put many of her own views into the writing of this but I think these things need to be told and recognized. Felt very emotional about this book by the end and I loved the characters and applaud the message.

ARC from NetGALLEY. ( )