Between Fortitude and Folly
The Incredible True Story of the USS Pope
Between Fortitude and Folly is an informative, absorbing historical novel in which three adults who meet during wartime are endeared to one another.
In K. Partridge’s historical novel Between Fortitude and Folly, a Navy Reserve officer is caught in the middle of world-altering events.
Jack, a young officer in the Navy Reserve, was aiming for a desk job over seeing any military action. World War II, though, changed the course of his military career. Dorothy and Margaret are Australian signalwomen who meet Jack during their service. While the three grow from friends into a chosen family, fear and destruction from Japanese-led attacks threaten their lives. Jack finds himself learning to lead men into war.
Jack, a pool shark with an unromantic view of military life, expresses cynicism about the devastation caused by world governments. His perspective leads to geopolitical insights about the war—especially after a secret relationship spirals into sleeping with the enemy, leaving him a paranoid new parent who’s motivated to protect his child’s safety. As he’s caught in bombings and fire fights, Jack’s war experiences are detailed in violent terms, as well in in terms of how the human body and brain react to the realities of war. Later, his moody behavior and cryptic dreams reflect the resultant PTSD.
Beside Jack, Margaret and Dorothy are beautiful, brainy, and tough. They interject dry wit into the serious tale. They also share their experiences with sexism, including being underestimated by military men. Both women develop feelings for Jack, resulting in romantic tension.
To capture the period and the bevy of backgrounds, people’s conversations feature accents and slang terminology. The cast’s banter, especially between the signalwomen and Navy personnel, further reveals war’s grim unpredictability—though it’s marked by humor as well, which often seems to be their means of mitigating their fear.
As Jack and others are thrust into the center of history, they witness the leaking of war plan Rainbow 5, the bombings of Cavite Naval Station and Pearl Harbor, and the USS Pope tragedy. These are incorporated in clever ways, with the cast’s involvement in them humanizing each. Photographs of the naval ships mentioned complement this comprehensive record. However, the book’s inclusion of dense technical details sometimes impedes its momentum.
Working toward an unexpected and emotional conclusion, Between Fortitude and Folly is an informative, absorbing historical novel in which three adults who meet during wartime are endeared to one another.
Reviewed by
Delia Stanley
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