Louis Alberto Urrea
Good Night, Irene by Luis Alberto Urrea is a fictional account based on his mother’s actual service in the ARC Clubmobiles during World War II. Urrea uses the few available historical records coupled with available letters, newspaper accounts, and recorded interviews to build a picture of the experiences of the women who served the troops in and around the combat zones in Europe.
The novel opens with Irene escaping from an abusive fiancée. She has volunteered as a recreation worker with the American Red Cross and is on her way to New York to report for duty. She is joined by an army of women volunteers, one of whom was to become her life-long friend, Dorothy. The two become inseparable as they travel to England and from there all over Europe. Their job is to drive the Clubmobile, affectionately dubbed, the Rapid City, to wherever the army sends them to serve the troops with coffee, donuts, and a slice of home. The Clubmobile is fully equipped with coffee urns, a boiler, burners, water tanks, a donut machine and a Victrola with records.
Urrea immerses the reader in the experiences of these brave women. Irene and Dorothy travel to England, France, Belgium, and Germany. They witness the effects of the war first-hand in the mangled bodies of the dead, in the eyes of the troops they serve, and in the bombed-out land and villages. They experience some narrow escapes from death. They are with the troops who helped to liberate Buchenwald. The women witness scenes that etch themselves indelibly in their memories and haunt them in their sleep. They remember the faces of the young men they served and the loved ones they lost. Urrea describes it all in graphic, unflinching detail.
Interspersed among scenes depicting the horrors of war are scenes of much needed rest and recreation—sleeping in comfortable beds, bathing in bubble baths, swimming in the ocean, and building romantic relationships.
In spite of their trauma, the women continued to serve the troops with smiles and flirtatious banter. They were the mothers and sisters of the young men who desperately needed a friendly female face to remind them of home. Their presence boosted morale. Their smiles and welcoming demeanor offered the troops a good listening ear and a shoulder to cry on whenever needed. Their role was invaluable and their contribution to Allied victory should never be underestimated.
Urrea portrays the horrors of war with honesty. But the novel is weak in its portrayal of characters. Neither Irene nor Dorothy emerges as a fully-fleshed, well-rounded individual. Their dialogue sounds inauthentic and canned. They spout quips at one another that feel rehearsed. Their psychological and emotional lives are treated superficially. As a result, the reader doesn’t become invested in them as characters. This is unfortunate since Urrea based the character of Irene on his mother. But with that caveat aside, the novel is worth reading because it offers a glimpse into the sacrifices and invaluable contributions these women made to the Allied victory—a contribution that is frequently marginalized or overlooked.