Review: I'll Be Seeing You by Melody Carlson

I’ll Be Seeing You by Melody Carlson The Mulligan family has always been close. With five siblings and a store to run, there’s never been a chance for any of them to get bored. And now that the country seems to have recovered from the Great Depression, they’re hoping that things will get even better as the year 1941 is coming to a close. Yet with the eldest and only son off in the navy, things don’t feel quite right in the Mulligan home. And when they hear that the Japanese army has attacked Pearl Harbor, they fear the worst. The sisters, Bridget, Margaret, Colleen, and Molly, try to be strong for their parents, yet this is not easy. And when their father tests positive for tuberculosis, they begin to feel as though they cannot catch a break. When they receive some more bad news, the family wonders if they’ll be able to carry on. And as the oldest daughter Bridget joins the military as an army nurse, they wonder if their family will ever be the same. I’ve been a longtime fan of Melody Carlson and have read many of her books. After reading I’ll Be Seeing You, I think The Mulligan Sisters might be my new favorite series by her. There’s a lot going on in this book (with that large of a family, you can’t expect it not to have lot going on) but everything ties in and it doesn’t feel scattered. There’s drama, self-discovery, and a little romance. But the main focus is on the Mulligan family and how WWII is affecting all of their lives. Everything in the book seemed so real; just how you would imagine this sort of family during WWII. And the style of writing made it hard to put down.  In some ways, the Mulligan sisters sort of remind me of the March sisters in Little Women. There’s the same amount of sisters, and they all have similar personalities as those in Louisa May Alcott’s classic. Even though they disagree and there is friction between them, the Mulligan sisters still love each other and it shows throughout the book. All in all, I’ll Be Seeing You was a great WWII era family drama that fans of Christian historical fiction will enjoy. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series! I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.