War

War is a major theme in the novel War Brides by Helen Bryan. War relates to open combat between one or more groups or countries. In “War Brides”, it is World War II that becomes the backdrop of the entire novel. The war in Europe, begun by Hitler’s invasion of Poland, ultimately leads to the evacuation of Western Europe by British, French, and other Allied forces, before the Allies, spearheaded by the Americans, invade in June, 1944 by way of D-Day, which is the turning point in the European theater.

However, once the Germans have driven the British and their Allies from the Continent, the Germans begin a brutal and incessant bombardment of English cities, including London. This leads to the evacuation of children from those cities, to places like Crowmarsh Prior where they are cared for by the locals. Among those who travel to Crowmarsh...