Girls on the Line

A Novel

By: Aimie K. Runyan

Narrated by: Kathleen Gati

Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

“A moving tale of female solidarity and courage.” (Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Alice Network)

December 1917. As World War I rages in Europe, twenty-four-year-old Ruby Wagner, the jewel in a prominent Philadelphia family, prepares for her upcoming wedding to a society scion. Like her life so far, it’s all been carefully arranged. But when her beloved older brother is killed in combat, Ruby follows her heart and answers the Army Signal Corps’ call for women operators to help overseas.

As one of the trailblazing “Hello Girls” deployed to war-torn France, Ruby must find her place in the military strata, fight for authority and respect among the Allied soldiers, and work to secure a victory for the cause. But balancing service to country is complicated further by a burgeoning relationship with army medic Andrew Carrigan.

What begins as a friendship forged on the front lines soon blossoms into something more, forcing Ruby to choose between the conventions of a well-ordered life back home, and the risk of an unknown future.

©2018 Aimie K. Runyan (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Annoying narrator

The story was sweet. Lovely topic - I never knew the armed forces had switchboard operators let alone females ones at that, so also educational. However, I nearly gave up several times within the first hour due to the narrators grating way of speaking. If you can get into the “meat” of the book it’s worth enduring the narrator’s voice.

I really enjoyed this story.

Enjoyed the story and the performance of the narrator. A calming voice that brought the story to life.

Great historical fiction

A hard-to-put- down story. Great narrator, but occasionally hard to distinguish between Ruby and her beau.

Lacking some depth but overall good read.

I have been listening to a number of books about the part women played in WWI and WWII. They were mainly unsung heroes as spies, developing the nuclear bomb in Oak Ridge, TN, and many others. So, I was very interested in reading about these heroes. I had never heard about these operators and the vital part they played in WWI. Unfortunately the information about their lives was largely overshadowed by the love story. However, it was an easy, pleasant read even if predictable. Would be a good book to take on a trip. I would have liked more depth about their role and lives at front. Possibly there isn’t much out there about it. Was glad about the information provided at the end about how their role was dismissed. This seems to be a pattern for women who risked their lives in the war effort. Overall, I’m glad Ilistened to this book even if it seemed more of a romance story than I was expecting.

Kathleen Gati was excellent with the delivery of the story

Loved it!

A great historical fiction. I enjoyed the details at the end of the book explaining the research and historical facts.

Enjoyable , Pogiant & Interesting Portrayal of WW1

This novel is a fictionalized story based on actual events. The Signal Girls of the Army Corp aka, The Hello Girls played a significant part of the USA''s role in The First World War, aka the Great War. If it wasn't for these women, we may never have won this war., and the author does an excellent job in every details, which were impeccably researched. These brave women were vital to this war, as they were skilled commination operators via the telephone switchboard. They were based strategically throughout Europe, both behind the combat zones, and in some cases quite close to them. I was astonished that this Corp was made up of only 450 women. They had to be both proficient on the telephone switchboard used during that time period, and to speak French, and in some cases to a much lesser degree German fluently. The plot deftly describes what it must have been like for these select women, and also the soldiers. These were usually the medics and other medical personnel, thus their command posts were often next to a make-shift hospital near the combat zone. I found the plot to be thoroughly engrossing, as it is centers on an engaged society women, (this marriage was arranged to an even wealthier family by the two families) , who against her parent's wishes enlist in the Hello Girls Army Corp. While stationed in France, she forms a strong friendship with the group she is called to supervise, and early on in this story meets a medic who she is drawn to, and he to her. This presents a problem as she is engaged to another man who is an officer in France). The author does a good job of painting a portrait of what it must have been like for these women during wartime and it's atrocities.. She also describes in vivid detail, how these women dealt with the absence of the simple creature comforts of home, that one often takes for granted. She also makes it clear that the men who fight are not the only ones clearly affected by the horrors of war. I highly recommend it, particularly for those of us that are not familiar with this war.

Wonder war story

Well written. Lots of information about women in uniform in WW1 and what they overcame. This piqued my interest in women serving overseas.

Good book, horrible narration

This was as a good story and I enjoyed learning about the Army Signal Corp. The Narrator unfortunately was not good. Her reading was very robotic. The main character, Ruby sounded like a robot. There was no emotion or personality. She made Ruby seem very cold and unemotional. I would suggest reading the book.

Great WW1 Book!

I loved the story and writing. I learned so much about this war that is never studied before as the 2nd war is the I've I've always been more interested in. It's opened a dialog with my husband and we are exploring more from WW1.

The narrator's voice was rather choppy, but it didn't take away from the story too much.

A good story about WWI

As the author mentions in her note at the end, WWI is given little notice in the U.S. I barely remember studying it in history classes while WWII was a big fixture. I'm glad that this period is getting more attention. And similar to recent books about WWII, this book features the women's role in service. I'm not sure I knew what the signal corp did (broadly yes, but not how they did it) and I definitely didn't know that it was largely women who filled that role. The story was very good. I'm not sure if it is the writing or how the narrator read it, but at times the characters' speech patterns sounded stilted. It didn't truly hinder my enjoyment of the story, but it was noticeable enough to be an annoyance.