During World War I, a group of 20 graduates of Smith College headed to France to help those who had been displaced by the war. Working out of Grecourt, they visited neighboring villages, providing medical care, much-needed supplies and food, education for children, and even social opportunities. Band of Sisters is the story of how these well-to-do women learned how to do everything from building and driving trucks to caring for livestock (including, hilariously, how to tell the difference between hens and roosters). While Willig combined a few of the actual women into a single character, and the women in the book are all fictional, everything that actually happens to them is true, from the snooty politics of running the unit to directing the evacuation of the region. It's a fascinating tale, and I'm so glad it's come to light in Willig's book.
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