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Good Night, Irene: A Novel Audiobook
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What if a friendship forged on the front lines of war defines a life forever? In the tradition ofThe NightingaleandTranscription, a searing epic based on the magnificent and true story of heroic Red Cross women.
“Urrea’s touch is sure, his exuberance carries you through . . . He is a generous writer, not just in his approach to his craft but in the broader sense of what he feels necessary to capture about life itself.” —Financial Times
In 1943, Irene Woodward abandons an abusive fiancé in New York to enlist with the Red Cross and head to Europe. She makes fast friends in training with Dorothy Dunford, a towering Midwesterner with a ferocious wit. Together they are part of an elite group of women, nicknamed Donut Dollies, who command military vehicles called Clubmobiles at the front line, providing camaraderie and a taste of home that may be the only solace before troops head into battle.After D-Day, these two intrepid friends join the Allied soldiers streaming into France. Their time in Europe will see them embroiled in danger, from the Battle of the Bulge to the liberation of Buchenwald. Through her friendship with Dorothy, and a love affair with a courageous American fighter pilot named Hans, Irene learns to trust again. Her most fervent hope, which becomes more precarious by the day, is for all three of them to survive the war intact.
Taking as inspiration his mother’s own Red Cross service, Luis Alberto Urrea has delivered an overlooked story of women’s heroism in World War II. With its affecting and uplifting portrait of friendship and valor in harrowing circumstances, Good Night, Irene powerfully demonstrates yet again that Urrea’s “gifts as a storyteller are prodigious” (NPR).
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"A heart-wrenching wartime drama, a rich portrait of friendship, and an exploration of the trials and triumphs of the human spirit, Good Night, Irene is historical fiction at its finest. Using the little-known true story of women who worked behind the front lines for the Red Cross during World War II, Luis Alberto Urrea weaves a novel about the enduring bonds, devastating losses, and heroism of ordinary people who put their lives on the line for freedom. This is a story that needed to be told and remembered.” —Christina Baker Kline, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Orphan Train and The Exiles"
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“A touching portrait of female friendship and valor in wartime.”
— Time -
“Hails the camaraderie and deep bonds formed between people thrown together in dire circumstances."
— Christian Science Monitor -
“A sweeping novel loosely based on his mother’s experiences…of WWII, and the love stories—both romantic and platonic—that followed her home.”
— Entertainment Weekly -
“Urrea re-creates the time and place beautifully but allows room for surprise, building to the novel’s crescendo.”
— Minneapolis Star Tribune -
“His immersion in the existing documentation is clear.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“A moving and graceful tribute to friendship and to heroic women who have shouldered the burdens of war.”
— Publishers Weekly -
Every once in a while the universe opens its heart and pulls out a book like this novel, gifting it to the cosmos. In Good Night, Irene, a new element has been created, and the literary world is reborn in the image of Luis Alberto Urrea. His voice comes alive on every page of this magnificent novel.
— Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author of The Many Daughters of Afong Moy and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet -
Good Night, Irene isn’t just a marvelous novel, though it is indeed marvelous. It’s a marvelous novel that returns the brave Donut Dollies and the WWII Clubmobile Corps to their rightful place in history. With grace and compassion, Luis Alberto Urrea makes their story soar again.” —Ann Hood, New York Times bestselling author of The Knitting Circle
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Epic . . . Rambunctious . . . Highly entertaining . . . Sorrowful and funny . . . Cheerfully profane . . . The quips and jokes come fast through a poignant novel that is very much about time itself . . . A powerful rendering of a Mexican-American family that is also an American family.
— Viet Thanh Nguyen, New York Times Book Review -
A raucous, moving, and necessary book...Intimate and touching...The stuff of legend...There's deep heart and tenderness in this novel.The House of Broken Angels is, at its most political, a border story...Chillingly accurate, they're heartbreaking, and infuriating.
— Alexis Burling, San Francisco Chronicle -
An immensely charming and moving tale...Urrea deftly inhabits many points of view, dreaming up an internal voice for each...It is a testament to his swift and lucid characterizations that one does not want to leave this party...A novel like The House of Broken Angels is a radical act. It is a big, epic story about how hard it is to love with all of your heart, and all of your family--regardless of which side of the border they live on.
— John Freeman, Boston Globe -
The House of Broken Angels is a big, sprawling, messy, sexy, raucous house party of a book, a pan-generational family saga with an enormous, bounding heart, a poetic delivery, and plenty of swagger...More than once while reading the novel, I thought of James Joyce's 'The Dead,' another kaleidoscopic fable of family life that skillfully mixes perspectives...The House of Broken Angels is a book about celebration that is, itself, a celebration.
— Michael Lindgren, Washington Post -
Urrea's gifts as a storyteller are prodigious...The book's spirit is irrepressibly high. Even in its saddest moments, The House of Broken Angels hums with joy...The noveloverflows with the pleasure of family...And all that vulnerability, combined with humor and celebration and Urrea's vivid prose, will crack you open.
— Lily Meyer, NPR
Awards
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A New York Times bestseller
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An Amazon Editor’s Top Pick in Fiction
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A Barnes & Noble bestseller
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About Luís Alberto Urrea
Luís Alberto Urrea is the author of numerous works of nonfiction, poetry, and fiction, including The Devil’s Highway, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and The House of Broken Angels, a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He is a recipient of an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award, among many other honors, including the Lannan Literary Award, Edgar Award, Pacific Rim Kiriyama Prize, American Book Award, Christopher Award, and more.
About Barrie Kreinik
Barrie Kreinik is an actor, singer, playwright, and voice-dialect coach based in New York City. Her audiobook narrations have earned an AudioFile Earphones Award. A graduate of the Brown/Trinity MFA acting program, she is a proud member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA.