"Few people know that women served as ambulance drivers on the incredibly bloody battlefields of World War I. With Eleanor, we glimpse the searing impact of that experience as she lives through World War II with her distant husband and three children. ...A gripping read...Through the eyes of a woman and an adolescent boy, in a time and place now fading from living memory, readers experience the realities of war, both battlefield and home front, from a fresh angle."
Sara M. Evans, Born for Liberty: A History of Women in America
“Ames Sheldon’s remarkably assured debut novel Eleanor’s Wars takes place in 1940s New Jersey and provides the reader with a fascinating view of the Second World War from the home front stage…The novel is a steadily-deepening web of secrets and revelations, something that kept me reading intently right to the last page.”
Teresa Devine, Historical Novel Society
"Sheldon gets it right. Based on extensive research, war times in 20th century American come into focus...She reminds us that yesterday's fears live only slightly mitigated today--bullying, gay, and feminist concerns...Eleanor's dilemmas are ours to ponder in today's context."
Ruth F. Quattlebaum, archivist emerita Phillips Academy Andover
"Eleanor's Wars is rich with the feel of America during WWII and the existence of PTSD in a generation that buried its trauma."
Cynthia Kraack, The High Cost of Flowers, 2015 Midwest Book Award winner for Literary Fiction
“A warm and intimate portrait of an American family twisted and shaped by the two world wars. Highly recommended, a pleasure to read."
Mary Logue, Lake of Tears
“Ames Sheldon has written a novel about family and war and lies and forgiveness. In other words, she hits all the bases in reaching home – the place where you live.”
Faith Sullivan, author of seven novels, including The Cape Ann and Good Night Mr. Wodehouse.