For me there is always something wonderful when two people are united by written words. Over time the letters penned to one another never knowing the outcome has led to a wonderful romance between a 15-year-old girl named Loretta and 19-year-old Sal who grew up in the same neighborhood in Chicago. Over the three years from 1943-1945 you can see how their friendship has turned into something much more as each letter reveals deeper feelings for one another. While Loretta deals with the effects of having the boys shipped out during the war and how she manages to fill her time with going to dances, working at the local coffee manufacturer and retail stores, and writing letters to Sal, whom she affectionately labels Slabby, Sal details what life is like working on a naval ship as he works to decipher code on a minesweeper in the Pacific while waiting on the hopes of making back home to see Loretta.
These letters reveal so much more as you read them in Letters to Loretta from the Radio Shack by Laura Lynn Ashworth. You see a deeper connection between Sal and Loretta as she tries to keep him informed on what is happening in Chicago during WWII. They both agree to see others but not in the same aspect we would, they merely fill their time with the companionship of a dance whenever either of them has time, conveying that neither would ever go for anything permanent while waiting for Sal to come back home to Chicago. You can see that neither of them expects the war to last long, but as the months roll by, pictures from home and those letters are what keep them both going. Loretta keeps Sal up to date on how his family is doing while they both share their love through the songs each of them are listening to miles away from the other.
I received Letters To Loretta From The Radio Shack by Laura Lynn Ashworth compliments of Pump Up Your Book Tours and the author herself for an honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions contained in this review are strictly my own. 10% of the author proceeds goes to the USO (United Service Organization) and VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) and for those that love true stories from the war, this one will definitely be one you want to pick up. You can see how difficult it was to wait weeks at a time for a letter only to have nothing show up. Holidays were difficult because they didn't know if they would be able to come home on leave or not. The only thing missing is how Loretta and Sal turned out in the end. The letters simply end. It's like finding a stack in a box hidden in the attic and as you read them you begin to understand and become familiar with Sal and Loretta and hope for a reunion someday, but then the letters end. I wish the author would have added how she came across the letters or in a short epilogue how it all turned out in the end. I rate this one a 4 out of 5 stars.
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