A Star for Mrs. Blake

Sad but bearable because the son's death is the jumping off point for the book, so it doesn't hit you like a ton of bricks. I think what I liked best was that there were a lot of things that set it up to be very cliche, but most of them got turned on their heads.

3.5 stars. Poorly plotted book about a fascinating piece of history - the US government arranging all-expense paid trips for mothers who had lost their sons in WWI to visit their graves in France in the early 1930s. I thought I was going to experience the trip through five different women's viewpoints, but instead there were lots of superfluous secondary characters and subplots that left most of the women little more than caricatures. There was a slow build until the final 50 pages, which were so jam-packed with action that the events barely registered.

Bravo to the author for shining a light on the Gold Star mothers, but I wish she had produced a slightly more polished effort.