Published in 2023
368 pages
Joshunda Sanders is the author, most recently, of the debut novel Women of the Post, two children’s books including I Can Write the World, the story of a budding journalist named Ava Murray. She also wrote The Beautiful Darkness: A Handbook for Orphans (2016) and How Racism and Sexism Killed Traditional Media: Why The Future of Journalism Depends on Women and People of Color (2015). A speechwriter and long-time book lover and critic, she has taught writing for the School of the New York Times Summer Academy, Lehman College, the New School, the University of Texas at Austin and various other institutions. She lives in The Bronx, her hometown.
What is this book about?
An emotional story, based on true events, about the all-Black battalion of the Women’s Army Corps who found purpose, solidarity and lifelong friendship in their mission of sorting over one million pieces of mail for the US Army.
1944, New York City. Judy Washington is tired of working from dawn til dusk in the Bronx Slave Market, cleaning white women’s houses and barely making a dime. Her husband is fighting overseas, so it’s up to Judy and her mother to make enough money for rent and food. When the chance arises for Judy to join the Women’s Army Corps (WAC) and the ability to bring home a steady paycheck, she jumps at the opportunity.
Immediately upon arrival, Judy undergoes grueling military drills and inspections led by Second Officer Charity Adams, one of the only Black officers in the WAC. Judy becomes fast friends with the other women in her unit—Stacy, Bernadette and Mary Alyce—who only discovered she was Black after joining the army. Under Charity Adams’s direction, they are transferred to Birmingham, England, as part of the 6888th Central Postal Battalion—the only unit of Black women to serve overseas in WWII. Here, they must sort a backlog of over one million pieces of mail.
The women work tirelessly, knowing that they’re reuniting soldiers to their loved ones through the letters they write. However, their work becomes personal when Mary Alyce discovers a backlogged letter addressed to Judy that will upend her personal life. Told through the alternating perspectives of Judy, Charity and Mary Alyce, Women of the Post is an unforgettable story of perseverance, female friendship, romance and self-discovery.
