Switchboard Soldiers

A Novel

By: Jennifer Chiaverini

Narrated by: Saskia Maarleveld

Length: 14 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

Great history lesson

Beginning was as tedious as could be but the story overall is worth hearing to the end!

Very good book

As a fan of this author’s Elm Creek series, I was not sure how much I’d like this different direction. No worries. It was excellent.

Brave women of WW1

Never heard about the SWITCHBOARD SOLDIERS before. Thank you ladies for your service and sharing this history of our brave an honorable women.

Great book and well read

I was fully enraptured by the story and gained a better feel of the conditions of these locations during WWI.

Wonderful Historical Story!

What a shame it took so long to be truly recognized! Loved it! Great listen.

Loyalty

I absolutely loved listening to this novel. These women were fully committed soldiers and loyal to their jobs, their country and I’d not read about them ever before. It was amazing to learn of their stories. Each one loyal and hard working soldiers. I’ve read many of Jennifer Chiaverini’s books and they never disappoint. I’m so glad I found this one.