Tuesday, November 12, 2024

About the Book

Book: Unfit to Serve

Author: Sandra Bretting

Genre: Inspirational Historical

Release date: August 16, 2024

When the United States military adopts a newfangled test from France called the “intelligence quotient test” during the first world war, no one expects the turmoil that follows. Thousands of immigrants fail it and are forced to return to homelands devastated by war, disease, and famine.

For Josephine Pembrooke, the shy schoolmarm at Camp Travis in Texas, the problem quickly becomes apparent. How can soldiers pass a test they can’t even read? So, Jo labors in secret to create a better test. Knowing all along it can’t save the one soldier she’d hoped to help.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Sandra Bretting is the author of a bestselling cozy mystery series that ran for five years with Kensington Publishing, as well as three standalone mysteries and an inspirational memoir. A graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, she began her career writing for the Los Angeles Times, Orange Coast Magazine, and others. From 2006 until 2016, she wrote feature stories for the award-winning business section of the Houston Chronicle.

The second book in her mystery series earned the rank of Amazon Bestseller. Since making the switch to historical fiction, Bretting has garnered accolades for her first title, Unfit to Serve, which released in August 2024. The novel explores how the U.S. military brought the IQ test to America at the start of World War 1.

More from Sandra

Most people don’t know this, but the IQ test we’ve all heard about came to America during World War 1. French schoolteachers originally created it for their students more than a hundred years ago. Then the U.S. military found out about it, and the top brass thought they could use it to test recruits for their battle-readiness. There was only one problem: thousands of men failed it because they’d immigrated from overseas and couldn’t read the questions. They were loyal to the U.S., smart as whips, and physically capable, but they couldn’t pass a test they couldn’t read. In real life, it took the military a whole year to see the problem and come up with a better version for foreign recruits.

A whole year!

I couldn’t help but wonder what happened to those men who failed it, and how it affected their families. The recruits had come from countries devasted by famine, disease, and war, and they couldn’t go back. From there, the story evolved. I brought in a brave schoolteacher who sees the problem and struggles to fix it. Of course, being the early 1900s, women are supposed to be seen and not heard (like children) so she’s stonewalled at every turn. But she doesn’t stop. Josephine (Jo) knows that God cares about justice too, and she looks to Him for help when everything falls apart.

On a different level, I loved exploring the relationship between Jo and her stiff-lipped husband, Albigence. I purposefully moved this urban couple from a sophisticated university setting to a hot, dusty military base in San Antonio. There, they’re forced to rely on each other for the first time and fight for their marriage. It’s an unconventional love story, but a love story nonetheless.

In all my books, I strive to show how people can change for the better—or worse—depending on the situation, and that the best path forward is to trust God and His timing. He’s always perfect, even when we’re not. Thank goodness we can rely on Him!

MY REVIEW

I was very intrigued by this test that was called “intelligence quotient test.” It was started during World War I and brought to America. I have never heard about this test so I quickly set to read this story.

Josephine is introduced to army life by being at a women’s meeting where some silly presentation about embroidery knots is the agenda . I giggled as I saw her utter confusion of why this is what the women’s group found important. The Red Cross is in need of socks for the men overseas so why aren’t the women doing this project? Already you can see that Josephine is causing a little snafu in their plans. After all shouldn’t the focus be on helping the servicemen? I couldn’t wait to see how Josephine will fit in. Her husband will be in for a surprise when he returns to find his sweet wife has ruffled a few feathers.

Albigence is having his own issues with bullying going on. Even when he was younger he was made fun of. You would think grown men wouldn’t act this way. He takes his responsibility serious and wants to be well informed of the material he needs to know. Being put on the spot the instructor call Albigence to the front as a guinea pig. He must now take the test he will give to the soldiers when he returns to base. Underlining of this test is to weed out those who can’t pass or as some called, use”reverse psychology” on the hopeful soldiers.

The story takes a look at immigrants and how they were treated. Some thought a certain group were lazy while other were thought to be untidy. Josephine explains to her students that just because someone from a different background is different doesn’t mean the whole group is different. I liked how she explained that many came to America from boats where they didn’t have any way to bathe. But not everyone from that culture were dirty. A hard lesson for the children to grasp when their parents have said unkind things about immigrants in front of their own children.

What transpires next is a hope that those who come to America can receive help by giving them lessons on how to speak English. People are set up for failure if they don’t understand what is being said to them. Prejudice is running rampant and the test the men have to take are difficult if they do not understand English. I began to wonder how many men were turned away with nowhere to go. Did they lose hope?

Josephine tries to change how the test is given so immigrants have a fair chance of passing. I loved her heart that wanted everyone to be treated with dignity. She has this strength that could only come from God. As she is fighting for the rights of others her husband is fighting for the men who have fought in the war. Their battle scars can’t be seen yet they are deep. We know this illness as PTSD but during this time period it was called battle fatigue or shell-shock. It was hard to read about the treatments the men were given until Albigence comes to give them hope.

There is so much depth to this story and I could feel emotions spilling across the pages. This story will be something I will never forget. It is a realistic look at what men and women faced everyday as they served our country. I don’t want to ever forget the sacrifice that was made for our freedom.

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.