VIRGINIA’S WAR: TIERRA, TEXAS 1944 -- Jack Woodville London
French Letters Trilogy – Book One
Vire Press
ISBN: 978-0-9815975-0-8
February 2009
Historical Fiction

Tierra, Texas – 1944

Tierra is a typical small Texas town where everyone knows everyone else, and little goes unnoticed. This is where Virginia Sullivan grew up, the daughter of Tierra’s newspaper editor, who also happens to be the man everyone defers to. His controlling demeanor leads to Virginia reading in the newspaper that she and Will Hastings eloped on the eve of his deployment. Of course, the fact that she’s pregnant, which isn’t a surprise to her, explains her father’s decision to erase any rumors of who the father is. Virginia stays mum on the entire topic, but her brother, Bart, the town’s postmaster, is not going to make it easy on her. Poppy, their father, “arranged” for Bart to take over the post office, not to mention getting his various medical “issues” documented by the town doctor in order to obtain a military deferment. And Bart, never much of a brother, has plastered Will’s letters to Virginia on the post office bulletin board for all to see.

Living in a fishbowl is bad enough, but to have your own brother plotting against you, your former best friend, who has a not-so-secret yearning for Will, gossiping about you, and being pregnant leaves Virginia unable to plan for the future. With her mother in a mental hospital, Will’s brother, Peter, also off to war, Virginia must handle her dilemma alone. Except for a young neighbor boy, Sandy, Virginia more or less avoids dealing with the rest of the town if she can help it. It’s a lonely existence, and, except for the first few letters that Bart shared with the town, she’s received no more mail from Will.

VIRGINIA’S WAR: TIERRA, TEXAS 1944 is the first book in the French Letters Trilogy. It tells the story of a rather dysfunctional family in an equally dysfunctional town, and how both are handling the uncertain times they’re living in. With the town sheriff and postmaster under his control, Poppy doles out his largess to certain citizens while maintaining his own little secrets. Virginia isn’t sure about her feelings for the absent “husband” she hasn’t heard from. Bart, a man with few scruples, uses his father’s name and authority to run rampant in town and across the border. All of this is observed by young Sandy, who seems to be the only one with a clear, if naïve, vision of the town.

The prologue of VIRGINIA’S WAR grabbed my attention, and once the story is laid out for readers, it’s difficult not to read to the end! Everything comes to a head in an exciting, and somewhat surprising, conclusion. I’m looking forward to the continuation of the French Letters Trilogy. This is Mr. London’s debut novel, and it’s an excellent beginning!

Jani Brooks