Everyone got married in the 1950s; then moved to the suburbs to have the children of the soon-to-be-famous baby boom. For Americans who had survived the Great Depression and World War II; prosperous married life was a triumph. The unwed were objects of pity; scorn; even suspicion. And so in the 1950s; Eva Eldridge; no longer so young and marginally employed; was the perfect target for handsome Vick; who promised everything: storybook romance; marital respectability; and the lively social life she loved. When he disappeared not long after their honeymoon; she was devastated. Eva hadn’t always been so vulnerable. Growing up pretty and popular in rural Oregon; she expected to marry young and live a life much like that of her parents; farming and rearing children. But then the United States threw its weight into World War II and as men headed to battle; the government started recruiting women to work in their places. Eva; like many other young women; found that life in the city with plenty of money; personal freedom; and lots of soldiers and sailors eager to pay court was more exhilarating than life down on the farm. After the war; she was ambivalent about getting married and settling down—at least until Vick arrived. Refusing to believe her brand-new husband had abandoned her; Eva set about tracking down a man who; she now believed; was more damaged by wartime trauma than she had known. But instead of a wounded hero; she found a long string of women much like herself—hard-working; intelligent women who had loved and married Vick and now had no idea where—or even who—he was. Drawing on a trove of some eight hundred letters and papers; Diane Simmons tells the story of Eva’s poignant struggle to get her dream husband back; as well as the stories of the women who had stood at the altar with Vick before and after her. Eva’s remarkable life illuminates women’s struggle for happiness at a time when marriage—and the perfect husband—meant everything.
#3262584 in Books 2007-08-30 #File Name: 016078581214 pages
Review
