REVIEW: On My Honor by Patty Smith Hall
A Girl Scout Troop Joins the Battle of the Atlantic
Full of intrigue, adventure, and romance, this new series celebrates the unsung heroes—the heroines of WWII.
Ginny Mathis was finished with nursing school and had no intention of staying rooted in the Outer Banks—then war broke out. With her father away, she feels duty-bound to stay and help her mother and younger sister. While working as a clerk for the Oregon Inlet ferry, naval officers ask Ginny and others to be watchful for German U-boats reportedly spotted in the area. So to help occupy her teenage sister, Ginny enlists the Girl Scout troop she leads to help watch for suspicious activity along the coast.
Timothy Elliott is no stranger to death. As a British reporter working with the M-6, he’s numb to the losses of war after two years of fighting the Germans. Maybe that’s why he volunteered for this mission—to connect with an ex-German naval officer who stole the Furor’s battle plan for the Atlantic war. When the boat giving him passage to New York is bombed near the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, Tim is thrown from the boat and wakes up in the care of a group of young girls.
Ginny follows her sneaky sister on a clandestine mission and discovers the shipwreck victim. Ginny knows she must take charge, but is this man the enemy, or does he hold secrets that could turn the tide of the Battle of the Atlantic in the allies’ favor?
Dear Ms. Smith Hall,
I was interested in reading this book because of the unusual setting of the Outer Banks of North Carolina shortly after the US entered World War II. It started out well, then slowed a bit, packed in a bit too much evangelical fervor, and ended too quickly on a whimper.
Ginny Mathis is back on the Outer Banks and her plate is full. Her father called her back from her nursing school studies when he left for the Norfolk, VA shipbuilding yards so she’s volunteering at the local infirmary that is now overrun with patients rescued from torpedoed ships. She’s also running the local Girl Scout troop and working for the Oregon Inlet ferry. And if that wasn’t enough, the Coast Guard has asked her to help mark the locations of ships that have been hit and sunk.
Tim Elliott finds himself injured and at a loss as to how to accomplish his mission. A journalist by trade, he’s bringing a captured German Naval officer to New York via a tanker that gets torpedoed off the Outer Banks. Washed ashore, he’s found and aided by a group of Girl Scouts before finally meeting Ginny and joining forces with her to discover if the German has survived and if so, where on the island he might be.
Frankly the initial setup is a little hard to believe. Injured Tim is sheltered for seven days by a pack of 13 year olds after they’ve been warned that Germans, who might speak English with no German accent, are trying to infiltrate Allied nations. After meeting Ginny, Tim makes a clumsy play for assistance that only gets him arrested by the Coast Guard. It also gets Ginny suspended from her volunteer nursing duties so they can work together.
The whole “let’s find the German spy who will stick out like a sore thumb in the small community” gets tabled to allow time for Ginny and Tim to begin spending time together. When it’s finally resumed – after many more ships had been sunk – the spy’s identity and likely location are given to them. Does anyone get the Coast Guard and tell them the info so armed men can go track this man down? Well kinda but then the Girl Scouts, Ginny, and Tim end up hunting him before Ginny and Tim allow themselves to be captured while they’re chatting and courting.
::headdesk::
There’s a very heavy dose of religion throughout the story. I was expecting some religion since this is being published by a Christian press but the final amount might be a deal breaker for some. Strangely, there was also more expressed physical attraction (though it’s still just kisses) than is usual for a book with this level of religion.
The relationship between Ginny, her younger sister, and the other Girl Scouts was the best part of the book for me. Ginny and Belle begin with tension between them as there are things Ginny hasn’t been told about why her father insisted she come home. The subject of what was then called “shell shock” is sensitively handled. I also thought the friendships among the Girl Scout troop were lovely and showed the stage when girls begin to transition to young women.
As another reviewer mentioned, the book has more of a YA feel to it. I’m not sure though that either adults or young adults would be totally happy with the end result. This is a book I wanted to like far more than I actually did. C
~Jayne
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