ODYSSEY OF ANGELS

A Novel of Navy Nurses in World War Two

To World War Two battlefield casualties evacuated from bloody Pacific beachheads to the clean white beds of  hospital ships, the Navy nurses who care for them seem angels indeed. For young war widow Ensign Anna Donovan, however, the unrelenting stresses of this duty soon begin to chip away at her morale, eventually revealing a side of her that is anything but angelic. Far from family, friends and fiancé, she’s horrified to find herself drawn to Mark Whitmore, a charismatic but married chaplain. Eventually her need for respite from the endless stream of young men torn apart in this enormous conflict overrides both her principles and her loyalty to Jim, back home in Maine.  As the war winds down, she soothes her conscience by rationalizing that all that really matters is that she performed her duty steadfastly and honorably. The rest - the private, personal falls from grace - will fade when she resumes her interrupted civilian life with the man she truly loves. Or is this a delusion?  When she leaves USS Compassion, the friends she served with, and the chaplain who shared her passion, will she really find that bright post-war future so many young men died to win for her?

JOAN LA BLANC began writing fiction during her childhood in Philadelphia. While she set this addiction aside to raise four children, it later enabled her to survive marriages to two career Navy men and one with Alzheimer's. Now, in her "golden years", it continues to offer romance, travel, and the adventures of an international spy without the associated dangers.  After a “real” career as a PR and non-fiction writer, she crafts circumspect prose for church publications between visits to the various parallel universes that provide her greatest inspiration and creative fulfillment. These include the Anna Donovan trilogy, MINISTRY OF ANGELS, ODYSSEY OF ANGELS, and the concluding volume, as yet untitled, which will appear later this year.  She lives in Virginia, close to the sea.