The Woman With A Purple Heart by Diane Hanks - Release week!

If you enjoy historical fiction, especially WWII, you're going to want to pick up a copy of Diane Hanks' just released debut novel - The Woman With A Purple Heart. 

And if you're wondering - the answer is yes' The book is "Based on the breathtaking true story of Lieutenant Annie Fox, the first woman to be awarded the Purple Heart for combat as a result of her heroism at Pearl Harbor"

Here's more from Source Landmarks: 

"In November 1941, Annie Fox, an Army nurse, is transferred to Hickam Field, an air force base in Honolulu. The others on her transport plane are thrilled to work in paradise, but Annie sees her new duty station as the Army's way of holding the door open to her retirement. But serving her country is her calling and she will go wherever she is told.

On December 7, Annie's on her way to work when the first Japanese Zero fighter plane flies low over Hickam's Parade Ground. The death and destruction that follow leave her no time to process what's happening. She rallies her nurses, and they work to save as many lives as they can. But soon their small hospital is overwhelmed. Annie drives into Honolulu to gather supplies, nurses, and several women who will donate blood. However, the nurses are Japanese Americans, and the blood donors are prostitutes. 

Under Annie's leadership and working together in unexpected ways, they make it through that horrific day, when one of the Japanese American nurses and Annie's friend, Kay, is arrested as a suspected subversive. As Hickam tries to recover, Annie works to find her friend and return Kay to her family. But Annie's love for her country is put to the test. How can she reconcile the American bravery and resilience she saw on December 7 with the prejudice and injustice she witnesses just a few months later?" Sounds like a great read! See for yourself - read an excerpt of The Woman With A Purple Heart.

"Diane Hanks was inspired to write The Woman With A Purple Heart because she first saw the name Annie Fox when she was a medical writer working on a project about VA’s Annie App, which is used to send text messages to veterans about self-care. Hanks discovered the app was named after Lt. Annie Fox, and she considered it a shame that the first female recipient of the Purple Heart was not widely known. Thus, The Woman With A Purple Heart was born."

"Diane Hicks has a BFA and MA in Creative Writing from Emerson College in Boston, MA. She was first published in an anthology of short stories titled How the Weather Was when she was in graduate school; then she took a detour in

screenwriting. The detour lasted a few decades and resulted in several honors that

included winning the PAGE International Screenwriting Award Grand Prize with a drama pilot, in addition to one of her screenplays being featured on the prestigious Black List and making the inaugural GLAAD List. The Woman With A Purple Heart is based on Diane’s screenplay titled Hickam." You can find Diane on Facebook.