Switchboard Soldiers

A Novel

De: Jennifer Chiaverini

Narrado por: Saskia Maarleveld

From New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Chiaverini, a bold, revelatory novel about one of the great untold stories of World War I—the women of the U.S. Army Signal Corps, who broke down gender barriers in the military and battled a pandemic as they helped lead the Allies to victory.

“An eye-opening and detailed novel about remarkable female soldiers. . . Chiaverini weaves the intersecting threads of these brave women’s lives together, highlighting their deep sense of pride and duty.”—Kirkus Reviews

In June 1917, General John Pershing arrived in France to establish American forces in Europe. He immediately found himself unable to communicate with troops in the field. Pershing needed telephone operators who could swiftly and accurately connect multiple calls, speak fluent French and English, remain steady under fire, and be utterly discreet, since the calls often conveyed classified information.

At the time, nearly all well-trained American telephone operators were women—but women were not permitted to enlist, or even to vote in most states. Nevertheless, the U.S. Army Signal Corps promptly began recruiting them.

More than 7,600 women responded, including Grace Banker of New Jersey, a switchboard instructor with AT&T and an alumna of Barnard College; Marie Miossec, a Frenchwoman and aspiring opera singer; and Valerie DeSmedt, a twenty-year-old Pacific Telephone operator from Los Angeles, determined to strike a blow for her native Belgium.

They were among the first women sworn into the U.S. Army under the Articles of War. The male soldiers they had replaced had needed one minute to connect each call. The switchboard soldiers could do it in ten seconds.

Deployed throughout France, including near the front lines, the operators endured hardships and risked death or injury from gunfire, bombardments, and the Spanish Flu. Not all of them would survive.

The women of the U.S. Army Signal Corps served with honor and played an essential role in achieving the Allied victory. Their story has never been the focus of a novel…until now.

©2022 Jennifer Chiaverini (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers

BRAVE WOMEN — PIONEERS FOR THE FUTURE OF WONEN IN THE MILITARY!

I learned a LOT from this book. Until reading it, I had no idea the “Switchboard Operators” had even existed!

Though much of this story might have been fictional, it was based on real events. I’m sure conditions were even more difficult than were described. The ladies that were brave enough to answer the call of duty and to march into the largely unknown (including going up against the prejudice of some men who were not thrilled about women in the military), have my UTMOST respect!

For me, the book started off very slowly (I wasn’t sure I would be able to stick with it, but I’m glad I did). There was a long introduction to each of the main characters and their home lives before joining the military. It was Chapter 8 before the women got to their first overseas posting and began their journey overseas and began forging lifelong friendships.

The book began to pick up from there, although there were places where I felt the story lagged. I often set my timer at night so the novel would play for 30-minutes, and I would often fall asleep before the timer finished. The next day, I MIGHT wind the story back six or seven clicks, I might not. It was easy enough to keep going and figure out what I might have missed.

During the story I found myself repeatedly thinking how amazing these ladies were as individuals and as a cohesive group. They held themselves to extremely high standards, and even in the face of great danger, the refused to leave their posts until the last male soldier left theirs. They realized what an important role they had and would not abandon their post until a building was literally crashing down around their heads and they literally had to be DRAGGED away from their switchboards!

I would be remiss to not mention what a great job the narrator did in this novel. She has a lovely voice as well as a lovely French accent. I would be HAPPY to listen her read again.

I have to say, the Epilogue to this book made me ANGRY! The Epilogue reveals that once the women were no longer needed in Europe and were returned home, they found they had not been granted the status of “soldiers,” and as such, were not entitled to any of the benefits their male counterparts received. This just infuriated me. No Veteran’s benefits, no healthcare, no recognition of their service and sacrifices as soldiers…NOTHING.

I was never a fan of Jimmy Carter. But after hearing in the Epilogue that in 1977, a full 60-years after the womens’ distinguished service, Carter granted them full soldier status, and all the benefits attached to this status, his “stock” went up immeasurably with me!

It truly angered (but didn’t surprise) me that despite all they had given, all they had sacrificed to be part of that important time in our world history, the government/military screwed them over. It’s a little late now to fix it, but I’m glad the 50 female soldiers still alive at the time they were awarded soldier status and this book was published, were still alive to see their services recognized and APPRECIATED! They were finally recognized as being TRUE soldiers. It should have been done from the moment they signed on. They never should have had to fight and beg for the status they EARNED. The government’s poor treatment of these women is SHAMEFUL.😡

Loved this book!

This was so well written! It made me feel like I was right there watching the story unfold. You will love it.

Switchboard Soldiers

The writing and narration were very well done in this audiobook. I learned a lot from this book about this time period, world war 1 and the switchboard soldiers. I found it very interesting. My only complaint is that the author wrote too much detail into the story and she repeated certain aspects of the story over and over again, too many times.

Amazing

From the beginning this story held my attention. It moved at a good pace while at the same time feeling like you were there. I felt like I knew each of these amazing women. Definitely a book I will listen to again. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys listening to a good book with a great narrator.

how much danger the women faced

I would have liked more connections btwn reg army and women. regardless of rules

Really good story

Loved the narrator. She’s one of my favorites. The story is awesome in terms of its strength of the characters and the way it stayed true to historical accounts. Although I liked all of the characters there were too many at too many locations and it was hard to track sometimes. I just decided to enjoy the part I was listening to instead of trying to figure out how the parts fit together. Love this author. This book was good and I’m glad I listened, but it wasn’t great like others of hers I have listened to.

Having lots of trouble with the narration

I have listened to a few hundred Audible books. I’ve listened to and read a lot of Chiaverini novels. A first for me, I may not be able to finish this book on Audible because of the narration. The narrator is speed reading monotone through the book to the point it’s hard to even follow what is going on. . It’s like an school assignment she wants to get done with. The voice changes from character to character are also overdone, and often substituting loud for voice changes.

amazing courage and loyalty

enjoyed this warm and interesting slice of history of ww 1. interestingly in the 1960s telephone switchboard operators we still saying number please and using plugboards in Nebraska.

Thank you

for writing this book. The story is well done and perfect for many hours I spent weeding my gardens.

I Loved This

I found this author through her quilting series and I devoured all of them. However, I haven't always enjoyed her other stories. This was a huge win though with the writing putting you inside the story. You are right beside the characters as they make history.