Janet Brantley

1943 -- Love has found her. But can it last? Mae Johnson marries the man she loves-only to see him depart for Europe to serve as a Medic in a horrible war. Oliver left her pregnant, but he doesn't know it yet. How will her pregnancy affect their relationship? How will it affect her war work? While he's away, she continues to do what she's been doing: build munitions of war.There's an irony there. She builds bombs and grenades to destroy, while he struggles to preserve lives. The year will be filled with challenges for them both.In Texarkana, Mae and her roommates meet and befriend members of an ill-fated jazz band. A devastating winter event leaves her reeling. Summer brings racial tensions to the fore in the city. And an old boyfriend resurfaces to plant the seeds of jealousy in her heart. In Europe, Oliver faces trials, too. first assignment is in a large military hospital. That won't last, and he eventually accompanies American fighting forces as the Allies begin the liberation of Italy.At times he'll be filled with awe when his team is able to save severely wounded men. But he's brought to his knees when he can't save them all. Meetings with special soldiers will have a profound effect on him-As will the arrival of a team of American nurses. What will be the outcome for these friends turned lovers? Will the horrors of war weaken their marriage, strengthen it, or destroy it?

1941 - A liberated ROSIE the Riveter The last few years have been hard on everyone in Dixon's Crossing, Arkansas. But for Mae Johnson, things are looking up.* She's managed to graduate high school, despite the rigors of the Depression.* She has a plan to escape the debilitating sharecropping life that would surely turn her into a copy of her hard-working, old-before-her-time mama.* The exciting city of Texarkana is calling to her like a siren song - and the pull is strong So - what could go wrong? SHE'S ABOUT TO FIND OUT When Pearl Harbor sucks America into another World War, she finds her world turned upside down, with two ammo plants taking over Texarkana. "Fun and games" turns into serious war work. Can Mae really build bullets, grenades, and bombs without killing herself or someone else?Plunked down in the middle of a society in upheaval, with men going off to war and women going off to work, how will she handle the changes? And with racial tensions on the rise, how will Mae face her own prejudices?And what of her vow not to marry young? The stakes are higher now.Should she wed her good-guy best friend Oliver before he ships out? Stability, of a sort.Or perhaps bad-boy Frank, the ex-boyfriend she still loves, but who will bring nothing but uncertainty?Or neither? Maybe forget about love altogether Whatever - There's war work to be done