The War that Saved My Life

The War that Saved My Life
Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

316 pages.  Reading time: 2 days


Back cover reads:  Ada is ten years old and has never left her one-room apartment.  Her cruel mother is too humiliated by Ada's twisted foot to let her outside.  So when her little brother, Jamie, is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada sneaks out to join him.  Ada and Jamie are forced upon Susan Smith, a woman used to having only herself to care for.  At Susan's home, Ada teachers herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies.  She even begins to trust Susan--and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie.  But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold them together through wartime?  Or will Ada and her brother fall back into the hands of their mother?

Initial reaction:  Wow.  Talk about In Media Res.  This book almost hearkens back to the time when I read A Child Called It.  The physical and emotional abuse that Ada, the 9-year-old protagonist, suffers at the hands of her mother, Mam, is awful.  Ada was born with a club foot, and her mother never had it fixed.  Mam tells Ada that she's worthless and an embarassment.  Fortunately, the circumstances WWII lead Ada and Jamie, her 6-year-old brother, to be farmed out to Susan Smith, a strong and kind woman.  This book really does wonders to show that the effects of abuse permeate someone's life, even after they've left the abuser.  Ada has been bullied and beaten by Mam for as long as she can remember.  Jamie has been praised by his mother, but has also seen the way that Mam treats Ada.  They are both fatherless.  As we get to know each child more, they lash out in their own ways: Ada has serious anger issues, while Jamie is stubborn and lives in a constant state of fear.  Both kids have been terribly malnourished and neglected.  Mam manipulatively pits each child against the other.  We find out at the end of the book that their father is the one who wanted kids, and Mam confesses that she didn't want them.  There's also a little feminist poke in there via Susan's character.  Susan went to Oxford (which is saying something for that time in history) and never married, which basically rendered her an outcast in the small town. Susan is also mourning the loss of her best friend, Becky, who used to live with her.  Whether that has a deeper connotation is not clear at all.

Promote Virtue?  Yes.  Despite their shortcomings and horrific situation, both Ada and Jamie try to do what is true and good.  The adults that they encounter after being farmed out (Fred, Susan, Lady Thorton) are charitable people who treat the children with dignity.

Transcendentals?  Yes.  Goodness and Truth.  Bradley's writing is very beautiful, but the circumstances about which she writes are not.  The way that Susan cares for the kids is awe-inspiring.

Overcome human condition?  I'm not quite sure what Ada's temperament is, and I'm not going to lean on the side of Choleric just because she has anger problems.  I do think that she's an introvert based on some of her own internal descriptions (see Quotables).  Ada does try to overcome her anger and anxiety as she gets to know Susan better.  Ada responds to Susan in a very positive way.  Susan just hangs on and fights for Ada and Jamie, even though they aren't her own kids.  It's beautiful.

Attitude toward Catholicism?  Not really applicable, but it is very clear that the kids have not been brought up with any faith whatsoever.  Susan is the daughter of a retired protestant minister, and she does see that the kids attend church, even though she doesn't go.

Paganry?  None

Swearing? Mostly from Ada's mother, Mam, but nothing too fierce.  Hell and slut.  That's about it.

Violence?  Yes, physical, verbal, and emotional child abuse.  I'd think that the descriptions of the way Ada's mother abuses her are terrifying for someone who has gone through similar things.  It's just unspeakable cruelty to begin with, and then the reader has to deal with the mental anguish that Ada suffers because of it.  A particularly sensitive reader might totally freak out about this.  However, it could be a discussion springboard.

Appropriate age?  Wow.  This is a toughie.  I would say that the reading level for this book is pretty easy.  I think a 3rd grade+ could plow right through it.  However, because of the content issues regarding the abusive mother, I'd definitely say no younger than 6th grade.  Ada is roughly 11 years old, and she has to make a few "adult" decisions.  She is a strong fighter who is not only surviving WWII, she's also struggling to fight the war insider her own head.  Ada suffers from severe panic attacks and violent anger outbursts.

Writing Style:  Bradley does an amazing job of allowing us inside Ada's head; we really see the internal struggle that she has with anger and anxiety.  It was like a snapshot inside my own head sometimes.  Rarely can an author do that for me.  Bradley wrote Ada in such a way that the reader becomes emotionally attached to her.  We're really rooting for her by the end of the book.  This book is the first since Harry Potter 7, when Fred Weasley was killed, to make me cry.  The dread that I felt at the thought of Ada and Jamie going back to their mother was quite palpable.

Notable Quoteables:

"I wanted to say a lot of things, but, as usual, I didn't have the words for the thoughts inside my head" (153-154).  Story of a Melancholic/Phlegmatic's life.

"She nodded.  "You must have been scared.  Scared and angry."
"Of course not," I said, though I had been, at least until I'd seen the sea.  "Of course I wasn't scared."
"Angry," Susan said, putting her arm around me.
"No," I said through clenched teeth.  But I was.  Oh, I was" (154-155).  Story of my life.  My natural reaction to EVERYTHING, even good things(!), is to get a little angry.  Eesh!  I'm glad I know how to deal with it properly, though.

"I don't know how long I screamed and flailed.  I don't know how long Susan restrained me.  I kicked her and scratched her and probably would have bitten her, but she held on. I don't know what Jamie did, other than bring down the blankets.  Susan wrapped me in one, rolled me up tight, and the panic started to ease.  "That's it," Susan croaked.  "Shh.  Shh.  You're okay."
I was not okay.  I would never be okay.  But I was too exhausted to scream anymore" (215).

Great words:  Bradley doesn't particularly use an elevated vocabulary on a regular basis.  Ada is  unschooled, so she does learn several new words from Susan, and that's how we learn them.  They're nothing out of the ordinary that a 5th grader might not know.

Approval?  Yes.  I polished this book off in two days, and I didn't want to put it down.