Mailbox Monday Janurary 9, 2012




In January Mailbox Monday is being hosted by At Home With Books.




Over the holidays I received Dancing with Colonels, letters by Marjorie Havreberg, edited by Judy Barrett Litoff and compiled by Sally Enstrom. The book description reads (from the South Dakota State Historical Society Press website:

Struck with the desire to see and do more with her life, a young South Dakota woman left the family home in Redfield to go to work for Senator Peter Norbeck in Washington, D.C. When the position ended, she quickly found she had grown accustomed to the bright lights of the capital and soon joined the military as a civilian secretary. With World War II in full swing, she found herself traversing the globe en route to Ankara, Turkey.

Once in Turkey, ostensibly a neutral country during the war, Marjorie Havreberg found herself swept up in the relatively glamorous world of military attachés, embassy soirees, and secret government correspondence. Her letters, sent home to her family in Redfield, South Dakota, cover the years in which she worked for Norbeck in Washington, D.C., and her career with the military. Her writing is witty, charming, and full of astute observations, and Dancing with Colonels serves as an excellent window into life in the 1930s and 1940s, including the often under-illuminated social side of wartime Turkey. With her small-town background, Havreberg provides the reader with a marvelously fresh look at her surroundings.

An Introduction from Judy Barret Litoff, who edited the letters, places the correspondence in the larger context of society at the time. Litoff is professor of history at Bryant College in Rhode Island. She has written extensively and is an expert on letters from the World War II era.

Sally Enstrom saved the letters, compiled this volume, and provided a brief memoir of her great aunt, highlighting Havreberg’s personality and zest for life.

11 comments:

Mystica on January 9, 2012 at 6:49 AM said...

Sounds original!

Kaye on January 9, 2012 at 9:32 AM said...

Sounds interesting. Have a wonderful week and happy reading. My MM is here

Laurel-Rain Snow on January 9, 2012 at 10:07 AM said...

Hope you enjoy it! Thanks for sharing...

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Anonymous said...

Looks like an interesting read.

http://tributebooksmama.blogspot.com/2012/01/mailbox-monday_09.html

avisannschild on January 9, 2012 at 12:19 PM said...

Sounds intriguing -- I hope it's a good one. Happy New Year!

cindysloveofbooks on January 9, 2012 at 1:28 PM said...

Interesting. Hope you had a good holiday and hopefully we can get together soon.

Beth(bookaholicmom) on January 9, 2012 at 2:33 PM said...

Sounds like an interesting read. I hope you enjoy it.

Beth(bookaholicmom) on January 9, 2012 at 2:34 PM said...

Sounds like an interesting read. I hope you enjoy it.

Alyce on January 9, 2012 at 3:27 PM said...

I know everyone else has said it already, but it really does sound interesting. :)

bermudaonion on January 9, 2012 at 7:45 PM said...

I hope you enjoy it!

Staci on January 9, 2012 at 10:08 PM said...

Enjoy your read!

 

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