Mercy Road

Written by Ann Howard Creel

Narrated by Saskia Maarleveld

Inspired by the true story of the World War I American Women’s Hospital, Mercy Road is a novel about love, courage, and a female ambulance driver who risks everything.

In 1917, after Arlene Favier’s home burns to the ground, taking her father with it, she must find a way to support her mother and younger brother. If she doesn’t succeed, they will all be impoverished. Job opportunities are scarce, but then a daring possibility arises: the American Women’s Hospital needs ambulance drivers to join a trailblazing, all-female team of doctors and nurses bound for war-torn France.

On the front lines, Arlene and her fellow ambulance drivers work day and night to aid injured soldiers and civilians. In between dangerous ambulance runs, Arlene reunites with a childhood friend, Jimmy Tucker, now a soldier, who opens her heart like no one before. But she has also caught the attention of Felix Brohammer, a charismatic army captain who harbors a dark, treacherous secret.

To expose Brohammer means risking her family’s future and the promise of love. Arlene must make a choice: stay in the safety of silence or take the greatest chance of her life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliance Audio
• Release date: Nov 19, 2019
• ISBN: 9781799749165

Ann Howard Creel

Ann Howard Creel was born in Austin, Texas, and worked as a registered nurse before becoming a full-time writer. She is the author of seven books for children and young adults as well as four adult novels, including The Whiskey Sea and While You Were Mine. Her children’s books have won several awards, and her novel The Magic of Ordinary Days was made into a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie for CBS. Creel currently lives and writes in Paris, Kentucky, where she is renovating an older house. Follow her at www.annhowardcreel.com.

Reviews for Mercy Road

[Ann Froese · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Wonderfully story line. Kept me coming back for more. Looking forward to more stories from this author.

[janarose1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Arlene and her family are left destitute, by a fire, and the death of her father. While her heart lies with horses, and her families stud breading business, Arlene must finds ways to finance a new house and a new stallion. After joining the American Women's Hospital she is sent to France during WWI to drive ambulances. This book had a bit of a slow start. Once Arlene was sent to France, the book picked up dramatically. I loved reading about women in WWI and the unique American Women's Hospital group. Overall 4 out of 5 stars.

[susan0316 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Arlene Favier lives in Paris, Kentucky with her parents and brother. After a fire destroys their home and their father dies in the fire, the family finds that they have no money. Arlene realizes that she has to get a job and after looking all over town with no luck, she decides to try a larger town. When she answers a help wanted ad for a French speaking female, she finds out that the job is for an ambulance driver in France. World War I is going on and the job is very dangerous but with the hopes of helping out her family, she decides to accept it. Arlene becomes part of the American Women’s Hospital in war-torn France during World War I. Serving as doctors, nurses, aides, and ambulance drivers, the women struggle to be respected in a traditionally male environment. After extensive training, the women ambulance drivers are put to work and find that their training couldn't prepare them to face all of the destruction, all of the dead bodies and all of the injured people - both military and civilians. It's very difficult but Arlene is an extremely tough woman and is able to survive. When Arlene runs into an old friend from home, she finds some peace as her feelings for Jimmy grow but even though they are both ambulance drivers, they are in different parts of France so they rarely see each other. When a scandal occurs. Arlene has to decide whether she will remain quiet and keep her secrets buried or take the blame and possibly lose her job.This was a well written book. I really enjoyed the main character of Arlene and was impressed with her strength and dedication to her job and her friends. The parts of the novel about the battlefields in France are horrific but despite all of the carnage, there is a romance for Arlene and fantastic female friendships. It's apparent that the author did a lot of research into the war but her strong female characters is what makes this book so special.Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.v

[jetangen4571 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

WW1, war-is-hell, historical-novel, historical-places-events, historical-research It begins with a personal tragedy in Paris, Kentucky and progresses to the national tragedy of France. A twist of fate sends Arlene to Cincinnati, Ohio to seek employment to support her family, and what she finds is ambulance repair and driving in France 1918 prior to the end of the war. Employed by an NGO supported by donations and the Red Cross, she makes friends even before the crossing and transport to Paris to have their ambulances modified for rural use. Courtesy of the author's excellent research skills, we are given disturbingly clear insights into the realities of the war in France and the hardships of the people and those who came to serve as civilian medical care. It is very well written and moving. It grabbed my attention and held it firmly until the end. I requested and received a free ebook copy from Lake Union Publishing via NetGalley. Thank you!

[nancyadair-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ann Howard Creel's books are inspired by history and her female characters face life-changing challenges.Her newest novel Mercy Road was inspired by a photograph of a female ambulance driver in France during WWI. Female doctors and nurses were banned from serving in the U. S. Army so they formed the American Women's Hospital and raised funds to send a volunteer team to France.Creel's novel begins with a tragedy that leaves Arlene Favier aware of how life can change in an instant. A fire takes her home and father and the family's source of income. Desperate to find a job to support her mother and brother, and with dreams of rebuilding her father's stud farm, Arlene stumbles into an opportunity that will use her few employable skills--as a chauffeuses driving an ambulance for doctors volunteering in France.With most French doctors serving at the front, there was a lack of medical services for civilians and refugees. With her command of French and experience with machines, Arlene is the perfect volunteer. With the lure of a cash bonus at the end of the war which would allow her to rebuild the family home, Arlene joins the American Women's Hospital service, formed to aid citizens and refugees.To go to France in May 1918 required great courage and fortitude. The war had destroyed the land and the infrastructure. By September 1918, there were 1.85 million refugees. Food shortages and the lack of housing and clean water contributed to illness including typhus, tuberculosis, dysentery, and influenza. The Hospital Service also assisted men wounded at the front. The women were exposed to the horrors of battlefield wounds, the dead, and the dying."Now I not only knew death; I knew the shade and scent of human blood and the charred appearance and stench of burnt human bodies. I knew the look of what lay beneath our skin." from Mercy Road by Ann Howard Creel Arlene was excited to arrive in Paris, her father's birthplace. With restrictions against seeing soldiers, she rebuffs the attention of the handsome but oversure Captain Brohammer. He takes it as a challenge, pursuing her throughout the war even though Arlene makes clear she is not interested. But when she meets up with a childhood friend once employed by her father, her hesitancy to become romanticly involved is challenged.The plot involves intrigue, accusations with devastating implications, and personal growth that challenges old ideas and the embracing of possibilities.I received a free ebook from the author in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.