World War II: Letters from Home, 1942-1944

World War II: Letters from Home, 1942-1944 is a compilation of selected letters from Frances W. Field to her husband, Albert S. Field, Jr. during his service as a company surgeon in World War II. Touching and intelligent, the selections offer an intimate, lyrical portrait of an extraordinary time in American history: a time of personal sacrifice and suffering balanced against the necessity of winning "the good war."

Dr. Field was part of a large American contingent that arrived in North Africa in the fall of 1942. He left behind his pregnant young wife but not—as these letters vividly attest—the world of their marriage. France W. Field’s letters to him are rich with vivid detail of her inner and outer life. She chronicles her travels amidst the homes of family and friends and is deftly observant of the people she meets and the conditions and attitudes of a country at war. Her correspondence fuses the larger scope of a world oddly and forever changed with the delicate poignancy of the effect of her husband’s absence.

That absence is the presiding force in her life and the principal inspiration for her correspondence. The America of her time, strangely devoid of its young men, is a remarkable, resilient community which fosters a moving and heartfelt backdrop for Field’s personal experiences during the twenty-six months of her husband’s service.

World War II: Letters from Home, 1942-1944 is a work both acutely observed and beautifully written. Pictures have been added to this second printing.

Frances W. Field, now in her eighties, is presently retired and lives in Lebanon, New Hampshire. A former community nurse, Field graduated from Vassar and received her nursing degree from Western Reserve University. She has long been involved in various community activities in New Hampshire and Connecticut, as well as in her native town of Cleveland, Ohio. Now retired, she still takes an active interest in environmental issues and community health programs.

During Albert S. Field, Jr.’s service in World War II, the Fields exchanged a wealth of letters. World War II: Letters from Home, 1942-1944, her first book, is a selection of Field’s correspondence with her husband. She is the mother of three.