The Following review was contributed by: John Walsh

As a young woman in the early years of World War II, Anita Bloom’s main concerns were how to manage her relationships with her Jewish migrant parents and finding a young man that met her requirements. She did not realise quite what she was missing in her life until one day she sees a woman in a Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps uniform and is immediately taken by her sense of independence and purpose. Without hesitation, she signs up to serve her country and maybe even go overseas to assist with the fighting. However, during her training, she is forced to contend with prejudice on both religious and gender bases and, more importantly, she suffers from a minor infection that, as a result of the callous incompetence of the medical staff at her base, leaves her paralysed from the waist down. In this inspiring and memorable memoir, Anita recalls with honesty and openness her struggle to overcome her medical difficulties, to achieve a measure of independence and to secure justice from the American military forces.

This is a remarkable story told without self-pity or undue bitterness, despite the fact that the author has been abused and exploited on a number of occasions. Even though many of her hopes were frustrated, she did through courage and determination live a life with ultimately a great deal of pleasure and fulfillment. Above all, she did it her way.

History is often told in the form of a pageant of great men and great deeds. The stories and contributions of the less prominent are not so frequently told. These stories are full of what might seem to be mundane incidents and daily struggles of no great import. Yet these are the lives that most of us lead and our lives are also important contributions to the societies and communities in which we live. In describing with some skill the problems of an individual woman with medical difficulties in post WWII America, Anita Bloom Ornoff has performed a great service and written a book that deserves to be more widely known.