As Always,Jack:A Wartime Love Story
Emma Sweeney
Axios Press
June 16, 2012
180 pages
Amazon | BN
provided by publisher
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5/5 Books
In the days just after the end of World War Two, a young Texas Navy pilot named Jack Sweeney falls crazy in love with a California girl just before he is shipped off to the Pacific with his squadron. He woos her with letters and makes away with her heart. He returns safely; he marries her.
Over thirty years later, a young woman returns to her childhood home in California for her mother’s funeral. Before leaving the house for the last time, without knowing what she’s looking for, she opens a dresser drawer in her mother’s room. Towards the very back of the drawer she discovers a packet of old letters tied up with a pink ribbon. In these letters she meets the man she has forever longed to know and love, the man her mother rarely spoke of during all the years of her childhood. In these letters she meets her father, Jack Sweeney, for the first time.
As Always, Jack is in part the bittersweet story of a daughter’s search for her father, an account of her struggle to unlock the mystery of his disappearance on the eve of her birth. Preserved in this story, however, is another, more universal one: the sweet and classic tale of true love in a time of war.
About The Author:
Emma Sweeney is the author of several gardening books as well as a literary agent based in New York. She formed her own agency in 2006 and has had five New York Times bestsellers, including the #1 New York Times best seller, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. She is a member of the Association of Authors’ Representatives and the Women’s Media Group, where she served as its president in 2003. She graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a BA in English Literature. She divides her time between New York City and Rhinebeck, New York.
My Review:
I don’t normally review memoirs. I just can’t get into them. But, being a military brat, I love anything that has to do with the military and of course the Navy. When I read the blurb for this one, it really called to me so I jumped into it and I have to be honest. The end result is one that I will savor!
This is a short, fast read. A daughter is looking to know her father. The one she knows she has but never met because his plane went down. She never once knew him, for he died before she was born. When her mother passed on, she found stacks of letters tied together that her mother had saved. It’s through those letters that Emma got to know her father.
Each letter was written by Jack Sweeney, and each one is different and full of humor. It shows what the time was like, traveling and missing someone back home. Jack and Emma’s mother didn’t know each other long before he was deployed by he vowed to write her, and write he did. Letters upon letters of devotion to a girl back home. There were times I laughed out loud and thought I’d have loved to have known Jack in person.
But, after all those letters and laughter, the last letter she ever reads, will bring you to tears! This 5 Book worthy memoir is one that everyone should read. It’s about the devotion and love of a tender hearted man writing to his sweetheart, and a daughter searching to know if her father even knew of her. If you are military veteran or know of one, this is one that you shouldn’t miss. It’s very moving and sweet!
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Great spotlight and review. I don’t normally read memoirs either because they can be so sad but I love the sound of this one, especially because it’s the only way she gets to know her father. I realize the ending will be bittersweet to an extent but I like how I can already tell there will be lots of humor and love too. My question for Emma would be how difficult it was to write this book?
Thanks for the giveaway!
I love stories that connect past and present along with a mystery to uncover. This sounds like a fascinating story.
All my best,
Cheryl
I also read this as part of the tour, review on Monday, and really liked it. The only thing that I wish is that both sides of the correspondence was possible, but there was nothing she could do about that.
This does sound like a book for anyone who has family in the military. Thanks for being on the tour! I’m featuring your review on TLC’s Facebook page today.
I thought this book was so sweet, and that last letter brought tears to my eyes. Glad you enjoyed it, too.
Hi All – thank you, Molly, for reviewing my book and for your very sweet comments.
Maria – thank yo for your comment and question – it was pretty hard for me to write the intro and afterword. I remember writing the afterword on the weekend of Veteran’s Day and that kept me going – thinking about my father and other people who served in the military and the sacrifices they had made for us. This book has been a very gratifying labor of love for me and I’m so glad it touched you.
This book is a very sweet an moving story. I like that it tells about the past and the war. I would really enjoy this book. Thanks for this chance to read it.
It sounds like a lovely story.