Parker Caminos

In this sequel to New Beginnings: Annabelle’s Story, Charlotte Parker Caminos has skillfully depicted conditions in 1913 that affected immigrant families in New York City. For Annabelle and Alfredo Caruso, and their relatives and neighbors, uncertainty takes its toll. If President Woodrow Wilson does not maintain neutrality, as he’s promised, the United States will be plunged into World War I. What will happened to families if husbands who’ve become citizens of the United States are required to serve in the military? As the entry of the United States into the war creeps closer and closer, family men face leaving their loved ones-whom they are workng to support-for service to their country. Some volunteer, some wait to be drafted, and the close-knit character of their families goes through a great strain. Some return without a limb or emotionally altered. Some never return.

No one, though, expects in 1913-1914 that the role of women will change profoundly. Leaving their households to take jobs vacated by the men serving in the military, they find themselves in roles they have never occupied before. What happens when these men do not return from war-or return permanently disabled?