Review: The Victory Club

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The Victory Club
By Robin Lee Hatcher
Tyndale House, 2005

Book Description

In times of war, sometimes victory seems like an impossible dream. In 1943, the women of America banded together to make a life for themselves while their husbands and sons fought overseas. Even as the men engaged in war, these women faced battles of their own on the home front. Margo, Dottie, Lucy, and Penny never expected to face the hardships they must now find a way to conquer. But through the power of Christ and the power of friendship, perhaps this Victory Club will achieve more than any of them could have ever imagined.

My Review

The Victory Club is a book that’s hard to put down. As the story progresses, the reader is sucked into the heartache of each woman’s life. Temptation becomes too great for Penny to resist. I found the grief her husband Stuart went through realistic and heart-breaking. Unfortunately, crises do not always turn people toward the Lord, and not everyone gets saved. How realistic.

Margo learns how to deal with bitterness and accept God’s grace. I loved how the author tied that together with her daughter Dottie’s pregnancy. In the end, Margo becomes a woman at peace with her past and true love finds her. Excellent plotting and character arc there.

Lucy fights her own emotions as she battles with loneliness and the enemy who wants to destroy her faith. I found it so realistic that the timing of her temptation was strongest when she was really trying to serve the Lord. Isn’t that just how Satan works?

Dottie longs for her mother’s acceptance and forgiveness for her lapse in self-control and desires for the father of her unborn child to return so they can be a family. Her boyfriend comes back less than perfect, but that’s what happens in wartime, so I found it very romantic that they continued to love each other and got married despite their mistake and his injuries.

Overall, the author did an excellent job showing each character’s issues and how their pain affected them emotionally. Those who knew God had a distinct advantage over those who were truly lost. Isn’t that just how the real world is? I could sense the author’s passion for the unsaved and love for the Lord in this story. She also did a wonderful job dealing with spiritual issues and without sounding preachy to me. I loved this book!

Michelle Sutton (pen name)
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