The General's Women

Set during the chaotic years of World War II The Generals Women tells the story of the conflicted relationship between General Dwight Eisenhower and Kay Summersby his Irish driver/aide and the impact of that relationship on Mamie Eisenhower and her life in Washington during the war. Told from three alternating points of view (Kays Ikes and Mamies) the novel charts the deepening of the relationship as Ike and Kay move from England (1942) to North Africa (1942-43) to England France and Germany before and after the Normandy landing (1944-45). At the end of the war Ike is faced with the heart-wrenching choice between marrying Kay and a political future.The story continues into the post-war years as Ike (returning to Mamie) becomes Army Chief of Staff president of Columbia University Supreme Commander of NATO and president of the United States. Kay meanwhile struggles to create a life and work of her own writing two memoirs: the first (Eisenhower Was My Boss 1948) about her war work with Ike; the second (Past Forgetting 1976) about their love affair. An authors note deals with the complicated question of the truth of Kays story as it finally appears in the posthumously-published Past Forgetting.