The War Dames is an American story about an era in history, not unlike the present, where love of country and its preservation are well worth defending. It's a novel about women ahead of their time who made provocative choices that effected generations to come. It's August 1942 and America is at war. Twenty-five year old Beth Adamson volunteers to be part of the first American Women's Army Corps, known as the WACs. The War Dames tells the story of one woman's adventure from boot camp to an assignment in Algeria with Eisenhower's North African Campaign. Interspersed with historical facts and events of a world at war, The War Dames follows Beth Adamson and four sassy WACs, who learn military life is not for the faint hearted. Adversity looms with a severe commanding officer threatening the women with court martial for insubordination and suspected same sex relationships. Then in exotic Algeria, the women finds themselves in a hot bed of cultural, political and moral diversity illustrated by some of the eccentric characters they meet. Amid turmoil and adversity, Beth finds romance with the man of her dreams while one of the other war dames encounters it with a woman and a third with the enemy. Sharing a common bond of patriotic verve and a desire for personal fulfillment, The War Dames come of age with humor and pathos as friends, soldiers and lovers to people they meet along the way.
About the Author: Born and educated in New York City, Valerie Notarbartolo started her career writing articles for local newspapers and periodicals. Later, she worked as a contributing editor for an art newspaper where she met her late husband, artist, Albert Notarbartolo, Marchese di Villarosa. Valerie obtained a B.A. at Fordham University and a M.S. at Columbia University. Her first novel, The War Dames was inspired by two women she met while at Columbia who had served in the Women's Army Corp during World War ll. Their recollections of that era encouraged her to write about women who made provocative choices to change their status quo. The author states; "I've always believed in the concept of challenging oneself to be more than who we think we are. She lives in South Florida with her family where in addition to writing her next novel about women of the 1940's, she is forming an art foundation for her late husband.