Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All
Laura Ruby
5/5
I did not expect to love this book as much as I did. Set during WWII, this book follows the story of Frankie, a half-orphan from Chicago, and Pearl, a ghost who doesn't know who she is or why she's here.
It goes over a couple years of their life, dealing with all of the tragedy which a world at war entails. Half-orphans were children who their families could no longer support, but who had parents who were still keeping up with their lives. Frankie's father starts off by saying his apartment is too small for his three children, but ends up marrying another woman, taking her four children and her brother to Colorado, and leaving Frankie and her sister Toni behind. The injustice of it all is heartbreaking, Frankie deals with so many tragedies that I have no idea how she stayed standing. It was all beautifully written though, told through the perspective of Pearl, who is also just trying to find her way in a simultaneously heartbreaking story-line.
The best part though was reading the author's note at the end and finding out that Frankie's life is a real story, that of Laura Ruby's mother-in-law. It's amazing to think of how many interesting stories like this are lost to history. I'm so thankful that I got to read this one- and that via knowing that Frankie is a mother-in-law knowing that she must have gotten some sort of happy ending beyond how the novel ended.
I would totally recommend this book for people who love war stories or stories with paranormal elements. I had just seen 1917 when I started reading this, so I was really in the mood for some more tragedy. But yeah, give it a read, you won't regret it!
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