Freedom is not free. Those of us who aren’t in the military pay a price when those we love go to battle. Those in the military pay an even greater price—physical, mental, emotional—when they are in a war. If they survive and are able to return home, many of them come back to us missing limbs and affected by what they have experienced. Post-traumatic stress disorder will now be present for many in their day-to-day lives.
Arlene works with these men in a VA hospital. Through her eyes, we see not only the physical horrors that have been done to these men but also what has been done to their minds. She does so well working with the men that she is asked to participate in the counseling sessions they have so she can work with them more on the mental damage of PTSD.
Arlene becomes close to one of the men in the counseling sessions. When they go out for dinner away from the VA, they discover they have feelings for each other. Their relationship becomes all-consuming and intense, not something casual and fleeting.
I really enjoyed this book. It is short, only 135 pages. I couldn’t wait to turn each page and see what else was going to happen. Through the author’s words, the great love and compassion she has for these wounded warriors comes through.
I do have one complaint though: in several places, the author gets so caught up in writing the story that she forgets to start a new paragraph when the speaker changes, and that slowed down my reading a bit.
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. If you would like a copy of this book for yourself, I’ve provided an Amazon link for you below.
Amazon Link: Cost of Freedom
Favorite Sentences:
One of the first lessons I learned working for the VA is the language and dialect of its inhabitants.
Vets are prisoners to their past, may missing parts of it.
The ravages of war cannot stay dormant without hidden scars.
New Words Learned:
debridement – surgical removal of foreign matter and dead tissue from a wound
About the Author:
Katherine Zartman is a former furniture executive and artist. The daughter of a WWII colonel, she is a mother of three, grandmother of six, and great-grandmother of one. As an author, she always wants her words to convey to her readers the same raw emotions, frailties, love, and tears her characters possess.
This sounds like a very interesting book to read. I was surprised to hear that it only had 135 pages. I have a friend who works with vets down in Florida. I was also in the military so that is what caught my attention. Thanks for sharing.